Off on hols
Posted: Friday, 01 June 2007 |
Langamull - great beach and great views
Posted: Sunday, 10 June 2007 |
Back from a rather nice week in Braemar, needed to get away from the unpacking, cleaning and all that stuff. Where else but a nice beach? Langamull is a great spot. Been a long time since we were there so off we went.
Not quite as accesible as Calgary, but it is probably a lot quieter because of it. The view to Rum is super (a bit hazy in this pic mind you - it was that sort of day)
looking across to Rum, very hazy.
There is a lovely little inlet, where the sealooked really nice:
And heres another view:
Just liek the Aegean, eh? Until you dip your foot in, I suspect.... Mountainman, being a landlubber and proud of it keeps well away from the sea, so dont ask me!
The geology of this area appears to be fairly uniform - basalt, basalt, more basalt, but occasionally you get this sort of thing: a rather fine igneous dyke near the inlet, showing good jointing - thats the columnar structure you can see here. The thrift plant gives an idea of the scale:
Not spectacular, but you get the drift. However, there was another really obvious feature which is quite common among the rocks of North Mull in particular:
That bright red rock you see near the water is basalt that has been weathered to produce what is known as a "red bole" These are quite common and can be seen all over Mull. Look for it in the road cuttings on the Salen Tobermory road. They represent periods of time, sometimes considerable, when no lava was being deposited and are good indicators of the top of a lava flow.
So that was that - got a few more outings planned for the near future, so stay tuned!
James
Not quite as accesible as Calgary, but it is probably a lot quieter because of it. The view to Rum is super (a bit hazy in this pic mind you - it was that sort of day)
looking across to Rum, very hazy.
There is a lovely little inlet, where the sealooked really nice:
And heres another view:
Just liek the Aegean, eh? Until you dip your foot in, I suspect.... Mountainman, being a landlubber and proud of it keeps well away from the sea, so dont ask me!
The geology of this area appears to be fairly uniform - basalt, basalt, more basalt, but occasionally you get this sort of thing: a rather fine igneous dyke near the inlet, showing good jointing - thats the columnar structure you can see here. The thrift plant gives an idea of the scale:
Not spectacular, but you get the drift. However, there was another really obvious feature which is quite common among the rocks of North Mull in particular:
That bright red rock you see near the water is basalt that has been weathered to produce what is known as a "red bole" These are quite common and can be seen all over Mull. Look for it in the road cuttings on the Salen Tobermory road. They represent periods of time, sometimes considerable, when no lava was being deposited and are good indicators of the top of a lava flow.
So that was that - got a few more outings planned for the near future, so stay tuned!
James
Torloisk, Laganulva, Salen circuit
Posted: Thursday, 14 June 2007 |
There are some places that are simply a joy to visit and the thrill never fades. I think the road from Torloisk to Salen via Ulva Ferry is one of those. It was Thursday morning and a busy day ahead as I headed over to Torloisk for some broadband related work. From the high point on the road, the views seawards are stunning.
I stopped for lunch near Laganulva - there is some seriously interesting geology here, and all very accesible as well! The famous Eas Fors waterfall (triple taupology, q.v.) is near here of course, but what I wanted to look at in the brief time I had was the shore just before Laganulva. This area is dominated by a rock type that is pyroclastic - it is a consolidated ash that was ejected early on in the Tertiary volcanic period. It is found in several places near the base of the lava pile, but nowhere is it more accesible than here, at Camas an Lagain. Here is a series of pics:
Walking down to the shore, looking over to Ulva
The rock is a light gray colour, with large boulders of solid lava embedded in it. Some of these are quite large. The ruler you can see is a special one used to give a sense of scale to pics like these. It is 30 cm long.
This is the view looking up the coast in a NW direction
Like so much of te Mull shoreline, dykes run across it. this one was only a few inches wide. Notice how it has had a reddening effect on the ash deposit. Quite remarkable.
Another dyke, running across the shore.
And another view of this sort of thing.
A large basaltic boulder in the ash.
Finally a look over to Ben More from the road just past Ulva Ferry:
That's it for today. Cracker of a day so it was, very clear, dry sunny. Will be back again soon - stay tuned!
James
I stopped for lunch near Laganulva - there is some seriously interesting geology here, and all very accesible as well! The famous Eas Fors waterfall (triple taupology, q.v.) is near here of course, but what I wanted to look at in the brief time I had was the shore just before Laganulva. This area is dominated by a rock type that is pyroclastic - it is a consolidated ash that was ejected early on in the Tertiary volcanic period. It is found in several places near the base of the lava pile, but nowhere is it more accesible than here, at Camas an Lagain. Here is a series of pics:
Walking down to the shore, looking over to Ulva
The rock is a light gray colour, with large boulders of solid lava embedded in it. Some of these are quite large. The ruler you can see is a special one used to give a sense of scale to pics like these. It is 30 cm long.
This is the view looking up the coast in a NW direction
Like so much of te Mull shoreline, dykes run across it. this one was only a few inches wide. Notice how it has had a reddening effect on the ash deposit. Quite remarkable.
Another dyke, running across the shore.
And another view of this sort of thing.
A large basaltic boulder in the ash.
Finally a look over to Ben More from the road just past Ulva Ferry:
That's it for today. Cracker of a day so it was, very clear, dry sunny. Will be back again soon - stay tuned!
James
Ardmore in the evening
Posted: Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
The great thing about this time of year is that you can go out late and still get lots of daylight. Ardmore Forest north of Tobermory is a favourite place of mine with loads of interesting stuff to explore. Dynamic as well - over the past year or so, forestry operations have cleared a lot of trees and the views are now quite different.
Tuesday evening and I headed towards the new lighthouse at the Point - forestry tracks most of the way and a rough path to get to the light.
This is where my Geology class had their first field trip - there is a lot of typical Tertiary igneous geology in a small area, the walking is fairly easy and it is all quite accessible. The students claimed that they enjoyed it, certainly they came back for more of the same!
So what's to see?
Nice sun going down over Ardnamurchan:
The lighthouse - all very high tech with solar panels:
A rather fine dyke cuts across the shore here. Not much scale, I know but it is about 2 ft across:
Further on , there is a sill, which has a very distinctive top surface:
The same sill from further along, looking at the side of it:
Just under the lighthouse there is another very thin sill cutting through the basalt:
The edges of this particular sill show a black glassy material called tachylite - quite common in Mull:
It was now about 10:30 pm and time to head back to the car. There are a couple of really neat examples fo what is called spheroidal oe "onion skin" weathering in the basalt beside the track. The rock breaks down in concentric shells, leaving these cannon ball looking things behind:
Finally a last look to the north after the sun had set. Time for bed!
Tuesday evening and I headed towards the new lighthouse at the Point - forestry tracks most of the way and a rough path to get to the light.
This is where my Geology class had their first field trip - there is a lot of typical Tertiary igneous geology in a small area, the walking is fairly easy and it is all quite accessible. The students claimed that they enjoyed it, certainly they came back for more of the same!
So what's to see?
Nice sun going down over Ardnamurchan:
The lighthouse - all very high tech with solar panels:
A rather fine dyke cuts across the shore here. Not much scale, I know but it is about 2 ft across:
Further on , there is a sill, which has a very distinctive top surface:
The same sill from further along, looking at the side of it:
Just under the lighthouse there is another very thin sill cutting through the basalt:
The edges of this particular sill show a black glassy material called tachylite - quite common in Mull:
It was now about 10:30 pm and time to head back to the car. There are a couple of really neat examples fo what is called spheroidal oe "onion skin" weathering in the basalt beside the track. The rock breaks down in concentric shells, leaving these cannon ball looking things behind:
Finally a last look to the north after the sun had set. Time for bed!
Iona then Ardtun for a walk
Posted: Thursday, 21 June 2007 |
The longest day and it was back to Iona for a hard days work. I love being able to say "Aye, nights fair drawin' in!" after the Solstice. Anyway, the longest day was a very sunny one in Iona, so after battling with the forces of intel, Microsoft and BT, it was up the road to Tob , but with a quick walk to Ardtun in between.
There are some rather nice basaltic columns in that area, and very accesible too - only about 20 minutes quick walk from the road, so its good if you want a quick top up of geology. A hefty dose of Geology during the day and a shot of Astronomy at night works wonders. I've got an 8" reflector in case anyone is wondering.... However at this time of year, the Astro is a thoroughly anti-social affair and probably good grounds for divorce... Cant help it if its only a wee bit dark at 1 am....
Anyway, back to the basalt. Heres a wodge of pics for you.
The view looking towards the east - a fine dramatic shoreline
the view over towards Ardmeanach - light wasnt great today but maybe that just adds to the atmosphere
A channel cut through the rocks
A close up view of the rocks at sea level - covered in barnacles - that's why they look creamy white. Compare that with the dark rock above sea level - its the same rock!
The polygonal structure of the basalt is well seen here. Note a lot of the columns are not vertical, and some are curved as well. Like in this next pic:
close up in this one:
Some of the other inhabitants:
Some thrift and heres an urchin:
It was time to head back, so just a final look round - there is actually a lot to see here. Cutting across the basalt is a sill - these are common all throughout Mull - sometimes they can be quite obvious, other times more subtle. They were intruded between the basalt layers after the basalt had been extruded. Sills basically run between other strata, dykes on the other hand cut across. This sill is a bit of a text book example:
The rock is quite different from the basalt. Here is a close up view of the contact between the two:
Finally, here is a pic of the view from the track back towards Bunessan. Not a great pic but it finishes off the set. See you soon!
There are some rather nice basaltic columns in that area, and very accesible too - only about 20 minutes quick walk from the road, so its good if you want a quick top up of geology. A hefty dose of Geology during the day and a shot of Astronomy at night works wonders. I've got an 8" reflector in case anyone is wondering.... However at this time of year, the Astro is a thoroughly anti-social affair and probably good grounds for divorce... Cant help it if its only a wee bit dark at 1 am....
Anyway, back to the basalt. Heres a wodge of pics for you.
The view looking towards the east - a fine dramatic shoreline
the view over towards Ardmeanach - light wasnt great today but maybe that just adds to the atmosphere
A channel cut through the rocks
A close up view of the rocks at sea level - covered in barnacles - that's why they look creamy white. Compare that with the dark rock above sea level - its the same rock!
The polygonal structure of the basalt is well seen here. Note a lot of the columns are not vertical, and some are curved as well. Like in this next pic:
close up in this one:
Some of the other inhabitants:
Some thrift and heres an urchin:
It was time to head back, so just a final look round - there is actually a lot to see here. Cutting across the basalt is a sill - these are common all throughout Mull - sometimes they can be quite obvious, other times more subtle. They were intruded between the basalt layers after the basalt had been extruded. Sills basically run between other strata, dykes on the other hand cut across. This sill is a bit of a text book example:
The rock is quite different from the basalt. Here is a close up view of the contact between the two:
Finally, here is a pic of the view from the track back towards Bunessan. Not a great pic but it finishes off the set. See you soon!
Cnoc Fuar and a Sunset
Posted: Friday, 29 June 2007 |
Friday night and after a day of fighting with the horrors of Windows Vista, I thought "Right, let's restore the word vista to its proper meaning" . And as good a place as any to get a good vista on a fine evening is Cnoc Fuar, the hill with all the masts near Tobermory. Well actually, it isnt really Cnoc Fuar, so I am told - it is actually Meall an Inbhire (that's whats on the map). But it gets called Cnoc Fuar so there.
Actually, I reckon it is the best named hill anywhere - it is always cold up there. I often go up there at night time in winter to look at the stars - the sky looks great but the cold is unbelievable.
Anyway tonight, Friday 29th wasnt too bad. In fact it was actually quite warm, so there goes another theory. Speaking of theories I came across a great line attributed to the 19th century scientist T H Huxley: "The great tragedy of science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact!"
Right what did it all look like:
Great sunset about 10:10 pm:-
And then the sun appeared:
Because of the location you get great views out to lots of islands: Tiree, Coll, Western Isles, Eigg, Rum, Canna, Skye. Right up Loch Sunart and down the Sound of Mull. I never tire of it!
Coming down the hill and looking over to 'S Airde Beinn. It looked really neat tonight, all lit up by the setting sun:
I decided to get the sun going down further along the Glengorm road. Creag a' Chrochair, the Hangmans Rck looked really pink as well - just the way the sun was hitting it:
I mentioned in a previous blog entry that both these hills are volcanic plugs. There are actually another two near Loch Frisa which I need to hunt down some time. Anyway, the sun was setting behind the Western Isles:
And it was then time to head off back home. Not a long stroll but a very nice one. And the word Vista is now redeemed!
Actually, I reckon it is the best named hill anywhere - it is always cold up there. I often go up there at night time in winter to look at the stars - the sky looks great but the cold is unbelievable.
Anyway tonight, Friday 29th wasnt too bad. In fact it was actually quite warm, so there goes another theory. Speaking of theories I came across a great line attributed to the 19th century scientist T H Huxley: "The great tragedy of science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact!"
Right what did it all look like:
Great sunset about 10:10 pm:-
And then the sun appeared:
Because of the location you get great views out to lots of islands: Tiree, Coll, Western Isles, Eigg, Rum, Canna, Skye. Right up Loch Sunart and down the Sound of Mull. I never tire of it!
Coming down the hill and looking over to 'S Airde Beinn. It looked really neat tonight, all lit up by the setting sun:
I decided to get the sun going down further along the Glengorm road. Creag a' Chrochair, the Hangmans Rck looked really pink as well - just the way the sun was hitting it:
I mentioned in a previous blog entry that both these hills are volcanic plugs. There are actually another two near Loch Frisa which I need to hunt down some time. Anyway, the sun was setting behind the Western Isles:
And it was then time to head off back home. Not a long stroll but a very nice one. And the word Vista is now redeemed!
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
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