Showcase Images

 The images below show some of the great variety of geology to be found in Mull, Iona and Staffa. Click on any of the thumbnail images and it will open to give a larger picture. Click on the large image to close it again.

Folding in the Moine rocks at Ardalanish Bay.	Basaltic columns on the shore near the Fossil Tree
Basaltic columns seen end-on at Ardtun	Sea stack of columnar basalt lava near Ardtun
Looking over to the Ardmeanach peninsula from Bunessan. Trap featuring in the basalt lavas is obvious	Famous Palaeocene dyke near Calgary Pier
Calgary Bay, from the machair looking out to sea. Pre-glacial shoreline is the obvious terrace seen on both headlands	Ammonite cast on the shore near Carsaig
Basaltic columns of Carsaig Arches	Basaltic columns to the east of Carsaig
Creag a' Chrochair - a volcanic plug near Glengorm	Perched rock near Croggan - looks like a stone toadstool
Glac Mhor near Tobermory - columnar basalt lava	Dessication cracks in Triassic sediments near Gribun
Cliffs of the Wilderness near Gribun, seen from the sea	Top surface of a prominent sill near Gribun, showing pronounced jointing
Unconformity at Gribun - horizontal Triassic sediments overlie dipping Moine psammites	Beach on west side of Iona looking towards the Spouting Cave
Iona: Lewisian gneiss with green epidote vein	Iona: Glacial erratic of Ross of Mull granite lying atop Torridonian sediments
Machair on west side of Iona	Iona marble quarry
Iona: pebbles on the shore at Columba's Bay	South west corner of Iona - prominent cleft is a fault
Heart shaped xenolith in a granite erratic, Iona	Schists near Kilvickeon, folded to vertical
Dyke cutting ash bed at Lagganulva	The Loch Ba Ring Dyke on the slopes of Beinn a' Ghraig
Glacial P-forms on the shore near knock	Near Ardalanish - Contact of the Ross of Mull Granite and the Moine metamorphic rocks
Diorite sheets cutting the Ross of Mull Granite near Fionnphort	'S Airde Beinn, a volcanic plug near Tobermory
Stac Mhic Mhurchaidh, a columnar sill, west of Iona	Staffa, seen from the boat
Staffa, seen from the boat	Staffa
Staffa	Staffa
Staffa	Livingstone's Cave, Ulva, looking out
Basalt lava columns, Ulva	Natural Arch and Sea Stack, the Wilderness

References:

Mull & Iona - A Landscape fashioned by Geology. Recently published by SNH, this is an excellent little guide to the geology of these islands. It is easy to follow and beautifully illustrated. One in a series of several "Landscape fashioned by Geology" Available direct from SNH