Ahhhh, a raw Scottish coast. …Let’s go there. There’s sedimentology to be learned here, and coastal geomorphology to be ogled. This is Yesnaby, on the west side of Orkney. The rocks there are part of “the Old Red Sandstone,” a neat package of Devonian strata, flavored here and there with an igneous dike, a fault, … Read more
The answer to yesterday’s geo-puzzle is revealed to be a storm deposit of boulders, 20 m above sea level!
Check this out: That’s a beautiful example of weathering in a dolerite dike on Arran. The igneous rock was broken along two more or less perpendicular joint sets, and then fluid flow along those fractures helped “rot” the adjacent rock through oxidation and hydrolysis. The resulting brownish weathering rind grows at the expense of the … Read more
The evidence for a meteorite impact origin for the Stoer Group’s Stac Fada member seems to stack up. Engage in a virtual field investigation on Mountain Beltway.
Who dwells beneath the sands of Islay? Lugworms do. These embedded annelids process the sediment for food, extruding the undigested sand in charismatic piles that adorn the beach of Loch Gruinart.
Let’s reminisce back to the Walls Boundary Fault on the Ollaberry Peninsula of Shetland today. Here’s a 3D model to go along with the ones I posted last time: It’s a little ragged, but so am I at the end of the workweek! Happy Friday. Have fun spinning this thing.
On the northwestern coast of the Northmavine Peninsula of Shetland, there is an unusual coastal landform: a gate-like entrance to an elevated amphitheater, like something out of Tolkien, and a storm beach of slab-like boulders inland of that.
In eastern Shetland, the sea chews away at the innards of a Devonian stratovolcano. But there’s an odd visitor there too – and we’re not talking about the blogger.
The scenic arch of Dore Holm (“Door Island”) in Shetland shows off the most efficient way of breaking a slab of rock. The island’s shape is a reflection of the parsimonious nature of natural deformation.
Another loose, 3D fold from the north side of Machir Bay, Islay. Wish I could have brought it home to dwell in my lab… Happiest of Fridays to you! The solstice is now past, and the days are getting longer in the northern hemisphere for the next 6 months! Cheers to that!