Geology

I know very little about rocks, apart that they are the things you trip over from time to time, you can find them on the shoreline and riverbeds just about sums up my knowledge.

I was shown this Pipestone that was found in scree near Loch Maree

Have you any rock formations that may be of interest to others ?

I know very little about rocks

Having a degree in geophyiscs, in tune with the standing joke in geology departments I know very little about rocks too! (even less about fossils...)

(the joke the other way is that single-subject geologists have trouble counting past 10 without taking their socks off...).

Pete.

Scroll down to page 17 and page 18 on the Pennine Way....

Or page 14 in Madeira....

Or page 17 on the Isle of Arran....

I try and slip in an appropriate picture if I can.

 Hi Paddy

I am interested in Local History in the Wester Ross area and have been following a Drove Road that ends up at Great Close, Malham Tarn, it is one of the few areas i have visited outside work, the photo above is of Malham Scar and the one below is of the hillside at the back of the farm on what was Great Close, I have another view overlooking Malham but didnt include it here. ( I cant find my map of the area so sorry if i got a name wrong ) 

I havent read all your marked pages, I will go back to it later.

You may recognise this view then .

I stood at the top of the Scar and wondered how many Highlanders has stood up there for a bit of peace and quiet to get away from noise of selling 5000 cattle on the flat area near the track below.

It must be a very windswept place outwith the summer months, I can imagine that cutting wind and driving rain ( almost like wester ross ! )

Paddy Dillon wrote (see)

Scroll down to page 17 and page 18 on the Pennine Way....

Or page 14 in Madeira....

Or page 17 on the Isle of Arran....

I try and slip in an appropriate picture if I can.

Page 17 in Arran, the dyke looked almost man made, like the ones on some of the Highland lochs that go out into the water ( but they are man made, I take it to stop animals nipping round the end of the dyke when the water is low )

Madeira, what work must have gone into making the terraces !, the volcano information was very interesting.

One of the chaps in the house showed my " Geology and Lanscapes of Scotland" by Con Gillen, which I may well get, although I didnt get a chance to read much of it, it refers to the upheaval in this area.

MoS wrote (see)

Alexander, (and Flaff....and Kate too cos it's Slioch) this photo may interest you.

I love the way you can see geology on the large and small scale.  One minute you can be fascinated by evidence of life in the form of worm burrows in a wee rock, then you can be looking at an ancient landscape preserved within a mountain.

The greyer rocks below the line of the unconformity are the Lewisian gneisses - the oldest rocks in the UK and some of the oldest in the world. The unconformity represents a gap in time. Torridonian rocks sit on the Lewisian, they are also very old and made of layers of red sandstones.  Lewisian and Torridonian rocks are both from the oldest geological time period known as Precambrian.  Some of the Torridonian hills have white caps (also separated by an unconformity) that's a rock called quartzite, from the Cambrian period and that's where the pipe rock comes from. 

I've heard it said that folk new to the area sometimes mistake the quartzite caps for snow.

Didn't Nearly Normal Polar Bear (NNPB) reckon a fox bit him through his tent once.....quite a long time ago?

Hi Alexander,

Con Gillen's book is quite readable as is Hutton's Arse.  If you want more detail on your own area I'd go for Hutton's Arse I think, mind it's a while since I dipped into either of them as I've been getting quite absorbed in the rocks of Snowdonia of late.

Don't be put off by the catchy title, I think it's something to do with Hutton's habit of travelling around doing his fieldwork on a donkey.

A bit lighter perhaps and covering other parts of UK, not just Scotland is Granite and Grit by Ronald Turnbull - quite funny if you like his style and maybe a better book for a complete beginner

I found another boulder for you Mos.

pretty pebbles

all found under my arse, whilst lounging uncomfortably in fisherfield.

not exactly geology, as such, i know...

I hope it was the smoother one posh

I was going to send you a message thingy.

- hence the 'uncomfortable'  lots of different types of rock in one small stream bed

- but?

Another interesting Fishyfield rock(face)

The burn beside Shenaval has loads of stones and rocks, if you go up stream to where the birch trees you can cross on the larger boulders if the burn is up.

I was suprised if you go down the end of Loch na Sealga ( with the sandy beach ) how high the twigs and grass ect have been washed up by the higher water, at times it must cover all the sand, dont know if i am dedicated enough to walk all the way in there just to have a look in the "rainy season" though.

The most impressive geological feature I've seen recently is on the macro scale: the Parallel Roads in Glen Roy.  Great view of them from this viewpoint.