Bell, B. Skye & Raasay Geology (https://skyegeology.com). This is an index page to a comprehesive series of excursions held on the excellent Skye & Raasay Geology website.
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Brian Bell
Aspects covered: Mesozoic sedimentary rocks; Paleocene lavas and dykes; Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') sedimentary rocks; the Camasunary-Skerryvore Fault; Holocene raised marine deposits; the Coire Uaigneich Granite; hornfelsed basaltic lavas; Ordovician marbles and the Kishorn Thrust; a complex marginal facies of the Cuillin Intrusive Centre; Torridonian sedimentary rocks subjected to high-temperature contact metamorphism and melting.
Grid references mentioned in the text
Aspects covered: banding, brecciation and layering within the Layered Peridotites; layering and blocks within the Outer Bytownite Gabbros; the glacial morphology, landforms and deposits of the Loch Coruisk basin.
Grid references mentioned in the text
Aspects covered: Paleocene hydrothermally altered plateau lavas; conglomerates interbedded with the lavas; the Outer Gabbros; the Outer Bytownite Troctolites; Layered Peridotites; intrusive tholeiite dolerite sheets; cone-sheets; xenolithic and non-xenolithic peridotite dykes; a breccia pipe; Quaternary glacial landforms and deposits of the SW part of the Cuillin Hills (corries, arêtes, horns, moraines)
Grid references mentioned in the text
Aspects covered: various textural varieties of coarse-grained layered and unlayered basic igneous rocks; the Meall Dearg Granite; cone-sheets; the glacial morphology and landforms of the Loch Coruisk basin
Grid references mentioned in the text
Aspects covered: Paleocene plateau lavas (An Leac Member of the Rubha an Dùnain Formation); aa-textured lava; Paleocene dykes and sills; Triassic (Stornoway Formation) conglomerates, breccias and sandstones; Lower Jurassic (Ardnish Formation) calcareous sandstones, siltstones and shales, and limestones; Late Proterozoic (Torridonian) pebbly red sandstones (feldspathic arenites) of the Bheinn Bhreac Member of the Applecross Formation (Torridon Group); the base Paleocene unconformity.
Grid references mentioned in the text
Aspects covered: Glacial and post-glacial topography; hornfelsed Middle Jurassic Great Estuarine Group strata; hornfelsed Paleocene basaltic lavas; Paleocene dykes and cone-sheets; the Coire Uaigneich Granite; Outer Bytownite Gabbros of the Paleocene Cuillin Intrusive Centre
Grid references mentioned in the text
Aspects covered: Mesozoic sedimentary rocks; Paleocene lavas and dykes; Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') sedimentary rocks; the Camasunary-Skerryvore Fault; Holocene raised marine deposits; the Coire Uaigneich Granite; Ordovician marbles and the Kishorn Thrust; a complex marginal facies of the Paleocene Cuillin Intrusive Centre; Torridonian sedimentary rocks subjected to high-temperature contact metamorphism and melting; granites and related rocks of the Srath na Crèitheach and Western Red Hills ntrusive centres.
Grid references mentioned in the text
Aspects covered: Paleocene basaltic plateau lavas; lateritised tops of lavas; Paleocene dykes of the regional swarm; section views of lava-dominated cliffs; geos (gio or gjá); views of the Cuillin Hills; glacial erratics
Excursion Cuillin Hills 9: Coire Làgan
Aspects covered: hydrothermally altered Paleocene plateau lavas; conglomerates interbedded with the lavas; various units of the Paleocene Cuillin Intrusive Centre: the Outer Gabbros; the Outer Bytownite Troctolites; intrusive tholeiite dolerite sheets; dolerite dykes; cone-sheets; non-xenolithic peridotite dykes; Quaternary glacial landforms (corries, arêtes, horns, roche moutonnées with glacial striae) and glacial deposits of the SW part of the Cuillin Hills.
Aspects covered: various units of the Paleocene Cuillin Intrusive Centre: the Outer Gabbros; the Outer Bytownite Troctolites; intrusive tholeiite dolerite sheets; dolerite dykes; cone-sheets; xenolithic and non-xenolithic peridotite dykes; Quaternary glacial landforms and deposits of the SW part of the Cuillin Hills (corries, arêtes, horns, trimlines, moraines).
Aspects covered: hydrothermally-altered plateau lavas and sedimentary units; silicic pyroclastic rocks (lava-like ignimbrite, tuff, lapilli-tuff, breccia); basic minor intrusions; glacial landforms and deposits of the northern part of the Cuillin Hills
Aspects covered: large-scale geological features of the Paleocene gabbro-dominated Cuillin Hills, the granite-dominated Red Hills and the lava field of North Skye; Quaternary glacial features (and deposits)
Aspects covered: textural features of the Layered Peridotites; glacial morphology and landforms.
Aspects covered: the Beinn Dearg Mhòr Granite; the Loch Ainort Granite; ferrodiorite unit of the Marscoite Suite; the Marsco Granite; the Ruadh Stac and Meall Dearg granites of the Srath na Crèitheach Intrusive Centre; the Outer Bytownite Gabbros of the Cuillin Intrusive Centre; explosion breccias; the Glas-Bheinn Mhòr Granite of the Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre.
No Grid references
Aspects covered: hydrothermally-altered Paleocene plateau lavas; the Paleocene Glamaig Granite (normal and marginal facies); alkali olivine dolerite dykes of the Beinn Dearg Type; the Glen Sligachan Granite; the Southern Porphyritic Granite; the hybrid (mixed magma) ring-dyke composed of the Marscoite Suite: the Southern Porphyritic Felsite, a ferrodiorite intrusion and the Southern Porphyritic Felsite; xenoliths of Lewisian Gneiss within the ferrodiorite intrusion; the Marsco Granite; (option: the Marsco Summit Gabbro and summit panorama view)
Aspects covered: Lower Jurassic marine sandstones, siltstones, shales, limestones, including two coral beds, and clastic units with chamosite ooliths; Paleocene dolerite dykes and sills; a composite sill; minor faults.
Aspects covered: unmetamorphosed and metamorphosed dolerite dykes; folded, contact-metamorphosed Cambro-Ordovician Durness Group dolostones and marble; the Paleocene Beinn an Dubhaich Granite of the Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre; contact skarns; abandoned marble quarries.
Aspects covered: details of the Cambro-Ordovician Durness Group dolostones and marbles; historic development of quarrying activity; the abandoned Suardal/Kilchrist quarries and narrow-gauge rail system; roadside abandoned quarry at Cnoc Slapin; the active Torrin Quarry.
Aspects covered: Holocene raised marine deposits at Camas Malag; the Paleocene Beinn an Dubhaich Granite of the Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre; Cambro-Ordovician Durness Group dolostones, locally thermally metamorphosed to produce marbles; dykes of the Paleocene regional swarm; Triassic and Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks; Cambrian sandstones (quartzites); Torridonian sandstones; a gabbro macro-dyke; a layered
picrite dyke.
Aspects covered: Middle and Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks; Paleocene plateau lavas; Paleocene basic and xenolithic ultrabasic dykes; late glacial (Pleistocene) to post-glacial (Holocene) landslips.
Aspects covered: the Paleocene Broadford Gabbro; Cambro-Ordovician Durness Group dolostones; Torridonian sedimentary rocks; hydrothermally-altered Paleocene plateau lavas and conglomerates; granite and micro-granite of the Paleocene Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre; Upper Cretaceous flint-bearing limestones.
Aspects covered: Paleocene granites of the Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre; hydrothermally-altered Paleocene plateau lavas and conglomerates; Lower and Middle Jurassic sedimentary strata; Upper Cretaceous flint-bearing limestones; gneiss of the Lewisian Gneiss Complex; Cambro-Ordovician dolostones; a fault between Cambro-Ordovician and Jurassic strata
Aspects covered: folded, metamorphosed Cambro-Ordovician Durness Group dolostones (marble); Paleocene dolerite dykes intruded into Durness Group dolostones; the Paleocene Beinn an Dubhaich Granite of the Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre; contact skarns; abandoned marble quarries; views of the Cambrian Loch Eriboll Sandstone Formation 'quartzites' on Sleat; Applecross Formation ('Torridonian') sandstones within the Kishorn Thrust Sheet; Triassic Stornoway Formation conglomerates; [abandoned village of Boreraig]; Lower Jurassic Ardnish Formation sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and limestones; Lower Jurassic Pabay Shale Formation strata; a Paleocene gabbro intrusion; [abandoned village of Suisnish]; a Paleocene layered picrite dyke; (Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks); ?Triassic Camas Malag Formation lacustrine deposits (rhythmites); (the Beinn an Dubhaich Granite of the Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre); Holocene raised marine deposits; the Torrin marble quarry.
Aspects covered: Paleocene volcaniclastic and pyroclastic deposits; the Kilchrist Ring-dyke (mixed-magma intrusion); a rhyolite breccia; a rhyolite sheet; ignimbrites; the Paleocene Beinn na Caillich Granite of the Eastern Red Hills Intrusive Centre (coarse- and fine-grained facies); Cambro-Ordovician Durness Group dolostones and Lower Jurassic shales in a fault contact
Aspects covered: Carbonate encrustations on the vertical walls of geos and within Spar Cave; cross-bedded shallow marine sandstones of the Middle Jurassic Druim an Fhuarain Sandstone Member of the Bearreraig Sandstone Formation; Paleocene dolerite dykes of the NW-SE - trending regional swarm.
Aspects covered: Paleocene basaltic-mugearitic plateau lavas; clastic terrestrial sedimentary sequences interbedded with the lavas; lateritised tops of lavas; dykes of the Paleocene regional swarm; a complex fault zone, with brecciated, sheared and veined basaltic rocks.
Aspects covered: architecture and internal characteristics of Paleocene plateau lavas and interbedded sedimentary units; architecture, internal subdivisions and emplacement characteristics of a valley-filling ('intra-canyon') basaltic lava.
Aspects covered: Large-scale architecture of Paleocene basaltic-mugearitic plateau lavas; small-scale internal characteristics of the lavas; lateritised tops of lavas; folded bands/banding within a mugearite lava; dykes of the Paleocene regional swarm; fault zones, with brecciated, sheared and veined basaltic rocks.
Aspects covered: various features of the Paleocene volcanic sequence.
Aspects covered: the Paleocene Neist Point Sill and the Biod Bàn Sill – Middle Jurassic strata — thermal alteration (formation of hornfels) by sills – Paleocene plateau lavas of the Ramasaig Formation – dykes of the Paleocene regional swarm - landslip in Moonen Bay
Aspects covered: the Claigan coral beach – the Lampay tombolo – Paleocene plateau lavas – Paleocene sills of the Little Minch Sill Complex – Paleocene dykes of the regional swarm – views of the lava field of Dunvegan head at the northern end of Duirinish.
Aspects covered: Large-scale architecture of Paleocene basaltic-mugearitic plateau lavas; small-scale internal characteristics of the lavas; lateritised tops of lavas; dykes of the Paleocene regional swarm; fault zones.
Aspects covered: Large-scale architecture of Paleocene basaltic-mugearitic plateau lavas; small-scale internal characteristics of the lavas; lateritised tops of lavas; dykes of the Paleocene regional swarm; fault zones.
Aspects covered: Large-scale architecture of Paleocene basaltic-mugearitic plateau lavas; small-scale internal characteristics of the lavas; lateritised tops of lavas; dykes of the Paleocene regional swarm; a major landslip.
Aspects covered: Large-scale architecture of Paleocene basaltic-mugearitic plateau lavas; small-scale internal characteristics of the lavas; sedimentary units interbedded with the lavas
Aspects covered: Large-scale architecture of Paleocene basaltic plateau lavas viewed in coastal cliffs (no access); small-scale internal characteristics of the lavas; lateritised tops of lavas.
Aspects covered: Paleocene pyroclastic and volcaniclastic deposits; hyaloclastites; subaerial plateau lavas; pillowed lavas; Paleocene dolerite sills; Jurassic sedimentary rocks; Holocene landslips.
Aspects covered: Middle Jurassic shallow marine sedimentary rocks of the Bearreraig Sandstone Formation; a Paleocene dolerite sill.
Aspects covered: Paleocene lavas of the Beinn Edra Formation; Paleocene NW-SE -trending dykes of the regional swarm; landslipped material; moraines.
Aspects covered: Middle Jurassic sedimentary rocks; Palaeocene dolerite sills.
Aspects covered: Paleocene olivine dolerite sills (including the Kilt Rock); the Middle Jurassic Valtos Sandstone Formation
Aspects covered: Middle Jurassic Duntulm Formation strata (Great Estuarine Group); a Paleocene dolerite sill
Aspects covered: Upper Jurassic marine strata of the Staffin Bay and Staffin Shale formations; landslips; a section through a landslipped block of Paleocene lavas; historic exploitation of diatomite deposits
Aspects covered: Quaternary-Holocene landslips; Paleocene lavas; Paleocene dykes of the regional swarm
Aspects covered: Paleocene sills intruded into (thermally metamorphosed) Middle Jurassic strata; coastal features (rock pillars/stacks, sea arches, geos)
Aspects covered: Middle Jurassic estuarine strata of the Duntulm Formation (Great Estuarine Group); a Paleocene layered picrodolerite sill with melted inclusions of country-rock (buchites)
Aspects covered: a Paleocene columnar-jointed picrite sill – a Paleocene banded ultrabasic dyke (the 'Mystery Dyke') – (weathered) olivine dolerite (sill) intruded into Middle Jurassic Kilmaluag Formation strata – raised beach deposits of the Loch Chaluim Chille area.
Aspects covered: Landslipped masses of basalt lava on the western margin of the Paleocene lava field.
Aspects covered: Folded low-grade regional metamorphic rocks of the Aruisg Psammite Group (Late Proterozoic Moine Supergroup) within the Tarskavaig Thrust Sheet; sedimentary features within these strata; Paleocene dykes of the Skye Regional Dyke Swarm; back-to-back storm beaches/tombolo.
Aspects covered: Mylonites; sedimentary structures in psammites of the Late Proterozoic Moine Supergroup.
Aspects covered: the Lewisian Gneiss Complex (granite gneiss; amphibolite; serpentinite); mylonites of the Moine Thrust; Late Proterozoic Torridonian sedimentary rocks (Beinn na Seamraig Group).
Aspects covered: Various Lower Palaeozoic and Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') clastic and chemical (carbonate) sedimentary lithologies in complex thrusted relationships; present-day coralline seaweed (maërl)
deposits
Aspects covered: Soft-sediment deformation structures, possibly seismically-induced, within Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') sandstones of the Beinn na Seamraig Formation of the Sleat Group
Aspects covered: cross-stratification, ripples and soft-sediment deformation structures within non-marine clastic strata of the Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') sequence within the Kishorn Thrust Sheet of the Moine Thrust Zone; a major overturned fold within the trust sheet.
Aspects covered: Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') strata of the Kinloch Formation (Sleat Group) forming a plunging synform within the Kishorn Thrust Sheet - Cambrian clastic strata of the Eriboll Sandstone Formation within the Ord Window - structural elements (folds, faults) of the Moine Thrust Zone.
Aspects covered: Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') strata of the Diabaig and Applecross formations; lithologies of the Lewisian Gneiss Complex; three outcrops of post-Torridonian (Triassic?) carbonate-cemented breccias.
Aspects covered: Late Proterozoic ('Torridonian') strata of the Brochel Member of the Diabaig Formation; Lower Jurassic Ardnish Formation strata adjacent to the Screapadal Fault; Middle Jurassic Druim an Fhuarain Sandstone Member of the Bearreraig Sandstone Formation; Holocene landslips.
Aspects covered: a sill-like Paleocene granite; sandstone of the Middle Jurassic Druim an Fhuarain Sandstone Member; sandstone of the Upper Cretaceous Morvern Greensand Formation; Paleocene basaltic lavas; a spectacular panorama of Raasay, Skye and the Scottish mainland
Aspects covered: stratigraphic development and environment of formation of the Lower Jurassic Raasay Ironstone Formation; discovery of the ironstone; development of the opencast site and mine(s); end of the mining activity; field aspects of the Raasay Ironstone Formation; features of the mining activity.
Aspects covered: Triassic (New Red Sandstone) Stornoway Formation terrestrial conglomerates, sandstones and calcretes; Breakish Formation marine sandstones with concretions, limestones and siltstones; Lower Jurassic Ardnish Formation marine sandstones and siltstones; Lower Jurassic Scalpay Sandstone Member marine sandstones; Middle Jurassic Druim an Fhuarain Sandstone Member shallow marine cross-bedded sandstones; Pabay Shale Formation marine shales and siltstones with concretions; the Hallaig and Beinn na Leac landslips; Devensian till.
Aspects covered: The disused mining plant at the (now disused) pier at East Suisnish; strata of the Lower Jurassic Ardnish Formation and the Pabay Shale Formation; the Raasay Granite sill; the contact between the Raasay Granite sill and the Pabay Shale Formation; the raised beach at Clachan; the Paleocene picrite Oskaig Sill.