Extinct Volcanoes of Western Scotland

Abstract

ARDNAMURCHAN, the most western point on the mainland of Scotland, is a peninsula of gneiss capped by the remains of extinct volcanoes. It projects into the gap between Mull and Skye and is exposed to the full force of Atlantic gales. Its battered cliffs and the landmark formed by its ancient volcanoes are familiar to all who pass by sea along the Western Isles. The geology of the peninsula is now for the first time adequately described in a well-illustrated and excellently compiled memoir of the Scottish Geological Survey, and is accompanied by sheet 51 of its one-inch maps. The sheet, in addition to western Ardnamurchan, includes the island of Coll and north-western Mull. Each of these areas has a very different geological history. Coll is one of the islands composed of Lewisian gneiss. North-western Mull consists of basalt lava-flows from the vents in the central part of the island and western Ardnarnurchan has as its chief feature the dissected base of a huge volcano. Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Scotland. The Geology of Ardnamurchan, North-west Mull and Coll. By J. E. Richey Dr. H. H. Thomas; with Contributions by E. B. Bailey, J. B. Simpson, V. A. Eyles and the late Dr. G. W. Lee; with Chemical Analyses by E. G. Radley and B. E. Dixon. Pp. viii + 393 + 7 plates. 10s. net. Sheet 51: Coll. Scale of one Inch to a statute Mile. Third edition. Colour printed. 30½ in. × 22½ in. 3s. net. (Edinburgh and London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1930.)