Back in Iona
Posted: Monday, 17 September 2007 |
I seem to be making frequent trips to Iona - not that I mind - the journey through Mull on a good day is one of the scenic splendours of the west coast. Great hills, great cliffs, loads to see and the prospect of getting in about seriously fine geology! Pity theres that awkward business known as "paying the bills"...
Anyway, it was off for another round of IT work on Sunday afternoon - a lot easier to go down the day before and to stay the night - esp since Joyce and Lindsay are such fine hosts - always good crack there!
The weather on Sunday afternoon was not exactly good - you saw the pics of the waterfalls, so at first it didnt look terribly promising for getting pictures. I was hoping, if possible to get some pictures for my photo library and to help with the geology classes which will be coming up next month.
As it happened, there was some seriously good lighting after the rain and I got a lot of nice shots (well I think so anyway - mind you, Offshore's pics of the desert take some beating - that is some blog he has there - superb stuff)
What did we find?
Nice clouds heaped up over Fionnphort, very cold though.
Iona from the ferry looking straight into the sun
Joyce, Lindsay, Rhona and Nipper the dog and me all went for a stroll to the north end of Iona but the lighting wasnt too great as it was a bit late. Sea was quite dramatic though. Next day was nice. although bitterly cold.
The view to Mull was very nice
I needed to make a quick trip over to Mull half way through the day (dont ask...) While waiting on the ferry, I managed to grab a quick shot of the rocks just south of the Fionnphort pier, looking over to Iona:
The pink granite looks nice at this point, but that dark coloured stuff running through it is a bit more unusual. And its got a good name: porphyritic microgranodiorite. Contrasts beautifully with the granite. I had been looking for a good pic of that for a while - its easy to get to as it is just beyond the ferry slipway, but the sun was shining just nicely on it today. Just think I can now bore my students rigid....
After coming back later in the day, it was back to Tob. Just before Bunessan, the view over to Ardmeanach was nice:
Never ever fails to satisfy me that view. Absolute classic.
Following the coast road from Kinloch is my favourite way back up the road. Besides, there were some rocks I wanted to look at...
The cliffs near Gribun, late in the afternoon
Down on the shore there are some interesting rocks - all sorts of sandstones, conglomerates and limestones, considerably older than the vlocanic rocks that make up the cliffs in the pic above.
There are "dessication cracks" in the rocks - I had been here before with Junior (see a previous blog) but the weather wasnt all that good. It was better this time but the sun was a bit too far west by this time. Anyway, enough excuses, the dessication cracks in the sandstone look a bit like this:
And thats my shadow there... Actually, I am not really sure if you get a proper impression of scale with this pic (no junior budding rock-hound to lend a hand...Actually, in the blog I did a few months ago, he is standing on the same cracks so you can get a better idea of the scale) Anyway, heres another view towards the cliffs above Balmeanach:
A final view to the sun starting to set in the west:
And then one more pic of the cliffs before walking back up to the car.
So thats it for today. See you soon!
MM
Anyway, it was off for another round of IT work on Sunday afternoon - a lot easier to go down the day before and to stay the night - esp since Joyce and Lindsay are such fine hosts - always good crack there!
The weather on Sunday afternoon was not exactly good - you saw the pics of the waterfalls, so at first it didnt look terribly promising for getting pictures. I was hoping, if possible to get some pictures for my photo library and to help with the geology classes which will be coming up next month.
As it happened, there was some seriously good lighting after the rain and I got a lot of nice shots (well I think so anyway - mind you, Offshore's pics of the desert take some beating - that is some blog he has there - superb stuff)
What did we find?
Nice clouds heaped up over Fionnphort, very cold though.
Iona from the ferry looking straight into the sun
Joyce, Lindsay, Rhona and Nipper the dog and me all went for a stroll to the north end of Iona but the lighting wasnt too great as it was a bit late. Sea was quite dramatic though. Next day was nice. although bitterly cold.
The view to Mull was very nice
I needed to make a quick trip over to Mull half way through the day (dont ask...) While waiting on the ferry, I managed to grab a quick shot of the rocks just south of the Fionnphort pier, looking over to Iona:
The pink granite looks nice at this point, but that dark coloured stuff running through it is a bit more unusual. And its got a good name: porphyritic microgranodiorite. Contrasts beautifully with the granite. I had been looking for a good pic of that for a while - its easy to get to as it is just beyond the ferry slipway, but the sun was shining just nicely on it today. Just think I can now bore my students rigid....
After coming back later in the day, it was back to Tob. Just before Bunessan, the view over to Ardmeanach was nice:
Never ever fails to satisfy me that view. Absolute classic.
Following the coast road from Kinloch is my favourite way back up the road. Besides, there were some rocks I wanted to look at...
The cliffs near Gribun, late in the afternoon
Down on the shore there are some interesting rocks - all sorts of sandstones, conglomerates and limestones, considerably older than the vlocanic rocks that make up the cliffs in the pic above.
There are "dessication cracks" in the rocks - I had been here before with Junior (see a previous blog) but the weather wasnt all that good. It was better this time but the sun was a bit too far west by this time. Anyway, enough excuses, the dessication cracks in the sandstone look a bit like this:
And thats my shadow there... Actually, I am not really sure if you get a proper impression of scale with this pic (no junior budding rock-hound to lend a hand...Actually, in the blog I did a few months ago, he is standing on the same cracks so you can get a better idea of the scale) Anyway, heres another view towards the cliffs above Balmeanach:
A final view to the sun starting to set in the west:
And then one more pic of the cliffs before walking back up to the car.
So thats it for today. See you soon!
MM
Comments
Breathtakingly beautiful !! Love your photos
Squidgy the Otter from Coll
You're certainly working overtime this week, MM. The wider-angle photo with the dessication cracks looks like trampled mud - only the photo above it explains what it really is. Great stuff.
Jill from EK
I wonder if there's any connection between porphyritic microgranodiorite and porphyria which King George lll was supposed to have suffered from... and pic 7...I can't help it...menopausal rocks...
Flying Cat from under a duvet
Well, Flying Cat, I hadnt heard of porphyria - but a quick google search put that right. The words are linked by their meaning - the porph bit is from Greek and refers to purplish colour. A lot of porphyritic rocks are purplish, reddish sort of stuff hence the name. And presumably porphyria is a reddish looking disease? Porphyritic rocks in the accepted useage nowadays have larger crystals in a finer ground mass of much smaller crystals. Can be attractive if polished, some of them. Nice rocks!
MM from Mull
I have you on RSS and enjoy reading your blogs and looking at your pictures.
steven milloy from Kilmarnock
fc "men o paws"???
me from here
Oh yes, that's what I meant...thank goodness for 'me'...errrrrrrm...
Flying Cat from ellipses
I love reading your blog. I'm learning a lot. And I love to be able to see Iona once in a while. I miss it (spent the month of May there this year)
Sunila from Switzerland
Porphyria was so called because one of the symptoms is that the sufferer's urine turns reddish purple. In severe cases, the fingernails and teeth can become discoloured too. I never thought I'd find myself writing that on the Island blog!
Izzie (Mrs Trellis) from N E Wales
Thsi is the sort of informative and useful comment you would expect from a woman who communicates regularly with Humph...
Flying Cat from now I HAVE a clue
title sa
carol from from mull to the--
i think the abrove adresse speaks for itself!!!!
carol from from mull to the--
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
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