Isle of Mull mapping project 2007

Our mapping area consisted entirely of igneous rocks, which was quite different from anything we’d encountered before.We mapped the edge of a central volcano, the third centre on Mull, believed to be due to the plume currently beneath Iceland.

We had about two weeks of brilliant weather, sandwiched between bad weatherat the beginning and terrible weather at the end. Having said that, we completely avoided the widespread flooding taking place in the Midlands at around this time.

The geology is dealt with in far more detail in our full mapping reports, but the following outlines some of the features of the area.

Isle of Mull

The area was much steeper and more treacherous than we had expected, we gotvery fit!

Beinn a' Ghraig: highest (and scariest!) ridge in our area. You can just about make out a pair of basalt pods on the ridge.

The famous Loch Ba Ring-Dyke. It was the most obvious feature in our mapping area.

Basalt Pods

The ring-dyke had mafic inclusions, probably from magma mixing of a layered magma chamber when the central block subsided in caldera collapse.

This is a cone sheet from our area. They were highly magnetic which made measuring strike a nightmare! They could sometimes be hard to spot, as they are basaltic and intruding into basalt.

We also went on some trips around the island as well as some trips off the Island to Iona and Staffa.

Fingal’s Cave, Staffa

Iona Abbey

Calgary Bay, on one of Mull's sunnier days.

The wildlife was brilliant in Mull and the surrounding waters, we saw:● deer● seals● puffins● dolphins● minke whales● sea eagles, which had been reintroduced into our mapping area and a few other

places around the island.

Dolphin on the trip back from Staffa.Puffins just off Staffa.

Seal a.k.a. sausage on a rock, seen while crossing to Iona

Deer, somewhat camera shy. A sea eagle, although U.F.O. pictures have been more convincing.

We met some great people in the youth hostel, including the staff who were very helpful, as well as some very strange people!Thank you so much for your help in getting us to Mull. We had a great time and we’d definitely recommend a visit, it’s a fantastic place.

Anne and Tom in the youth hostel where we stayed for 5 weeks in Tobermory.