22 December 2016
Dikes at Bunnahabhain
Posted by Callan Bentley
Yesterday I blogged the stromatolites to be seen in northeastern Islay, south along the shore from the distillery at Bunnahabhain.
The sharp-eyed among you may have noticed that in this GigaPan, there’s more going on than merely Neoproterozoic carbonates:
Link 1.46 Gpx GigaPan by Callan Bentley
There’s also a prominent dolerite dike, weathering out recessively. A photo, centered on the GigaPanned dike:
This is but one of several to be seen along this lovely stretch of shore. Check out this lovely example:
…Swiveling around, and looking along strike of this same greenish dike:
One more:
According to Webster, et al.’s 2015 A Guide to the Geology of Islay, the Bunnahabhain dikes may be related to lavas seen elsewhere on Islay, at Glas Eilean. if so, they are Pemian in age, about 285 Ma.
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.