A Giant Stone Toadstool...
Posted: Thursday, 05 July 2007 |
The weather certainly wasnt great today, Thursday 5th July, but I was looking after junior for most of the day so we needed to do something. Hadnt been to Croggan beside Loch Spelve for a while, so decided to give it a go.
The sign at the Lochbuie junction reads Lochbuie 8 miles, Croggan 8 miles. These just HAVE to be the longest 8 miles anywhere. Great drive though. I really like it in winter when the snow is on the hills.
From near Croggan there is a path round part of the coast and the Giant Stone Toadstool was round there.
Here are pics of it:
Junior approaches:
Iain posing beside the stone:
It appears that the rock forming the "stalk" is much softer than the "cap" and the toadstool has resulted simply from different rates of erosion. You get this sort of thing elsewhere, where they are known as "fairy chimneys" The Cappadocia region of Turkey has some crackers. Do a Google image search for Fairy Chimneys and see what comes up!
Back to our own fairy fantasy:
Just beside it, a very obvious dyke runs across the shore. Young fellow beside it for scale:
The geology of this area is fascinating - there are serious numbers of dykes cutting across this part of Mull. One of the dykes which runs near here extends all the way to Cleveland in the north of England. The famous "Cleveland Dyke" has been studied in detail and papers published on it. One of the studies gets quoted as:
"They postulated that the dyke had been fed laterally from a source beneath Mull, flowing ...in a manner transitional between laminar and turbulent con-ditions’. It was calculated that the magma took between one and five days to reach NorthYorkshire"
If you want some good info on all this, try:
http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/V4Chap1.pdf
A bit technical, but good. Actually, I came across a good quote about scientific papers - sadly it is true in a lot of cases:
"There is no form of prose more difficult to understand and more tedious to read than the average scientific paper" Francis Crick, 1984
Thats all for today - be back soon!
MM
The sign at the Lochbuie junction reads Lochbuie 8 miles, Croggan 8 miles. These just HAVE to be the longest 8 miles anywhere. Great drive though. I really like it in winter when the snow is on the hills.
From near Croggan there is a path round part of the coast and the Giant Stone Toadstool was round there.
Here are pics of it:
Junior approaches:
Iain posing beside the stone:
It appears that the rock forming the "stalk" is much softer than the "cap" and the toadstool has resulted simply from different rates of erosion. You get this sort of thing elsewhere, where they are known as "fairy chimneys" The Cappadocia region of Turkey has some crackers. Do a Google image search for Fairy Chimneys and see what comes up!
Back to our own fairy fantasy:
Just beside it, a very obvious dyke runs across the shore. Young fellow beside it for scale:
The geology of this area is fascinating - there are serious numbers of dykes cutting across this part of Mull. One of the dykes which runs near here extends all the way to Cleveland in the north of England. The famous "Cleveland Dyke" has been studied in detail and papers published on it. One of the studies gets quoted as:
"They postulated that the dyke had been fed laterally from a source beneath Mull, flowing ...in a manner transitional between laminar and turbulent con-ditions’. It was calculated that the magma took between one and five days to reach NorthYorkshire"
If you want some good info on all this, try:
http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/V4Chap1.pdf
A bit technical, but good. Actually, I came across a good quote about scientific papers - sadly it is true in a lot of cases:
"There is no form of prose more difficult to understand and more tedious to read than the average scientific paper" Francis Crick, 1984
Thats all for today - be back soon!
MM
Comments
Hi MM. I know what you mean about the miles, there are Lake District miles which are of similar length. And I am most impressed by the dyke that runs to Cleveland. 5 days, eh? How strange to see such a short period quoted in a geological context. BUT what about that poor little boy? I hope you pay him well for acting as a substitute ruler and standing under a hazardous looking stone :-)
Jill from EK
liked the pics as usual-- took one of man with the---- o top of stack just like your onebonly in granite--will send to ibhq to put on site!
carol from back from hiking in the cevennes
Oh, quaint little hoodoo .... Now, in Texas ..(kidding). # Picture three is my favorite. The expression on the budding geologist is worth a million. Must be wonderful to traipse along with such a knowledgeable father.
mjc from NM,USA
Hi! Yes, in that last pic he's got that sort of "I've had enough, I want to go home!" look about him. Meanwhile, his boring geek of a father rants on about igneous petrology.....
James from Tobermory
Not another peep from Mountainman. James from Tobermory, you have turned mountainman into stone ( Another hoodoo?): an old fashion miracle in this modern age.
mjc from NM,USA
No, just having a break - been walking through the Lairig Ghru and the Lairig an Laoigh. Back in Mull on Wed and immediately back to work in Iona on Thursday! Dont worry -normal service about to be resumed soon.
Mountainman from Braemar right now
Good, Mountainman.
mjc from NM,USA
Is it for darning a giant's sock?
Flying Cat from stitching&sewing
Giants sock! Ha! Good one! Actually, I believe the stone , together with another in Glen More relates to a fight between two mythical Fingalian giants, but I'd need to check up on that. I like that sock comment though, thats really funny! I remember my granny had a wooden toadstool thing which used to intrigue me until she showed me what it was for.
Mountainman from Tobermory
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
RSS Feed