Aird na h-Iolaire, Mull
Geological Conservation Review site | GCR #16 | Stratigraphy | Hettangian, Sinemurian and Pliensbachian
Scotland's geosites are chosen because of their local, national or international importance. Take only photos, leave only footprints: avoid causing any damage to this site. You can walk almost anywhere in Scotland without the need to ask permission or keep to paths, but you have a responsibility to care for your own safety, to respect people's privacy and peace of mind and to cause no damage.
This site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly damage the protected natural features of a SSSI, and this includes unauthorised sample collection.
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Summary
Only two occurrences of basal Jurassic rocks are known in Scotland. The section here, developed in Blue Lias lithologies, is the only good section in the Hebridean province with such early Jurassic marine deposits. Like the underlying marine Rhaetic, the lowest Hettangian Lias seems to have only been deposited in the southern Hebrides, for at that time the northern areas of Skye, Applecross, etc were probably land. Aird na h-Iolaire is thus a key site in palaeogeographic reconstructions and for correlation with the classic Lias localities of southern England.
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