'S Airde Beinn
Geological Conservation Review site | GCR #21 | Igneous Petrology | Tertiary Igneous
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.
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Summary
The small but conspicuous rock-girt hill of S'Airde Bheinn is carved from a doleritic plug rising through flat-lying, trap-featured lavas of the Mull Plateau. Such plugs are of restricted occurrence in the Tertiary Igneous Province and are best developed in northern Mull. S'Airde Bheinn is taken as representative; it is not only the largest but also the best known having been investigated for over a century. The thermal effects of the intrusion on the adjacent lavas and their amygdales have been the subject of recent research, the results of which are of mineralogical significance.
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