Mappp.co geology and wildlife sites

Knock Dhu Sallagh Braes

…acial history. The cliff face is dominated by Palaeogene age rocks of the Lower Basalt Formation. Variation in texture provides near vertical cliff faces where the rock is competent, to free draining 'rubbly' textures where the basalt is naturally more fragmented. The basalt is u…

Giant's Causeway and Dunseverick

…e main features of the Antrim Lava Group, particularly the spectacular columnar basalts of the Causeway Member itself. Around 60 million years ago, the northward extension of the Atlantic Ocean was accompanied by crustal fractures tapping basaltic magma from the upper mantle in t…

Binevenagh

…ng Lough Foyle and the Inishowen Peninsula of Donegal, is dominated by vertical basalt cliffs, which rise in places to over lOOm above the grasslands below. These cliffs offer a well-exposed sequence of the Tertiary basalts of the western part of the Antrim Plateau. The exposure …

Mournes Coast

…sheet is made of two distinct rock types; its margins are of hornblende-olivine basalt which encloses the later central member of quartz-feldspar porphyry. The margin chilled against the older Silurian rocks and angular xenoliths of this country rock are enclosed in the basalt. T…

Galboly

Galboly Fungi assemblage, Hieracium basalticola, Higher plant assemblage, Irish whitebeam Calcareous grassland, Dry heath, Inland rock, Intertidal rock, Mixed ashwoods Cretaceous stratigraphy, Mass movement, Tertiary igneous The are…

Portmuck

…ivided into a composite flow, is the best example of this feature in the Antrim basalts. The upper component is some 15 m. thick while the lower basalt is about 3 m thick. The lower zone of the flow is particularly rich in olivine, a mineral which solidifies early in molten basal…

Ballypalady

…he best known, best documented and botanically the richest of the Tertiary Interbasaltic fossil plant localities in Ireland. As all the other sites that historically yielded fossil material were associated with underground mine workings, Ballypalady is also the site most suitable…

Samuel's Port

…s of acidic com position and it shows basification against the earlier marginal basalt intrusion. There is also a later tholeiitic member of the dyke that carries xenoliths of gabbro and granite. This dyke is a fine example of the intrusion of both acid and basic magma and the va…

Trotternish Ridge

…fordian and Kimmeridgian Stages, the prominent escarpment of a Tertiary Igneous basalt plateau and spectacular landslip landforms associated with mass movement of the underlying rock. The basalt is strongly calcareous in parts and this contributes to the presence of a nationally …

Ramore Head and The Skerries

…eptunist Kirwan in 1799. With Kirwan's announcement of a find of fossiliferous 'basalt', the 'Portrush Rock' became a critical site in the debate over the origin of igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are now recognised as owing their origin to the crystallisation, or solidification, of…

Belshaws Quarry

…one Formation 83 to 72 million years old below, and lava flows of younger black basalt of the early Palaeogene Antrim Lava Group 63 to 60 million years old above. The period of time within which the CwF formed spans about 10 million years of the Late Cretaceous and Early Palaeoge…

Craigahulliar

…ssion exposed in Craigahulliar quarry consists of the lowest member of the Interbasaltic Formation, the red laterites of the Port na Spaniagh Member, representing the weathered surface of the Lower Basalts. This surface had been weathered and eroded to form a north-south trending…

Tievebulliagh

… form of an inclined plug or sheet intersecting the Tertiary lavas of the Lower Basalt Formation. High temperature and low pressure metamorphism recrystallised the basalt lavas at the contact. Crystal settling of early-formed olivine has enriched the rock along the footwall. A la…

White Rocks

…rries. The vents contain agglomerates comprising shattered chalk with flint and basalt while the walls are often well defined, showing agglomerate in contact with undisturbed chalk. While there is an undoubted volcanic origin for many of these features, there is a possibility tha…

Brockagh Quarry

…ilio which is associated with the site. The site sits entirely within the Upper Basalt Formation of Antrim Lava Group. This Palaeogene age series forms part of the major basalt plateau that dominates much of County Antrim and eastern County Londonderry. Soils in the general area …

Eryri

…Bedded Pyroclastic and Upper Rhyolitic Tuff formations, together with intrusive basalts, rhyolitic sills and domes. The sections offer an unrivalled opportunity to study the three-dimensional relationships within a part of the caldera structure. Investigations have revealed the c…

Castle Point

…ort Calliagh belong to the Ulster White Limestone Formation and are overlain by basalt of the Antrim Lava Group. The Ballycastle and Port Calliagh Chalk Members have their type localities within the site. The available evideIJce indicates the Chalk Members were deposited in a war…

Bellevue

…one Formation 83 to 72 million years old below, and lava flows of younger black basalt of the early Palaeogene Antrim Lava Group 63 to 60 million years old above. The period of time within which the CwF formed spans about 10 million years of the Late Cretaceous and Early Palaeoge…

South Woodburn

…r part of the area is underlain by Palaeogene age rocks, dominated by the Lower Basalt Formation. Almost exclusively comprising basalt,these rocks formed as lava flows associated with fissure type eruptions. To the east of the site there is an area of outcropping Cretaceous age c…

Cranny Falls

…ded by a waterfall. Cranny Falls is on the eastern edge of the extensive Antrim Basalt Plateau, falling entirely within an area of the Lower Basalt Formation. The falls themselves appear to have developed at a junction between successive basalt flows. On the northern side of the …

Eigg - Laig to Kildonnan

…small bay near to Kildonnan. The north and east coasts of Eigg are dominated by basalt cliffs, below which are grassy and boulder strewn slopes descending to sea level. The basalt has given rise to fertile conditions which combine with the coastal location to form a predominantly…

Tircreven

…nts both of which occur above the Cretaceous limestone but below the Palaeogene basalts. The Jurassic rocks here belong to the Lower Lias, specifically the Sinemurian stage, dating from 195 million years ago with a total thickness of around 52m. The rock consists mainly of calcar…

Killydonnelly

…uth. The underlying geology of Killydonnelly is dominated by rocks of the Lower Basalt Formation. This igneous rock occupies large areas of Antrim and north east Londonderry and is the parent material from which the soils have developed. Depending on factors such as rainfall, alt…

Carron Water and Hapland Burn

…the Lower Permian Durisdeer Formation and the top part of the underlying Carron Basalt Formation. The Carron Basalt Formation contains thin olivine basalt flows and passes comfortably upwards into the Durisdeer Formation. The Durisdeer Formation is comprised of a series of tabula…

Glenariff Glen

…im Glens. The area is underlain by Palaeogene age rocks, dominated by the Lower Basalt Formation. Almost exclusively comprising basalt, these rocks formed as lava flows associated with fissure type eruptions. The soils at Glenariff Glen have developed from the basalt parent rock.…

Little Deer Park

…ands at Little Deer Park mainly occur on areas of slumped rock derived from the basalt cliffs on the north-eastern slopes of Black Hill. Some sections of the site are underlain by slumped blocks of chalk, a high purity limestone. The soils of the area are derived from this parent…

Ardmeanach

…lava flows, known as the Staffa Lava Formation, are characteristically columnar basalt which in places flowed into bodies of standing water. Occasionally the lava flows engulfed large trees, preserving them as remarkable fossils, the most famous of these being MacCulloch’s Tree. …

Glynn Woods

… is primarily Ulster White Limestone and Hibernian Green Sands, capped by Lower Basalts which were formed by lava flows associated with fissure type eruptions. The Glynn River valley is underlain exclusively by these Palaeogene age rocks of the Lower Basalt Formation. The thin, f…

Glenariff

…se it is the largest remalnlng area of undisturbed semi-natural woodland on the basalt escarpment of County Antrim, and contains a variety of associated physical features such as streams, waterfalls, scree slopes and cliffs. A large number of typical woodland plant species occur.…

Ballygalley Head

…Antrim. The geology of the Ballygalley Head area is dominated by Palaeogene age basalt and basaltic agglomerate belonging to the Antrim Lava Group. Overlying this, shallow freely-draining soils rock rankers have developed from the basalt series and these have given rise to a type…

Lough Neagh

…t because it is a large shallow eutrophic lake occupying a downwarp in Tertiary basalt with its associated physical, chemical and biological characteristics. More specifically it is of interest for: wintering and breeding birds; its wetland vegetation, which includes a large numb…

Garron Plateau

… relates to the occurrence of a successional sequence from dark, coarse olivine basalts below, to flow banded finer grained olivine porphyritic basalts above, and by the presence of a picrite-dolerite plug formation at Trosk, which is unique in Ireland. All of these features occu…

The Gobbins

…ge of maritime plant communities and notable species. The Gobbins is an area of basalt sea-cliffs, up to 60m in height, on the eastern coast of Island Magee, Co. Antrim. The basalts at Hill's Port at the south end of The Gobbins cliffs are amygdaloidal bubbles, or vesicles, in la…

Loch Sguabain

…uabain in Glen More, on the Isle of Mull. The site is predominantly composed of basalt lava which erupted from a volcano centred on Glen More during the Tertiary period around 60 million years ago. Ovoid-shaped parcels of basalt rock known as “pillows” are scattered throughout th…

Rathlin Island - Kebble

…acter and has developed on thin peat soils which have accumulated on the raised basalt plateaux. This results in the occurrence of plant species that are adapted to well-drained, more acidic conditions. The vegetation is dominated by heather Calluna vulgaris, bell heather Erica c…

St. John's Point

…truded into older Silurian age sandstones and shales. The dykes are principally basaltic in composition but have a number of important petrological and chemical differences from the nearby Mourne dyke swarm, and also from the Antrim series. The outcrop present in this coastal are…

Lagganulva Wood

…eogene geological period. The site encompasses lava flows of an unusual type of basalt (known as mugearite) intercalated with basalt lavas more typical of the older flows of the Mull Volcano and known as the Staffa Lava Formation. Within the site, a volcanic pipe filled by ash in…

Kershope Bridge

… sections of the series of igneous rocks collectively known as the Kershopefoot Basalt, as well as the sediments almost directly above and below. The weight of evidence supports an extrusive origin for the Kershopefoot Basalt at this locality. The rock is known to occupy more or …

Glenarm Woods Part 2

…d shrubs, which occur at various densities. The site is underlain by Palaeogene basalts belonging to the Upper Basalt Formation which form part of the extensive Antrim basalt plateau. The soils at Glenarm are derived from the parent rock and are generally free draining. The site …

Scawt Hill

…the Cretaceous Ulster White Limestone and overlying Tertiary lavas of the Lower Basalt Formation. High temperature and low pressure thermal metamorphism at the plug contacts has produced unusual calc-silicate mineral assemblages in the limestone, and assimilation of the carbonate…

Beinn Iadain and Beinn na h-Uamha

… situated near the centre of the Morvern peninsula in Lochaber. It contains the basalt summits of two hills, Beinn Iadain and Beinn na h-Uamha, which rise to about 500 metres, the highest basalt summits in Lochaber. These hills are of geological significance and also support high…

Rickle Craig - Scurdie Ness

… agates can be studied. The best exposures of the Ferryden Lavas, a sequence of basalts and andesites that are the earliest expression of volcanic activity associated with the Montrose Volcanic Centre, and are intercalated with sediments of the Arbuthnott Group of Lower Devonian …

Prolusk

…de of approximately 120-160m above sea level and consists of a series of raised basalt plateaux with a naturally irregular topography. The underlying geology of Prolusk is dominated by basalt lava flows of Palaeogene age. Basalt is a fine-grained crystalline material and drainage…

Arran Northern Mountains

…l-displayed within the site which has over 700m of relief. Post-and pre-granite basaltic dykes and post-granite felsitic dykes occur throughout. In addition, to the north-east of the site in North Glen Sannox, there are exposures associated with the Highland Border Complex which …

Brent Tor

…oll of Brent Tor is one of the few well-exposed examples of Lower Carboniferous basaltic hyaloclastites in Devon. From the limited outcrop pattern submarine volcanism probably built a small localised high-level hyaloclastite mound on the seafloor. The stratigraphically upper port…

Ard Bheinn

…e development of volcanic rocks intermediate in composition between granite and basalt, both as laval flows and as pyroclastic debris. The site also shows unique foundered masses of Tertiary basalt lavas, chalk, sandstones, shales and other sediments that once covered Arran but h…

Garleton Hills

…e lava flows and associated tuffs. These exposures are important in showing how basaltic magmas locally evolved at relatively shallow depths in the crust, producing the more silica-rich trachyte magmas. This process is thought to have occurred in a magma chamber located along the…

Carrickarade

… million years ago. The vent is composed of agglomerate consisting of blocks of basalt up to 3m in diameter embedded in a matrix of volcanic ash with occasional fragments ofLias clay and Chalk. Carious weathering on parts of the agglomerate outcrop suggests a derivation from fine…

Linford

…e coast of Antrim. In Antrim, the Limestone is usually capped by Palaeogene age basalts of the Antrim Lava Group. This effectively seals much of the limestone against weathering and erosion. Karst landforms are created by the interaction of water and limestone and surface feature…

Ballyrisk More

…h leads into Limavady. The soils on the majority of the area are developed from basalt tills. They range from humic rankers that are very poorly drained surface water gleys to impeded drained gleyed soils derived from basalt and marl tills. Due to the above combination of slope, …

Drumadoon - Tormore

…(“Judd’s Dykes”) south of Tormore, associated composite dykes whose members are basaltic and granitic in composition, intrusions of flow banded, devitrified volcanic glass at Cleiteadh nan Sgarbh and the thick composite sill forming Drumadoon, which shows contamination and mixing…

Grassholm / Ynys Gwales

…rey seals Halichoerus grypus, which haul out on the rocky foreshore. This small basalt island is located approximately 16 km west of Skomer, with its highest point being a smooth ridge no more than 15 metres above sea-level, falling in shallow steps to the sea on the eastern and …

Sgistau Glas Ynys Môn

…the foliation is deformed by intrafolial folds. The protolith was a sequence of basalts and sediments, the former now represented by crossite-and glaucophane-bearing metabasites and the latter by phengite-mica schists and lawsonite schists. The metabasites display a Mid-Ocean Rid…

Sandy Braes

…. The available evidence indicates the Complex is contemporaneous with the Interbasaltic Formation, which represents a period of relative volcanic quiescence, elsewhere in Antrim, between the Lower and Upper Basalt Formations of the Antrim Lava Group. The Tardree Rhyolite Complex…

Glenballyemon River

…falls along a steep bedrock gorge. The channel substrate has a mixed geology of basalt and limestone, which has allowed calcareous caverns and caves to be formed at the bottom of falls. Channel macrophytes are restricted to bryophytes, particularly long beaked water feather moss …

Eigg - An Sgurr and Gleann Charadail

…gh 200 meters of the lava pile of Eigg on which the pitchstone rests. The steep basalt cliffs around the coast support ungrazed ledge communities with characteristic species such as roseroot and sea campion. Throughout the cliffs, flushed gullies support species typical of wet, b…

Canna and Sanday

… the Small Isles archipelago to the west of Mallaig. Canna is ringed with steep basalt cliffs whereas Sanday, the smaller of the two islands, is lower lying. The islands support nationally important machair habitat, maritime cliff plant communities, a moth assemblage and breeding…

Webberton Cross Quarries

…thern Quarry of the pair in this area exhibits about 15 metres of a porphyritic basalt lava of Permian age. Together with various lamprophyres, these early basaltic extrusives were dominant expressions of post-orogenic Permian vulcanism. Of particular interest here is the highly …

Black Burn

…tream sinks at the base of a 25m high waterfall, the contact between the Antrim Basalts and limestone. The entrance to Black Burn cave lies to the east of the waterfall and is active only in high water conditions. During floods the cave system is too immature to allow all the wat…

Tardree Quarry

…. The available evidence indicates the Complex is contemporaneous with the Interbasaltic Formation, which represents a period of relative volcanic quiescence, elsewhere in Antrim, between the Lower and Upper Basalt Formations of the Antrim Lava Group. The timing of the Complex's …

Coverack Cove & Dolor Point

…ch in turn gives way to dominant gabbro. All of the rock-types are cut by later basaltic dykes. The field relations at Coverack provide critical evidence as to the relative age of the Lizard igneous rocks. The peridotites are the oldest, followed by the transition zone ultramafi…

North Woodburn Reservoir

… of 220m. The area is underlain by Palaeogene age rocks, dominated by the Lower Basalt Formation. Almost exclusively comprising basalt these rocks formed as lava flows associated with fissure type eruptions. The soils at North Woodburn Reservoir are derived from the parent rock, …

Tamnyrankin

…level. The underlying geology of Tamnyrankin is dominated by rocks of the Lower Basalt Formation of Palaeogene age some 60 million years old. This igneous rock occupies large areas of Antrim and north-east Londonderry and is the parent material from which the soils have developed…

Little Mell Fell Quarry

…l disused quarry approximately 50 metres in length. These man made exposures of basalt are of considerable importance for geological research into a major volcanic episode occurring in the Dinantian period, 300 million years ago and also to compare with similar age rocks elsewher…

Talisker

…ick, contains a wide variety of compositions of lava including picrite, olivine basalt, hawaiite, mugearite and olivine tholeiite. The site also includes the type locality for the distinctive Preshal More type of low-alkali, high-calcium olivine tholeiite. This is an important ma…

Calton Hill

…nce to geologists because of the occurrence of a very rare rock type within the basalt lavas which are exposed here. The Calton Hill area was the site of a volcanic vent during early Carboniferous times, some 330 million years ago and the basalt lavas occur within the vent. The l…

Fair Head and Murlough Bay

…Head and Murlough Bay <i>Fungi assemblage, Invertebrate assemblage, Hieracium basalticola, Higher plant assemblage, Lower plant assemblage: Bryophytes, Lower plant assemblage: Lichens, peregrine falcon Calcareous grassland, oakwood, Maritime cliff and slopes, Wet heath, Oligo…

Llanelwedd Rocks

… volcanic suite erupted and emplaced during Llanvirn times. The suite spans the basalt-andesite-rhyolite compositional range and consequently is geochemically different from typical sequences of similar age elsewhere in Wales. The basaltic lavas are present in both massive and pi…

Crawton Bay

…f the Midland Valley. The formation consists of volcanic lavas (olivine-bearing basalts and basaltic andesites) and interbedded river-deposited conglomerates of late Silurian to Early Devonian age. Exposure of the lavas is unusually fine, and features such as large elongate plagi…

Rubha Hunish

…he clarity and continuity of its exposure. The maritime cliff vegetation on the basalt cliffs, block scree and peninsula is one of the best examples in Skye and Lochalsh. Within Rubha Hunish SSSI there are excellent exposures of the Trotternish Sill Complex. This complex consists…

Rum

…is determined by three major rock types: acid Torridonian sandstone; calcareous basalt and Triassic limestone; and a complex of magnesium-rich ultra basic igneous rocks. The vegetation also reflects the long occupation of the island by people; grazing and burning have resulted in…

Cuillins

…e tall herb ledges are at their most diverse and luxuriant on the limestone and basalt of Blaven and Coire Uaigneich. Here, in the absence of grazing, they support examples of the Luzula sylvatica - Geum rivale community and include uncommon species such as Alpine saw-wort Saussu…

Firth of Forth

…ls, provide an insight into the conditions under which the host rock, an alkali basalt, crystallised. Palaeontology Although of importance in understanding the Lower Carboniferous geology of the Forth area, and of Scotland as a whole, the sedimentary rock sequence has world-wide …

St Cyrus and Kinnaber Links

…sand dunes, shingle, foreshore, river estuary, saltmarsh and cliffs composed of basalts and andesites of Old Red Sandstone age. The cliffs have weathered to produce a moderately base-rich soil, and for the north-east of Scotland the site enjoys relatively long hours of sunshine. …

Rathlin Island - Ballycarry

…nd wetland vegetation. The site occupies a relatively flat plateau on the Lower Basalt rock to the north-east of the island. A series of depressions and troughs form a number of small wetlands, interconnected by low-lying channels and flushes. Exposure to wind and salt have produ…

South Coast of Arran

…posite sill of great petrogenetic interest, consisting of rocks of granitic and basaltic composition. In places these rocks contain material derived from one another and elsewhere show evidence of mixing when in a liquid state. The site is also of biological interest for its vege…

Runkerry

…esses Runkerry strand is a 1.2 km long, northwest-orientated beach, bounded by basalt headlands and occupies a fault-controlled bay. The River Bush enters the sea at the south-western end of the bay. The site is of particular geomorphological interest as it is the highest energy…

Castletown

…ay meadows are on a gently sloping south facing hill. Soils have developed from basalt parent material and are fairly free draining. Minor variations in surface topography and drainage have resulted in local pockets of damp soil. Here plants typical of wetter soil conditions are …

Allolee to Walltown

…he whin Sill, which is restricted to Northumberland and Durham is composed of a basalt quartz dolerite which is less acidic than others of this type. When slabs of the whin Sill are exposed on the dip slopes, the crevices are colonised by plants which can tolerate the dry conditi…

Abbey Craig

…rling Council area. The woodland which has developed on these south-west facing basaltic cliffs is dominated by a mixture of mature ash and sycamore, with occasionally frequent gean, bird cherry, hazel, holly, hawthorn and blackthorn. The characteristic field layer includes wild …

An Cleireach

…se megacrysts which had crystallized from a low-alkali, high-calcium tholeiitic basalt magma. The geochemistry of the intrusion thus confirms the existence of a low-alkali, high-calcium tholeiitic magma towards the end of Palaeogene volcanism in northern Skye and furthers our und…

Torr Head

…Volcanic activity around that time resulted in the association of limestone and basaltic rocks recorded at Torr Head. Rifting along the continental margin continued into Upper Dalradian times, when basins developed and were infilled with sediments derived from the nearby continen…

Clochodrick Stone

…ually large glacial erratic boulder composed of trachytoid, porphyritic olivine-basalt – a relatively rare alkaline volcanic rock type consisting of large crystals set in a mass of fine material. It is still in situ where a former glacier deposited it and it is nationally importa…

Outer Belfast Lough

… deternline ages for the Permian rocks of Ireland and western Britain. Tertiary basaltic and dolerite intrusions are abundant in the Triassic rocks, particularly along the northern shore between Greenisland and Carrickfergus. Massive dykes are evident at Carrickfergus, forming, i…

Moelypenmaen

…usive rocks have, like the lavas, evolved through fractional crystallization of basaltic magma.

Balglass Corries

…mation and provides well-exposed examples of multiple volcanic vents and plugs; basaltic intrusions; and lavas that form a plateau sequence, characteristic of this province. The plateau above the cliffs is covered by a relatively undisturbed and extensive area of nationally impor…

Aldons Hill

…shes Juncus spp. and bog myrtle Myrica gale. Ground water running off base-rich basalt and gabbro supports a more varied mire type that is often dominated by black bog-rush Schoenus nigricans and also supports dioecious sedge Carex dioica, common butterwort Pinguicula vulgaris an…

Balmerino - Wormit Shore

…und or into lakes and rivers. A range of lava compositions is present including basalt, basic pyroxene andesite and andesite. The lavas are often notably feldsparphyric and in places pillow and peperite (thermally shattered magma) structures indicate an aqueous environment of ext…

Sligachan

…bance. In parts, extensive mineral rich flushing associated with the underlying basalt gives rise to large areas dominated by black bog-rush and smaller areas with common reed and tall sedges, often with carpets of brown mosses. Narrower flushes and water tracks are widespread, a…

Cottonshope Head Quarry

…e of Lower Carboniferous lava flows in north east England. Two alkaline olivine basalt flows, of Dinantian age, can be seen in the quarry and in the stream section south east of the sheepfold. The flows have rubbly tops and bases and the top of the uppermost flow forms a well mar…

Coed Ty-canol (Ty-canol Wood)

…Preseli within 5 miles of the sea. Geological diversity, with dolerite, gabbro, basalt and rhyolitic tuffs, as well as sedimentary rock (all of Ordovician age), and numerous faults, has led to exceptional topographical variety. Five large tors or carns, Carnedd Meibion Owain, dom…

Rubh' an Eireannaich

…th acid and basic magmas is demonstrated by an almost continuous gradation from basalt at the sill margins through to the felsite core, with hybrid zones between. Although the basic and acidic magmas comprising the sill were injected separately, the initial injection of basic mag…

Dale and South Marloes Coast

… at Middle Jamb, The Anvil, Limpet Rocks and Renney Slip is exposed a series of basaltic flows interbedded with sediments of the upper part of the Skomer Volcanic Group which is absent on Skomer Island. BIOLOGY The majority of this shoreline has a south-westerly or westerly asp…

S' Airde Beinn

… is a small but conspicuous rock-girt hill carved from a mass of coarse-grained basalt. It represents part of a lava flow that failed to reach the surface, and remained within the feeder pipe to solidify as a plug. The plug cuts the flat lying terraced lava flows of the Mull Volc…

Dumbarton Rock

…of Lower Carboniferous age (around 340 million years ago) composed of hawaiitic basalt. It exhibits well developed columnar jointing forming a pattern which indicates that the plug occupies a cone shaped pipe that narrows downwards. At the margin of the plug hydrothermal chlorite…

Sunart

…erry, wavy hair grass and bracken-filled glades. Nutrient rich areas, overlying basalt or in gorges, support a rich ground flora, with dog’s mercury, enchanter’s nightshade and sanicle. An understorey of rowan, holly and hazel has a patchy distribution. The ancient and oceanic na…

Castle River Valley

…uvium and show clear lithographies of underlying Hibernian Green Sandstones and Basalt. The area is composed of seven steeply sloping field parcels with a northerly aspect. There is a small associated area of scrub in one field parcel which is complemented by a network of mature …

Carneal

… at this site is known as the Cameal Plug. Tbe dolerite plug intrudes the Lower Basalt Formation but has also dragged up a block of the older Cretaceous limestone from depth. The margins of the limestone were altered to calc-silicate rock containing spurrite and other minerals, w…

Camas Mor, Muck

…of Camas Mor a large dyke intrusion of gabbro, the coarse grained equivalent of basalt, cuts Jurassic limestone. The two rock-types have reacted chemically to produce a ‘skarn’ which comprises a range of rare minerals.

Loch Cleat

…n providing the most detailed and dated record of the vegetation history of the basalt areas of northern Skye. The history compares closely with that at sites in the “predominant birch forest” zone on the mainland to the north, but contrasts markedly with southern and eastern Sky…

Mollinsburn Road Cutting

…re than 40 kilometres and is approximately 295 million years old. The dykes are basaltic in composition but show more chemical similarities to the great sill, which underlies much of the central Midland Valley of Scotland, than to the lavas.

Skomer Island and Middleholm

…eholm the well-exposed volcanic succession is 1000m thick, and comprises alkali basalts, hawaiites, mugearites, rare benmorites and rhyolites, interbedded with fluvial sandstones. Eruption of the lavas was principally sub-aerial, as indicated by the presence of red boles on the t…

Shiant Islands

…s. Garbh Eilean and Eilean an Tighe consist almost entirely of a single sill of basaltic composition. The shapes and abundances of the constituent minerals vary with height within the sill and these variations have been interpreted as strong evidence for the sinking of early-form…

Waterloo

…as beds. North-west of the dyke, a poorly exposed sequence of mudstones, rotten basalt and sheared strata suggests another fault zone trending north-east to south-west. Beyond this, the foreshore is heavily covered by loose boulders and only small, scattered exposures are seen. T…

Hareheugh Craigs

…rest is enhanced because it is composite in nature, with two principal types of basalt present. Such intrusions give insight into the availability of magma with time, and the composite character can yield information on the processes which took place in magma chambers and the mec…

Ulva, Danna and the McCormaig Isles

…g geology of the site, comprised of bands of Tayvallich limestone, epidiorites, basaltic dykes, phyllites, and mica schists, together with the more acidic bands of quartzite and Crinan grits, has a significant influence on the plant communities and their distribution throughout t…

Aghanloo Wood

…oodland displays a base-rich character, which is due to the underlying Tertiary Basalt rocks. However,there is considerable variation, primarily as a result of past management and changes in soil moisture across the site. As a result,the area has one of the richest woodland plant…

Aire Point to Carrick Du

…es punctuated by sheer castellated granite cams. Associated Devonian slates and basaltic rocks, altered by the intrusion of the granite, display fine examples of the effects of contact metamorphism. The soils, which are often thin, are generally acidic, well drained with a gritty…

Coolnasillagh

… by surface water humic gleys. The underlying parent material is Tertiary Upper Basalt. The grassland is composed of two field parcels which are bisected by the Coolnasillagh Road. The fields slope in a southerly direction towards the Coolnasillagh River. Due to the above combina…

Gill Beck

…quence especially valuable. At least four lava flows are present including both basalts and tholeiitic andesites. The site is also important as the Ordovician Skiddaw Slates lie unconformably beneath the lavas. Sediments overlying the lavas have yielded a Courceyan stage age and …

Haw Craig - Glenarbuck

…e best example of native ash-elm woodland in West and East Dunbartonshire and a basalt escarpment that supports a rich assemblage of flowering plants and bryophytes. Ash woodland in Scotland is restricted in extent, as it closely reflects the distribution of base-rich soils and g…

Spring Cove Cliffs

…sual for the region; they include carbonate and clastic sediments together with basaltic lavas and agglomerates. Spring Cove Cliffs is a classic locality for the study of volcanic rocks of Early Carboniferous age in southern England. The sequence of Dinantian volcanic rocks, abou…

Girvan to Ballantrae Coast Section

…re diverse in terms of rock-type and are more akin to oceanic island ‘hot-spot’ basalts. The foreshore and cliff exposures at Games Loup demonstrate the contact between the northern serpentinite belt and the basic lavas of the central lava belt. The harzburgites to the north have…

Cruach Choireadail

…y interpreted as a type-example of the production of granitic rocks from molten basalt by a type of magmatic evolution. It was hypothesised that dense crystals, formed early in the solidification of the intrusion, sank in the magma leaving a still-liquid residue of different comp…

Llwyn-iarth

…th small areas underlain by silica-rich ashes of the Offrwm Volcanic Group, and basalts and basic tufts of the Rhobell Volcanic Group. Overlying superficial deposits consist mainly of glacial till (boulder clay). The neutral grassland is characterised by crested dog’s-tail Cynosu…

Masson Hill

…nk of Matlock Dale rising to 330 metres above sea level. The Hill has a core of basaltic lavas, ashes and agglomerates, pierced by a plug of dolerite. The dolerite is exposed near the summit and the succession of limestones and interlayered lavas dip off to north, east and south.…

Rathlin Island - Coast

…ical cfiff, boulder and shingle shores and wave cut platforms on both chalk and basalt. The geological exposures and rock formations associated with such coastal conditions are also of importance. Some uncommon and rare plant species occur in this coastal strip Scot's lovage Ligu…

Bann Estuary

…ves probably date from the mid-Holocene high sea-level of some 6,000 years ago. Basalt ventifacts have been found and are the first record of these wind abraded and faceted stones from coastal dunes in Ireland. They were probably formed as the first wind-blown sands accumulated o…

Slieveanorra and Croaghan

…k Hill to Croaghan Mountain. Slieveanorra itself is underlain by Palaeogene age basalts approximately 60 million years old from the Antrim Lava Group. Moving north west, the geology is composed of Dalradian rocks 545 million year old approximately, predominantly metamorphosed mud…

Marlbank

Marlbank <i>Hieracium basalticola, Bryophyte assemblage, fungi assemblage, Higher plant assemblage, Invertebrate assemblage, Lichen assemblage, marsh fritillary Calcareous grassland, purple moor grass and rush pastures, …

Ardtun Leaf Beds

…es display exposures of internationally famous sediments lying between columnar basalt lava flows which erupted from the Mull volcano. The relationships of the sediments to the volcanic rocks provide valuable evidence in reconstructing the geography of Mull during the Tertiary ge…

Ballynanaghten

…e Broad Water, 3km north of Moira. Soils are fairly free draining, derived from basalt till parent material. The area is made up of two fields that slope from north-east to south-west. The steep topography, rendering access for agricultural machinery difficult, combined with the …

Lugar Sill

…contribution to the study of magmatic evolution, derived from sills formed from basaltic magma that had been enriched in alkalis, approximately 288 million years ago. Perhaps the most closely studied, most frequently cited and the most widely known example is that exposed at Luga…

Straidkilly Wood

…s a number of rare and notable species. The wood covers the steep, north-facing basalt escarpment between Glencloy Valley to the north and Glenarm Valley to the south. The escarpment consists of a series of low cliffs with a main cliff line along the top. Generally, slopes are va…

Tullyratty

…cally frequent on the site. This species is frequent in south-east Down and the basalt hills around Belfast, but is rare and localised elsewhere. Tullyratty is an area of semi-natural grassland managed in a traditional way. As such,it provides valuable feeding and roosting sites …

Fowlsheugh

…ritain. The sheer cliffs, between 30 and 60 metres high which are cut mostly in basalt and conglomerate of Old Red Sandstone age, form a rock face with innumerable holes and ledges, and provides ideal sites for cliff nesting seabirds. The principal species, kittiwake, guillemot a…

Bothel Craggs Quarry

…magma chambers, at a high crustal level, in which fractionation of the parental basaltic magma took place. For this reason the site is important in understanding the origin and evolution of the Cockermouth rocks.

Eigg - Cleadale

…ps of Cleadale and Cuagach on the western side of the island of Eigg. Here, the basalt cliffs and slopes forming the western flank of Beinn Bhuidhe have created base-rich soils which support species-rich grassland, ledge communities, mire and an important assemblage of vascular p…

Trevone Bay

…his body represents the crystallization of an incompatible element-rich hydrous basaltic magma, as shown by the presence of primary, high temperature titaniferous brown amphibole, biotite, and abundant apatite. Marble Cliff has an extensive exposure through a sequence of alterna…

Benbeoch

… lying 2.5 km north-east of Dalmellington, illustrates sills of alkali-enriched basaltic composition, which form an integral part of the Permo-Carboniferous igneous activity (formed around 260-250 million years ago) in central and southern Scotland and have long been a source of …

Castle Point to Cullernose Point

…ber of complex physical and chemical processes. Although the original magma was basaltic, some of the last fractions to remain liquid are granitic in composition. Other features characteristic of sill intrusion, e.g. incorporated blocks of sediment and columnar jointing, are also…

Gortycavan

…ervoir. The underlying geology of Gortycavan is dominated by rocks of the upper basalt formation. This igneous rock occupies large areas of Antrim and NE Londonderry and is the parent material from which the soils have developed. The soils at Gortycavan are of varying depths and …

Chipley Quarries

…rries SSSI Description The classic area of Upper Devonian (Fammenian) submarine basaltic volcanism with a local sequence of pillow lavas developed on the north-east margin of the Trevone trough. The exposures show good pillow features and are readily dated by the fauna of the adj…

Double Craigs

…ed sedimentary rocks characteristic of this province. The underlying calcareous basalt rock of the cliffs supports relatively undisturbed, upland grassland vegetation communities which are restricted in their distribution in the Stirling Council area. These are characterised by s…

Shane's Castle

…ying geology of the Shanes Castle area is dominated by the Palaeogene age Upper Basalts although outcrop of these is extremely limited. The geology has however influenced the soils of much of the site, providing the parent material from which the soils have evolved. Away from the…

Shoulder o' Craig

…he vent is characterised by a variety of rock-types including vent agglomerate, basaltic intrusions, a kersantite dyke and explosion breccias. It is an expression of explosive deep-seated potassium-rich magmatism which shows striking similarities with vents in the Appin (Argyll) …

Ferry Hills

…oved calcicolous grassland on thin soils overlying moderately base-rich igneous basalt rocks. This habitat is scarce and declining in Fife. Herb rich calcicolous grassland occupies the thinner soils on this site. The turf is typically dominated by red fescue Festuca rubra, common…

Craighead Hill Quarry

…ring quarrying activity. This is a rock whose chemical composition is that of a basalt enriched in alkalies and containing large crystals of augite (a complex silicate of calcium, magnesium, iron and aluminium), which stand out very prominently from the finer-grained body of the …

Ray and Crinkle Crags

…of basic composition. Excellent exposures of subaerial pahoehoe, aa, and blocky basalt lavas are all present. Outcrops in the vicinity of Stonesty Pike provide the best exposures of the Whorneyside Tuff formation in its type area. The Formation is divided into two, a lower ignimb…

Allt Grillan Gorge

…site is one of only two examples within Skye and Lochalsh which are on Tertiary basalt lavas and is important for its basiphilous vegetation. The sheltered conditions of the gorge support a mixed broad-leaved woodland with a rich ground flora which shows some boreal (northern) ch…

Rathlin Island - Kinramer South

… a preference for unimproved acid grassland pasture which occurs at the base of basalt rock outcrops usually in association with such grasses as sheep's fescue Festuca ovina and sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum. Other associates include ling Calluna vulgaris, devils-bit s…

Killerton

…and the quarries therein, and is one of the more accessible examples of Permain basalt-like rocks known as lamprophyres. The lamprophyres here are typical biotite-phyric minettes and although field relationships are often obscure, they are considered to be lava flows rather than …

Rockall

…of Tertiary age apparently emplaced into slightly older lavas and intrusions of basaltic composition. Nearby there occur ancient rocks similar to those exposed in the Outer Hebrides and north-western Scotland. Cavities in the granite are of great mineralogical interest and contai…

Barrow Hill And Tansey Green

…ous material. Barrow Hill has been interpreted as a major volcanic centre, with basalt pipe, sills and dykes intruded more or less coevally with the agglomerates. The surface expression of the activity is seen as ash fall deposits, surge deposits and thick breccias similar to the…

Isle of May

…th Berwick. It is approximately 1.8km long but less than 500m wide. Composed of basaltic rock, there are vertical cliffs up to 60m high on the west coast from where the island slopes down towards sea level in the east. The island supports internationally important numbers of bree…

Capecastle

…with the younger members of the Ulster White Limestone Formation removed by pre-basalt erosion. https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/capecastle-assi

Geary Ravine

…t is a coastal, wooded ravine up to 90 feet deep, which cuts through calcareous basalts and is the finest example of a wooded ravine with ungrazed tall-herb vegetation on Skye. It supports a rich and diverse characteristic flora of both vascular and non-vascular plants, with some…

Inninmore Bay

…known example north of the great Glen fault line. The south-west facing coastal basalt cliffs of Aoineadh Mor and Aoineadh Beag support woodland unequalled elsewhere in Lochaber for the species-richness of its ground flora. Woods on similar soils at Drimnin and Loch Aline are dif…

Lydebrook Dingle

…52.8 ac. Description A narrow, steep sided wooded dingle on Coal Measures and basalt, through which flows the Lyde Brook, a tributary of the Severn. This is considered to be the best example of this type of ancient, relatively undisturbed, woodland in this part of Shropshire. T…

Sound of Mull Cliffs

…for its woodland features, contains a good example of hanging woods on Tertiary basalt cliffs and screes, an uncommon habitat type in Argyll. The woodland consists of ash, wych elm, hazel and goat sallow with tall herb plant communities characteristic of base-rich soils. Oceanic …

Lang Craigs

…approximately 1.5km to the north of Milton. It comprises of a south-west facing basalt outcrop with rock ledges supporting species rich tall herb communities. Uncommon plant species present include navelwort Umbilicus rupestris, mossy saxifrage Saxifraga hypnoides and few-flowere…

Newborough Warren - Ynys Llanddwyn

…cal studies of these lavas has led to the interpretation of them as ocean floor basalts, possibly derived from a fragmented ophiolite. The red jasper cherts associated with these lavas have yielded microfossils interpreted as bacteria and acritarchs of Lower Cambrian age -a disco…

Lintmill Railway Cutting

…n as the ‘Kelso Traps’, resemble those of Kintyre and East Lothian (ankaramitic basalts, hawaiites, mugearites, benmoreites and trachytes – all varieties of volcanic lava) but form a distinct and separate outcrop thought to be closely associated with early geological development …

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