Ob Lusa to Ardnish
Also within
Condition (NatureScot)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Hettangian, Sinemurian, Pliensbachian | Favourable | — | 2005-03-31 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Rock Type: Limestone
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Ob Lusa to Ardnish Ob Lusa to Ardnish Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) encompasses a section of foreshore and adjacent small islands to the east of Broadford Bay, on the Isle of Skye. This SSSI contains two prominent beds of coral limestone, the Ob Lusa and Ob Breakish Coral Beds, and is probably the best known Lias section in the Hebrides Basin. The site exposes one of the most extensive and easily accessible sections through the Hettangian and Lower Sinemurian and includes the type locality for both the carbonate-dominated Breakish Formation and the clastic-dominated Ardnish Formation. These beds contrast markedly with the correlative Blue Lias Formation developed across much of Britain and the Ob Lusa Coral Bed is the only extensive development of colonial isastraeid corals in the British Lias.