St John's Church
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Condition (NatureScot)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Dalradian | Part Destroyed | — | 2014-06-05 |
Geology & landscape
Rock Type: Limestone, Quartzite, Schist
Description
St John's Church St John's Church SSSI is located adjacent to the A82 trunk road near Ballachulish on the southern shore of Loch Leven. It is an easily accessible exposure of a ductile thrust known as the Ballachulish Slide. This is one of the major structures in the Dalradian, here separating the Ballachulish and Lochaber subgroups. The structure of the rocks shows that they contain a narrow zone in which there has been significant movement to create a shear zone. This shear zone, the Ballachulish Slide, modifies the local sequence of rocks and is an integral part of the structure of the area and the Dalradian as a whole. The stratigraphy ranges from the Appin Quartzite of the Ballachulish subgroup to the Leven Schist of the Lochaber subgroup. The Ballachulish slide separates the Ballachulish Slates from Leven Schists with remnants of the Ballachulish Limestone along the slide itself. High-strain fabrics mark the line of the slide in all the adjacent lithologies; these are most marked in the Quartzite. Several phases of minor folds, and their associated fabrics, also occur.