The Staffa Lava Formation: Columnar basalt in Mull and the Surrounding Islands

The CB of the Staffa Lava Formation is a remarkable geological feature. The most famous locations for seeing it are the world famous Island of Staffa and Fingal’s Cave, but there are many other locations round Mull and the islands where it can be found. And is almost as spectacular! In this talk  the occurrence, distribution  and mode of formation of CB will be described. The talk will be amply illustrated with photos showing the best localities for seeing it. The occurrence and mode of formation tells us much about the palaeo-environment and the conditions in Mull and environs at the start of the Tertiary  and this will be discussed as well. The talk is not over-technical. There will be references to published papers where the subject can be explored in greater detail

The presenter  graduated from St Andrews in 1980 before working offshore for several yeas.  Since 1998 he has been married and living in the Isle of Mull where he mainly works in IT but offers trips and tours to visitors during the summer months, both private guided walks as well as scheduled trips and spending a lot of time on social media promoting the geology of Mull to a world wide audience