MULL IONA AND ARDNAMURCHAN: LANDSCAPES IN STONE

Iona Abbey is renowned for being an early centre of Christianity in Scotland - yet it rests on Lewisian gneiss which may be 3 billion years old. Alan McKirdy explores the fascinating geology of the area - in particular the eruption of two major volcanoes around 60 million years ago whose magma chambers formed the spectacular hills and glens of the Ardnamurchan peninsula and Glen More on Mull; and the Ice Age, when glaciers sandpapered the landscape to create the rounded contours we see today.