Walk in the wood.

[Grooveski]

Went for a wander round the island on Loch Lomond where MagiKelly hosted the SotP meet a couple of weeks ago.

It's one of the ones on the faultline.

Geology is what my untrained eye would describe as a total shambles. Quartz, basalt-like pebbles and various grades of sandstones as the rubble in a pretty soft conglomerate.
There were lumps of granite about as well. Aye, very good . I stopped thinking about how it all may have been formed.

The low wood is oak as far as the eye can see. Has a plantation look about it.

Wild garlic everywhere. The dominant ground cover anywhere there's a depression.

Didn't look like the oak were too keen on clinging to the rubble, uprootings were widespread.

Wierd!

Burl central, all over the island!

On the fungi front there were a number of strops but very few hoof. The few there were were interesting though. I'd been wondering what happened to them when the birch keeled over - whether they died off or not. Seems not.

 

[Gumbob]

Great pics mate

Thanks for sharing...Gumbob

 

[Toddy]

Looks just brilliant :You_Rock_
That mishmash of rock, is it glacial deposit stuff?
The fomes lasts forever on the birch, bit like the bark really. It just lies there like a tube yars after the timber has rotted out.
Thanks for posting.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Grooveski]

Originaly Posted by Toddy
That mishmash of rock, is it glacial deposit stuff?

Has to be but I'm just not used to such soft cement. It's almost chalky.
Lake bed material maybe? The solid bits of the island have an intrusion look to them.

 

[pierre girard]

Burl would make great bowls. Love to get hold of a burl like the odd one for a sauna ladle.

Great photos!

 

[jdlenton]

Nice Photos looks like a good day out but you've it again Groov I'm going to have to get myself to Scotland soon and get my self a fix.

James

 

[Rod]

Fantastic location for a meet. I'm dead jealous

 

[Grooveski]

Was an excellent spot for a meet. If you really want to be jealous there's a meet report here with many more piccies. A great time was had by all, way to go Magikelly!

 

[tomtom]

the conglomerate looks like its probably formed from lake/river bed to me... the larger stones in it are rounded as happenes with being in water and washed around getting the edges knocked off.

cool pictures!

 

[happy camper]

I love the islands on loch lomond, really beautiful area. The landscape around Loch Lomond is pretty varied, with an obvious change from Lowland to Highland. Here’s some of what I have found out about the geology and geomorphology of the area for anyone who might be interested, there’s obviously a lot more to it but I’ll try and summarise...
The islands on Loch Lomond are part of the Highland Boundary Fault, which is a fracture that was created by movement in the earth’s crust hundreds of millions of years ago. The fault marks the division between Lowland and Highland Scotland that runs between Stonehaven and Arran and is particularly obvious at Loch Lomond.

The rocks around the Highland Boundary Fault show evidence of three seperate and distinct pieces of terrain (the earths crust) coming together.

The rocks to the north of the fault, known as the Dalradian, are metamorphic (schists, phyllites and slates), formed out of deep marine deposits that were forced very deep below the earths surface and changed by the immense pressure and heat. These rocks were then folded and squeezed up to form a mountain range that was, apparently, once as high as the Himalayas.

To the south of the fault lies the Midland Valley, mostly sedimentary rocks (sandstone) deposited in alluvial fans along the Highland Border by an ancient river system. These rocks form a belt across central Scotland which is interspersed with volcanic intrusions (igneous rocks) like the Kilpatrick hills and Campsie fells.

Between these two is a third, distinct type known as the Highland Border Complex, a thin sliver of unmetamorphosed sediments, made up of a mixture of rocks formed in a marine environment such as cherts, sandstones, serpentenites and breccias. This thin sliver is well exposed along the fault at Loch Lomond and could, at least in part, account for the mix of rocks on the islands.

These three distinct rock types came together millions of years ago so obviously alot has been happening since then to further change and shape the landscape. The loch itself was formed by glacial activity, the area was a main channel for ice moving south during the last ice age and is covered in classic glacial features including a great deal of glacial sediments such as till and boulder clay, which could also account for the mix of rocks.
In addition to the glacial deposits found throughout the area, at the end of the last ice age (about 12000 years ago) and during subsequent Lomond readvance of glaciers across western Scotland (about 10 or 11,000 years ago), the southern end of the loch was invaded by rising sea levels which resulted in marine sediment deposits and raised shorelines.
I'll stop going on now as you can find this and more info. online but i hope some of it is relevant or of interest

 

[Grooveski]

I knew there'd be a straightforward explaination for it .

Cheers.