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How one of the most beautiful countries in the world was shaped by 65-million-year-old volcanoes

28 September 2018

Scotland is probably not the first country you think of when drawing up a list of countries shaped by volcanoes and volcanic activity.

The truth, however, is that even some of the beautiful glens that make Scotland one of the most beautiful countries in the world to visit were actually volcanoes millions of years ago.

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs presenter Paul Murton met geologist Alan McKirdy to learn more about how volcanic activity shaped some of Scotland’s most dramatic scenery.

Active 60 million years ago, Paul Murton sits in centre of an ancient volcano with geologist Alan McKirdy

The volcano was around 6 kilometres across and part of a wider network.

Alan and Paul sat on a hill near Sanna Bay in the North West of Scotland and talked about how dramatically different the landscape would have looked millions of years ago.

Sat in the middle of a range of hills that are nearly 7km across, Paul spoke of why the landscape looks different nowadays.

“Ice, wind and water has eroded or cut down the surface of the volcano. We’re sitting in what would have been the magma chamber of an ancient volcano.”

The view from the centre of the hills gave Paul a grandstand view of what would have been the scale of the volcano structure.

“You can see a distinct crater shape from the air,” with the ariel shot Alan had showing the outer ring of mountains that defines the ancient magma chamber.

The volcano was not by itself but part of a wider network.

“As a result of North America and Europe breaking apart and going their separate ways, the crust thinned quite dramatically and a series of 7 or 8 volcanoes popped up through this thin crust.”

The volcanoes that Alan mentioned formed from this shift in the continents included: Rockall, St Kilda, Skye, Ardnamurchan, Rum, Mull, Arran, and Ailsa Craig.

All of these volcanoes were all active over a 10 million year period, but thankfully for us all have long since been extinct, allowing us to enjoy the dramatic landscape they left behind.