The Ardnamurchan Volcano: a New Theory

Many thanks to Rob Gill and Tony Thain, both of whom live at Achnaha, for drawing the Diary's attention to a BBC news item, in which some recent research on the Ardnamurchan volcano is featured.  In brief, the researchers show that the volcano was centred on a single magma chamber rather than the three which were suggested in the original work by the British Geological Survey.

The BBC news item is at  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-25680078 and Rob has provided a further two links, the first of which gives details of the research, at http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/131008/srep02891/pdf/srep02891.pdf, while the second gives a graphic display of the crust beneath us, at http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/131008/srep02891/extref/srep02891-s3.avi

Achanaha, shown in the photograph, lies almost at the centre of the extinct volcano.

Many thanks indeed to Rob and Tony for the story.

Rob's business website is here.