8:19 AM Apr 8th : Up bright(ish) and earlyish, weather was horrendous last night, not much better this morning. – RJ

10:35 AM Apr 8th : Mapping a field today without an os map. Using paces and bearings. Cold but dry – HS

The morning was spent practicing mapping techniques by mapping Dougrie Field, an area with Dalradian Rocks, Old Red Sandstone and a Dolerite Dyke.

12:03 PM Apr 8th : Mapping outcrops on a field using compass clinos, pacing and our wits. – RJ

The light came out quite strange for this photo, but you get the idea.

1:36 PM Apr 8th : Taking a break from mapping for lunch. – RJ

Lunchbreak

2:47 PM Apr 8th : Second mini bus to be stuck in mud. Full day of mapping complete. Field split by ig. Dyke and a fault. Vern won stare off with a rock? – HS

3:47 PM Apr 8th : Hard hats required in bus, very bumpy road! Saw some awesome folds and micro folds in imachar beach. – HS

3:50 PM Apr 8th : Some small folds in Dalradian rocks. – RJ

Some small scale folding

After Imachar we went back to North Glen Sannox and walked across a transect of the Highland Border Group; looking at pillow lavas, agglomerates and black slates along the river bed. Since we were in a bog and the weather was shocking I decided not to risk tweeting from my iPhone.

6:59 PM Apr 8th : Putting on after sun – somehow still got burnt despite heavy rain. (Ginger gene). – RJ

7:11 PM Apr 8th : Back in the flats and cooking dinner now. weather is lovely now, forecast for tomorrow is awful! Corrie tomorrow i think. – HS

As might be rather obvious by now, the weather occupied our minds for most of this trip. Days three and four were probably the worst.

9:15 PM Apr 8th : Completed geological map of Dougrie Field. – RJ

Rough Geological Map of Dougrie Field showing presumed contacts

12:13 AM Apr 9th : Finished writing up notes from today. Lots of interesting structural bits and pieces today. – RJ

I hadn’t realised that I’d been working quite that late.

Some of my notes for the day

8:23 AM Apr 7th : Early morning in Arran. Weather is truly horrendous. Rain sloshing down, time for porridge. – RJ

8:34 AM Apr 7th : Just waking up and I’m sure there will be some sore heads today. weather is pretty awful but should be another fun filled geoliday. – HS

10:07 AM Apr 7th : Fiona has reversed into a ditch. – RJ

I think there were more photos of this event taken than of any rock outcrops.

Whoops...

11:25 AM Apr 7th : Mapping Dalradian psammite along the river. – RJ

North Glen Sannox – a quick stop, we came back here later in the week to look at the Highland Border Complex nearby.

Starting to get very wet out here...

1:59 PM Apr 7th : Coming down from looking at paleogene granite, standing on some dalradian meta-sediments.  – RJ

We walked up from Catacol, heading inland over Dalradian Rocks to the Northern Granite intrusion in the centre of the island.

Note the Quaternary glacial landforms...

Next we headed along to Lochranza.

3:32 PM Apr 7th : Mapping another beach, still looking at Dalradian psammites and pelites. – RJ

Lochranza in the Background

4:51 PM Apr 7th : We’re at Hutton’s Unconformity. It’s not quite as impressive as the one at Siccar point. – RJ

A brilliant geological site of historic import; but I come from the Borders originally and can occasionally be proud of that fact.

6:29 PM Apr 7th : The weather here is AWFUL. – RJ

Awful weather in Brodick

9:50 PM Apr 7th : Finished working for this evening; produced a geological map of the beach east of Lochranza. – RJ