Archive - Pebbles from Inverkirkaig Bay Scotland

May 26, 2019

TOP pebbles
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Each Sunday we present a notable item from our archives. This EPOD was originally published May 27, 2013.

Photographer: Jeanette Stafford
Summary Author: Jeanette Stafford

Inverkirkaig Bay just south of Lochinver on Sutherland’s west coast is a great place for collecting pebbles. There’s a huge variety and many are very attractive, including yellow and green epidote, red and multi-colored jasper, green serpentine, quartz of various types and the rare and much prized sunstone. These pebbles originate in various rock strata and either washed directly into the Kirkaig River (bottom photo), a short distance from the sea, or have been carried to this vicinity during periods of past glaciation. Years of tumbling in rivers or seas have left them rounded and smoothed and quite delightful to hold.

For several hundred million years, until the genesis of the Atlantic Ocean around 200 million years ago, Scotland and North America belonged to the same large landmass. Perhaps this is why the pebbles from Inverkirkaig bear more than a passing resemblance to those from Newfoundland (EPOD March 31, 2013) -- or perhaps it’s just coincidence. Photo taken July 3, 2012.

Photo Details: Camera: PENTAX K-5; Focal Length: 55.0mm (35mm equivalent: 82mm); Aperture: f/7.1; Exposure Time: 0.0050 s (1/200); ISO equiv: 100.  

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