SCOTTISH COAST
This page includes a located case study of an area of the Scottish coast at Auchmithie, near Arbroath. Pictures sent by Val Vannet, Head of Geography at High School of Dundee. Click the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures.
Map: Courtesy of O.S via MULTIMAP service.
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Coastline and stacks near Aucmithie
Gaylet Pot - this is connected to a cave down at sea level - it's a blowhole or a gloup. There's a tractor on the skyline in the image to give you some sense of scale. The system extends under the cliff and when there is a storm the water apparently comes shooting up through the hole. The sea has cut its way along cracks in a weak section of conglomerate material in the old red sandstone. The sound effects when the waves hit the cliff are fairly spectacular.
Good stack near Aucmithie. Evidence of differential erosion.
Sea cave being formed in a vertical joint. Horizontal cracks are bedding (planes)
The seaward end of Gaylet Pot.
Wave-cut platform below the cliffs. Tracks produced as a result of Old Red Sandstone quarrying activity, some of which was used to build Arbroath Abbey nearby.
In the same area is a stack called Maw Skelly ('maw' meaning mouth) - it is possible to get underneath the arch at low tide, but it involves a hurried scramble over slippery rocks (not one to do with students then....)
Many thanks for the images Val !