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Unconformity Cave

Durness, Traigh na h-Uamhag, Sutherland.

This cave located at the western extremity of Tràigh na h-Uamhag has formed along the unconformable contact between the Lewisian Gneiss and the overlying Basal Quartzite. A roomy entrance section measuring 8m-wide / 4-5m high eventually splits into two parallel passages after 13m. The western branch is floored by beach sand, is 10m-long / 2.5m-wide, and has an inclined ceiling with a maximum ceiling height of 1.7m. The shorter eastern branch comprises a 6m-long scramble across a slope of algal-coated bedrock gneiss. The two sections of passage are partially connected by a low metre-wide window through the lowermost quartzite bed, thus forming a squeeze across the base-Cambrian unconformity. The high tide mark is present at the cave entrance, cutting it off from the rest of the beach during high water levels.

Alternate Names: None recorded.

Hydrographic Feeds: Pentland Firth

Hydrographic Resurgences: Pentland Firth