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Elephant Rock, Montrose
Leader: Rosalind Garton
Boddin Point, 5 km south of Montrose, comprises a small exposure of Upper Devonian sedimentary rocks faulted against lavas of the Montrose Volcanic Formation (MVF). Extensive “cornstone” nodular development in a thick deposit of calcretised sandstone in the Kinnesswood Formation was worked here between 1696 and 1831 and burned in three lime kilns on the shore, two of which are still well preserved. The “Elephant Rock” is a Siluro-Devonian 6-metre-wide felsitic dyke which cuts the MVF lavas. Erosion of much of the host lavas has left a spectacular 20 m-high wall striking out to sea. It is a rich red in colour, porphyritic and occasionally vesicular, with veins of chalcedony. Recent erosion has cut two sea arches across the dyke, giving it the appearance of an elephant’s trunk and legs.
Coach excursion from Edinburgh.