Ailsa Craig Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
island in the outer Firth of Clyde, South Ayrshire, Scotland, UK
About Ailsa Craig
Ailsa Craig is a pluton, a volcanic upwelling from about 60 million years ago, along with similar hills on the nearby island of Arran. Typically a pluton has no erupting volcano, but magma wells up and shoulders aside pre-existing rock. It then cools very slowly into coarse-grained granite that is hard-wearing, so it persists long after surrounding features have eroded away. Plutons have formed throughout Earth's existence and this one arose in the Palaeogene, formerly called the Early Tertiary. In that period the continents came close to their present positions, the global climate cooled, and dinosaurs suffered mass extinction to be replaced by mammals. Then followed the ice ages, which scraped and polished the surface of Ailsa Craig, and transported boulders from it as far away as Pembro
Ailsa Craig Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 10 sections including: