Geology of Durness

This photo shows the Sangomore Fault that forms the eastern limit of Sango Bay. Here altered Lewisian Gneisses (small outcrops within the beach sand) are side by side with the Sailmhor section of the Durness Limestone. The main Sailmhor section is found at Balnakeil Bay to the west and should not be present at Sangomore. However, these carbonates that carry on from Balnakeil and are present over half a km beneath the village of Durness have been uplifted by this fault to form the Lerinbeg headland. Fault movements have formed fault breccias, a rocktype made of ground-down fragments of dolostone which have been cemented together by reddened calcite cements, also known as a 'cataclasite' (see below). The cataclasites are found at the very base of the cliff face, although it depends on how high the sand levels are. An excellent example is also found at the opposite side of the Bay as an elongate outcrop, several metres wide.