Arthur's Seat and other volcanoes

The Arthur's Seat volcano erupted 342 million years ago. It was a small volcano, which started life with a series of dramatic ash eruptions, building up a cone around the crater area; later, red-hot lava flows spilled from the crater and ran downhill, solidifying into black basalt layers. Similar volcanoes erupt around the world today, in places like Iceland, Hawaii, New Zealand and Japan. In this talk we will consider how modern eruptions help understand how the Arthur's Seat volcano erupted in the past, and compare rock samples from around the world with what we see today in Holyrood Park.

Angus Miller is a geologist with a long interest in the geology of Holyrood Park. He runs Geowalks: guided walks, talks, walking holidays and tours exploring the geology of Scotland and is a part-time Teaching Fellow at the Centre for Open Learning at the University of Edinburgh, teaching Lifelong Learning courses on the geology of Scotland. He is also heavily involved in a couple of charities that promote Scotland's geology, as the Promotion Coordinator for the Edinburgh Geological Society, which organises public events including lectures through the winter and excursions in the summer, as well as publishing books and leaflets. He was a founding trustee of the Scottish Geology Trust, a charity launched in 2020 to inspire people everywhere to understand, love and care for Scotland’s incredible geological heritage. Among other activities the Trust runs the Scottish Geology Festival every autumn, and the Trust website is a central hub for information, links and news.