Loch Scridain is a 15-kilometre-long (9-mile) sea loch, with a west-southwest aspect, on the western, or Atlantic coastline of the Isle of Mull, in the Inner Hebrides, Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Loch Scridain extends inland as far as the island's only Munro* and extinct volcano, Ben More, a large massif on the Ardmeanach peninsula to the north; the imposing Bearraich hill overlooks the mouth of the loch.

(*A Munro (Scottish Gaelic: Rothach) is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 feet (914.4 m), and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement.)

To the south is the Ross of Mull, the longest peninsula on Mull, that reaches past the sea loch boundary into the Atlantic. Near the head of Loch Scridain is the Aird of Kinloch, a small peninsula that almost separates the main loch from the small inner sea loch, Loch Beg. Loch Beg is fed by the River Coladoir.

Seabank Villa on the lochside at Kilfinichen Bay is the type locality for the mineral mullite.

Loch Scridain to the Ardmeanach peninsula is a lava landscape in which the lava flows have created a layered effect. Basalt lava is rich in minerals, and the land between the crags is green and fertile. There is black basalt, stained orange in places. The orange colour represents the top surfaces of the flow, weathered by the tropical climate of 60 million years ago. There is a fossil tree, with a cave to its right, a large boulder on the shore just below, and a small area of columnar basalt on its left. The cast of the tree is a hollow half-cylinder about 1.2 m (ca. 4 ft) wide, starting just above ground level. Just beyond the tree, there is a black sand beach, and there are in the basalt shoreline slab some older boulders overwhelmed by the lava flow of 60 million years ago.

Fossils

There are 13 fossil localities from the PaleoBioDB database within this region.

These data are provided on an experimental basis and are taken from external databases. Mindat.org has no control currently over the accuracy of these data.

Occurrences	13
Youngest Fossil Listed	56.0 Ma (Paleocene)
Oldest Fossil Listed	59.2 Ma (Paleocene)
Stratigraphic Units	Unit No. Occurrences Age interbasaltic plant-beds 12 59.2 - 56 Ma (Paleocene)
Fossils from Region	Click here to show the list.
Accepted Name Hierarchy Age Quercus genus Plantae : Tracheophyta : Magnoliopsida : Fagales : Fagaceae : Quercus 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Cercidiphyllum genus Plantae : Tracheophyta : Magnoliopsida : Saxifragales : Cercidiphyllaceae : Cercidiphyllum 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Insecta class Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Coleoptera order Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Coleoptera 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Odonata order Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Odonata 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Eotettigarcta scotica species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Hemiptera : Tettigarctidae : Eotettigarcta : Eotettigarcta scotica 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Eocercopidium maculata species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Hemiptera : Cercopidae : Eocercopidium : Eocercopidium maculata 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Zeuneroptera scotica species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Orthoptera : Stenopelmatidae : Zeuneroptera : Zeuneroptera scotica 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Carabites scoticus species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Coleoptera : Carabidae : Carabites : Carabites scoticus 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Maleojassus primitivus species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Hemiptera : Cicadellidae : Maleojassus : Maleojassus primitivus 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Plecia undans species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Diptera : Bibionidae : Plecia : Plecia undans 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Dicranoptycha europaea species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Diptera : Limoniidae : Dicranoptycha : Dicranoptycha europaea 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene Folindusia (Spirindusia) zeuneri species Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Trichoptera : Folindusia : Folindusia (Spirindusia) zeuneri 59.2 - 56 Ma Paleocene
Fossil Localities	Click to show 1 fossil locality

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Scridain
Wikidata ID:	Q6665005
GeoNames ID:	2638331

Localities in this Region

Other Regions, Features and Areas that Intersect