The Taing is a small grass covered tidal island on the beach at Norwick on the north east coast of Unst. Although unremarkable to most of us, the island and its neighbouring rocks are of great interest to geologists because of their unusual geology. Eastern Unst is an ophiolite. This is where a section of the earth's crust from beneath the ocean collided with an ancient continent and was pushed up onto it 420 million years ago. At Norwick beach immediately to the north of the Taing there is a shallow sand filled trench and you can see where the ophiolite and continent meet. The island is comprised of serpentinite and talc steatite, while the rocks to the north are phyllite.
View from the top looking north east
The cliffs in the distance are made of Skaw granite.
From the top of The Taing looking south
The land in the distance is made of harzburgite.
Looking north west
The Taing from Norwick Beach
The Taing from the Ward of Norwick
The Taing - looking south west
Norwick Meadow to the west of the island is an SSSI and is the largest mesotrophic marsh in Shetland. Bottle sedge, ragged robin, marsh cinquefoil, lady's smock and bogbean flourish here.
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