Over the sea to a seismic Skye, once Hawaii of North

SCOTLAND’S dramatic landscape once rivalled the fiery volcanic activity of modern-day Hawaii, scientists have discovered.

- By Elizabeth Hunter

Geologists at Aberdeen University have confirmed that cracks in the Earth called volcanic fissures helped create much of the Inner Hebrides.

Scientists have long understood that Skye, Mull, Eigg, Canna and Staffa, as well as parts of the mainland, were formed from lava flows. But the way the lava came to the surface has been debated for over 100 years.