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Bardsey Island ((ウェールズ語:Ynys Enlli)), the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints", lies off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd.〔(Encyclopaedia Britannica : ''Bardsey Island'' ) Retrieved 16 August 2009〕 The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", although its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards",〔Samuel Lewis, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Wales'', 1849, S Lewis and Co, London, 474 pages〕 or possibly the island of the Viking chieftain, "Barda". Bardsey is wide, long and in area. The north east rises steeply from the sea to a height of at Mynydd Enlli,〔(Cycling North Wales : ''Cycle Ride from Aberdaron'' ) Retrieved 16 August 2009〕 which is a Marilyn, while the western plain is low and relatively flat cultivated farmland. To the south the island narrows to an isthmus, connecting to a peninsula on which the lighthouse stands.〔(Gwynedd Archaeological Trust : ''Bardsey'' ) Retrieved 16 August 2009〕 Since 1974 it has been included in the community of Aberdaron.〔(Ordnance Survey : ''Election Maps : Gwynedd'' ) Retrieved 16 August 2009〕 It is the fourth largest offshore island in Wales. The island has been an important religious site since Saint Cadfan built a monastery in 516.〔 In medieval times it was a major centre of pilgrimage and, by 1212, belonged to the Augustinian Canons Regular.〔 The monastery was dissolved and its buildings demolished by Henry VIII in 1537,〔 but the island remains an attraction for pilgrims to this day.〔 Bardsey Island is now as famous for its wildlife and rugged scenery. A bird observatory was established in 1953, largely due to the island's position on important migration routes.〔 It is of European importance, cited as a nesting place for Manx shearwaters and choughs, its rare plants, and habitats undisturbed by modern farming practices.〔 It is one of the best places in Gwynedd to see grey seals, and the waters around the island attract dolphins and porpoises.〔 The spirituality and sacredness of the island, its relative remoteness, and its legendary claim to be the burial site of King Arthur, have given it a special place in the cultural life of Wales, attracting artists, writers and musicians to its shores.〔 It has inspired award winning literature,〔 and attracted internationally renowned singers.〔 ==Geology== Like the western and northern parts of nearby Llŷn the island is formed from rocks of the late Precambrian Gwna Group, itself a part of the Monian Supergroup. The rocks are a mélange, often referred to as the Gwna Mélange, which contain an extraordinary mix of clasts of all sizes up to 100m across and of very varied types, including both sedimentary and igneous origin. Blocks of sheared granite within this melange are visible in the northwestern coastal cliffs of the island. Elsewhere clasts of quartzite, limestone, sandstone, mudstone, jasper and basalt can be found. The deposit is interpreted as an olistostrome, a giant underwater landslide possibly triggered by an earthquake some time after 614 million years ago. A dolerite dyke of Ordovician age intrudes the melange at Trwyn y Gorlech in the north whilst an olivine dolerite dyke of Tertiary age is seen at Cafn Enlli in the southeast. Further dykes occur in the cliffs at Ogof y Gaseg and at Ogof Hir. A thin spread of glacial till stretches across the centre of the island, a relict of the late Devensian Irish Sea Icesheet. There is a small patch of blown sand at Porth Solfach on the west coast and a landslip at Briw Cerrig at the foot of the cliffs on the east coast.〔British Geological Survey 1:50,000 scale geological map sheet 133 (England and Wales) ''Aberdaron and Bardsey Island'' (BGS, Keyworth, Notts) (with 1:10,00 inset map of Bardsey)〕〔Howells, M.F. 2007 ''British Regional Geology: Wales'' (BGS, Keyworth, Notts) pp15-20〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bardsey Island」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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