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The written history and archaeological records of Central Scotland
takes us back to Pictish times some 5,000 years ago. The geology of
the area stretches back a further 400 million years. The oldest
rocks are found near Lesmahagow and in the Pentland Hills. Known
geologically as 'inliers'- small areas of rocks from an older age,
surrounded by younger strata - these strata have yielded some of
the oldest fish on earth and are highly prized for what they tell
us about early life on the planet. Rocks of the Old Red Sandstone
and the succeeding Carboniferous era underlie the rest of Central
Scotland in almost equal measure. Explosive volcanic rocks, thick
layers of lava, desert sandstones, limestones and productive coal
measures make up this bedrock patchwork. Then, sometime later, a
covering of ice, some two kilometres thick, blanketed the
landscape. It sandpapered and burnished the bedrock into the
familiar scenes we see today - our matchless Scottish landscape.
The coal and iron ore which lay beneath the ground between
Edinburgh and Glasgow provided the raw materials that drove the
Industrial Revolution in Scotland, and the early focus on
understanding the rocks beneath our feet was unsurprisingly
initially concentrated on the most useful minerals resources.
The Small Isles comprise the Inner Hebridean islands of Rum, Eigg,
Canna and Muck. The landscapes, rocks and fossils of these
beautiful, remote islands tells of a drama involving erupting
volcanoes, an ancient ecosystem that included dinosaurs and an
ancient desert landscape. The geological history stretches back 3
billion years to the earliest events recorded on Earth. All four
islands owe their origin to a group of three adjacent volcanoes
that were active around 60 million years ago. Rum is the eroded
remains of the magma chamber of one of these volcanoes. Eigg and
Muck are part of the lava field that extends north from the Mull
volcano and Canna lies towards the southern extent of the lavas
that flowed from the Skye volcano. The final event that left a mark
on these islands was the Ice Age that started around 2.4 million
years ago. Its effect on the landscape was profound. The thick
cover of erosive ice shaped the contours of the land into the hills
and glens that we are familiar with today.
Thoroughly revised and expanded from the 2012 edition (twice the
number of pages, almost double the number of illustrations) this
book pays tribute to the man and his diverse works and
achievements. James Hutton (1726-1797) was one of the first
environmentalists, a man ahead of his time. He developed a grand
theory of the Earth in which he tried to make sense of a lifetime
of observation and deduction about the way in which our planet
functions. For example, he connected temperature with latitude. His
measurements, with rudimentary thermometers, of temperature changes
between the base and summit of Arthur's Seat, were remarkably
accurate and he studied climate data from other parts of the world.
A leading figure in the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment,
he was also an innovative farmer, successful entrepreneur and a man
with endless intellectual curiosity. The year 2026 will be the
tercentenary of his birth. There will be many special events
leading up to and in that year organised by The James Hutton
Institute, Scotland's premier environmental and agricultural
research organisation.
The geology of the Cairngorms was created on a timeline that
stretches back hundreds of millions of years. Much of the land is
underlain by granite that formed deep within the Earth's crust and
'surfaced' as the overlying layers of rock were stripped away by
ice, wind and water. The bedrock is hard, and although the area has
been heavily glaciated, still boasts 18 Munros, the highest of
Scotland's peaks. The area attracts climbers, walkers and assorted
adventurers who want to pit themselves against some of the most
challenging conditions to be found anywhere in the UK. The plants
and animals of the Cairngorms need to be hardy to survive the
severe winter conditions. The higher reaches of the mountains are
rich in montane vegetation such as lichen-rich heath and other
habitats support many rare species.
The Lochaber and Glencoe area is rich in historical associations.
It was at Glenfinnan that Bonnie Prince Charlie started his long
march southwards to lay claim to the British throne, and Glencoe
was the scene of one of the most vicious massacres in Scottish
history. But a longer and even more turbulent history is played out
geologically. Ancient volcanoes erupted in massive explosions,
causing shock waves that reverberated around the planet. Their
eroded remains form some of the breathtaking scenery for which Glen
Coe is famous, as well as the highest mountain in Britain - Ben
Nevis. Ice too played its part as glaciers scraped their passage
across the landscape, carving deep glens and shaving the tops off
the highest mountains. This book is fascinating introduction to the
geology of the area, which features some of Scotland's oldest rocks
and some of its most stunning and dramatic scenery.
The south of Scotland has a long and turbulent geological past.
Perhaps most notably, it marks the place where, 432 million years
ago, an ocean, once as wide as the north Atlantic, was compressed
by a convergence of ancient lands and then ceased to be. Deserts
covered the land with thick layers of brick-red coloured rocks,
known as the Old Red Sandstone, piled up and dumped by rivers and
streams that crisscrossed the area. Around 432 million years ago,
violent explosive volcanic activity gave rise to the prominent
landscape features recognised today as the Eildon Hills. In later
geological times, the area was blanketed with massive sand dunes,
later compressed to create the building stones from which Dumfries,
Glasgow and other towns and cities, were constructed. It is also
the place where the modern science of geology was born. James
Hutton, star of the Scottish Enlightenment, found inspiration from
his study of the local rocks. Sites he described almost 250 years
ago are still hailed as amongst the most historic and important
rock exposures to be found anywhere in the world.
Lying off the south-western tip of Mull, the island of Iona has
huge significance as the first important centre of Christianity in
Scotland. But the Abbey itself is built upon rocks that tell of
events of much greater antiquity: the Lewisian gneisses of western
Iona are some of the oldest rocks in the world. Alan McKirdy
explores the fascinating geology of the area - in particular the
eruption of two major volcanoes around 60 million years ago whose
magma chambers formed the spectacular hills and glens of the
Ardnamurchan peninsula and Glen More on Mull; and the Ice Age, when
glaciers ripped away much of the upper part of the two volcanoes
and sandpapered the landscape to create the rounded contours we see
today.
An ancient and long-extinct volcano lies at the heart of Scotland's
capital. It roared into life some 350 million years ago and has
been a source of fascination since it was first studied in earnest
during the Enlightenment by James Hutton, one of the most
significant geologists of all time. Many of Hutton's
ground-breaking ideas of how the world works were predicated on the
rocks and landscapes of his home city and surrounding area. This
book is a fascinating exploration into Edinburgh's geological
history over millions of years - including the passage of ice
during a great freeze that has left an indelible stamp on
Edinburgh's cityscape, the use rocks quarried locally from ancient,
now long disappeared seas to create the stunning elegance of
Edinburgh's New Town, and the coal deposits and oil shale which
were exploited from the Industrial Revolution to the present day.
The land that was to become Scotland has travelled across the globe
over the last 3,000 million years - from close to the South Pole to
its current position. During these travels, there were many
continental collisions, creating mountain belts as high as the
present-day Himalayas. The Highlands of Scotland were formed in
this way. Our climate too has changed dramatically over the last 3
billion years from the deep freeze of the Ice Age to scorching heat
of the desert. And within a relatively short time - geologically
speaking, we will plunge back into another ice age. In Set in
Stone, Alan McKirdy traces Scotland's amazing geological journey,
explaining for the non - specialist reader why the landscape looks
the way it does todays. He also explores Scots and those working in
Scotland have played a seminal role in the development of the
science of geology, understanding Earth processes at a local and
global scale.
Scotties are exciting, full-colour, Scottish information books for
young readers, with a photocopiable black/white 8pp section for
home or classroom use. The book looks at the landscape of Scotland
before people, and at the islands, coasts, moorlands, machair,
lochs, rivers and flora and fauna that we know now. It also
discusses topics such as climate change, renewable energy and
carbon footprint and at how the countryside can be enjoyed and
protected.
The remote archipelago which lies off the north-west coast of
Scotland boasts a huge range of contrasting and spectacular land-
and seascapes. Lewis is austere, with a featureless peatland core,
bounded by dramatic sea cliffs, whilst neighbouring Harris is
extraordinarily rugged but fringed with stunning unspoilt beaches.
The Uists are characterised by gentle fertile machair lands, and
Barra has a more brutal landscape carved from ancient gnarled rock.
But these islands have one thing in common: they were all built
from the most ancient rocks in Britain - Lewisian gneiss, which
reaches back almost to the beginning of geological time. In this
book Alan McKirdy explores these islands, together with the
volcanic rocks that build the outposts of Rockall, St Kilda and the
Shiants, tracing their extraordinary journey through time and
across the globe.
Argyll and the islands that lie off from the west coast of the
Kintyre are some of the most historically resonant places in
Scotland. But the rocks beneath tell a story of an even more
ancient world that stretches back billions of years. In this book
Alan McKirdy explains how much of the ancient bedrock of the area
was created from a once-towering mountain; how granites were formed
deep in the Earth's crust as a result of the white heat of
collision; how volcanoes left an indelible print on the landscape;
how coal swamps briefly covered the land, only to be succeeded by
desert sands; and how glaciers shaped the landscape into the
familiar mountains and glens we see today. Islands included are:
Islay, Colonsay, Oronsay, Lismore, Jura, Scarba, Kerrera, Lunga,
Garvellachs.
Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2019 The rocks of northern
Scotland tell of turbulent events involving continental collisions
that unleashed cataclysmic forces, creating a chain of mountains,
the remnants of which we see today on both sides of the Atlantic.
Geologists from Victorian times onwards have studied the area, and
some of the most important geological phenomena have been
established and described from the rocks that built these stunning
landscapes. In this book, Alan McKirdy makes sense of the many and
varied episodes that shaped the familiar landscape we see today. He
highlights a number of fascinating geological features, including
the Old Red Sandstones of Cromarty and the Black Isle, which carry
the secrets of life during 'the Age of Fishes', and the thin sliver
of fossil-bearing strata which hugs the coast from Golspie to
beyond Helmsdale that dates back to Jurassic times and which
records the time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
The archipelagos of Orkney and Shetland are the products of some of
the most dramatic events which have occurred in the Earth's
history. The Shetlands are the eroded roots of a vast mountain
range that once soared to Himalayan heights and extended from
Scandinavia to the Appalachians. Around 65 million years ago, this
mighty chain was split asunder by the shifting of the Earth's
tectonic plates, and the North Atlantic Ocean was formed. In
earlier times, the area was occupied by a huge freshwater lake -
Lake Orcadie - which existed for almost 10 million years and was
home to a wide range of primitive species of fish. Later, during
the last Ice Age, the area was completely submerged beneath ice
sheets which left an indelible mark on the landscapes of both
island groups. This book tells the incredible geological story of
the most northerly outposts of the British Isles.
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