ROCKS,FOSSILS, LANDFORMS AND SOILS AND LANDFORMS ROCKS,FOSSILS, Cover photograph:Glaciatedmountains,CoireArdair,CreagMeagaidh. understanding. e it and promote its wider its promote and it e conserv to taken being steps the and it upon pressures the heritage, Earth Scotland's of diversity the illustrates leaflet This form the foundation upon which plants, animals and people live and interact. interact. and live people and animals plants, which upon foundation the form he Earth. They also They Earth. he t of understanding our in part important an played have soils and landforms fossils, rocks, Scotland's surface. land the alter the landscapes and scenery we value today, how different life-forms have evolved and how rivers, floods and sea-level changes a changes sea-level and floods rivers, how and evolved have life-forms different how today, value we scenery and landscapes the re continuing to continuing re CC5k0309 mates have shaped have mates cli changing and glaciers powerful volcanoes, ancient continents, colliding how of story wonderful a illustrates It importance. Printed on environmentally friendly paper friendly environmentally on Printed nternational i and national of asset heritage Earth an forms and istence, ex Earth's the of years billion 3 some spanning history, geological For a small country, Scotland has a remarkable diversity of rocks, fossils, landforms and soils. This 'geodiversity' is the res the is 'geodiversity' This soils. and landforms fossils, rocks, of diversity remarkable a has Scotland country, small a For ult of a rich and varied and rich a of ult Leachkin Road, Inverness, IV3 8NW. Tel: 01463 725000 01463 Tel: 8NW. IV3 Inverness, Road, Leachkin Earth Science Group, Scottish Natural Heritage, Great Glen House, Glen Great Heritage, Natural Scottish Group, Science Earth OF THE LANDSCAPE THE OF 1. FOUNDATIONS 1. www.snh.org.uk Website of Scottish Natural Heritage. Heritage. Natural Scottish of Website www.snh.org.uk The gateway to Scottish geology on the web. web. the on geology Scottish to gateway The CONSERVING OUR EARTH HERITAGE EARTH OUR CONSERVING www.scottishgeology.com www.scottishgeology.com which includes information to enable the setting up of a group. group. a of up setting the enable to information includes which www.ukrigs.org.uk Website of the Association of UK RIGS Groups RIGS UK of Association the of Website www.ukrigs.org.uk The raised beach backing the shore at Gruinard Bay, with hills of Lewisian gneiss and mountains of Torridonian sandstone behind sandstone Torridonian of mountains and gneiss Lewisian of hills with Bay, Gruinard at shore the backing beach raised The . www.snh.org.uk/pubs. www.snh.org.uk/pubs. Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW, or online at online or 3EW, PH1 Perth, Redgorton, Battleby, Copies of SNH publications may be ordered from SNH Publications, SNH from ordered be may publications SNH of Copies http://www.macaulay.ac.uk/soilquality/SQ_education.php http://www.macaulay.ac.uk/soilquality/SQ_education.php ‘Introducing soils’, ‘Exploring Scotland’ and ‘The Machair’ ‘The and Scotland’ ‘Exploring soils’, ‘Introducing Educational resource from the Macaulay Institute on Institute Macaulay the from resource Educational SNH. ISBN 1 85397 477 3. 3. 477 85397 1 ISBN SNH. and Managing Local Nature Conservation Sites in Scotland in Sites Conservation Nature Local Managing and Conservation Site Working Group 2006. Guidance on Establishing on Guidance 2006. Group Working Site Conservation Local Nature Local heritage conservation and interpretation. interpretation. and conservation heritage publications. It is aimed at all with an interest or involvement in Earth in involvement or interest an with all at aimed is It publications. recent developments in interpretation and notices of the latest the of notices and interpretation in developments recent heritage conservation from Britain and abroad, as well as news of news as well as abroad, and Britain from conservation heritage A twice-yearly magazine containing articles on Earth on articles containing magazine twice-yearly A date of Earth heritage interest include: Soils, Coasts. Coasts. Soils, include: interest heritage Earth of date habitats, how they developed and the wildlife they support. Titles to Titles support. they wildlife the and developed they how habitats, GEODIVERSITY This series of SNH booklets looks at looks booklets SNH of series This Ben Nevis and Glencoe, Western Isles. Isles. Western Glencoe, and Nevis Ben Northwest Highlands, Rum and the Small Isles, Glasgow and Ayrshire, and Glasgow Isles, Small the and Rum Highlands, Northwest SCOTLAND’S and the Clyde Islands, Glen Roy, Mull and Iona, Fife and Tayside, and Fife Iona, and Mull Roy, Glen Islands, Clyde the and to Stirling, Orkney and Shetland, East Lothian and the Borders, Arran Borders, the and Lothian East Shetland, and Orkney Stirling, to Scotland, Edinburgh and West Lothian, Skye, Cairngorms, Loch Lomond Loch Cairngorms, Skye, Lothian, West and Edinburgh Scotland, interprets the landscape and geology of Scotland. Titles to date are: date to Titles Scotland. of geology and landscape the interprets This series of SNH booklets SNH of series This useful publications and websites and publications useful 2. THREE BILLION YEARS OF 4. ROCK HARD BUT VULNERABLE EARTH HISTORY Apparently solid and fixed for all time, Scotland's geodiversity is nevertheless irreplaceable and vulnerable to development For its size, Scotland has the most diverse geology and pressures and changes in land use. landforms in the world. The science of geology was born here over 200 years ago when James Hutton, an Edinburgh doctor The afteruse of disused quarries can lead to the loss of rock and farmer, investigated the rocks around Scotland and further exposure valuable for research and education. The disposal of afield. Hutton's discoveries paved the way for later geologists waste is a common and damaging afteruse. However, more to unravel a breathtaking tale of how Scotland has been three often than not, a compromise can be reached, whereby an old billion years in the making. This tale reveals that Scotland was quarry can be partially infilled, allowing the retention of a once part of North America; that a great ocean once separated particularly important rock face. Left unburied, old quarry faces can remain a valuable resource for interpretation and for Scotland from England; and that for 600 million years Scotland scientists and students to study. has drifted slowly from south to north across the Equator. Rocks in upland areas can be obscured by dense conifer Some of Scotland's rocks formed from molten lava, erupted from plantations and other land uses which make study of important volcanoes. Others formed from mud and sand, deposited in rock exposures difficult. Such developments can also have an ancient environments as diverse as shallow tropical seas and impact upon soils and landforms. Forethought, consultation and scorching deserts. The remains of plants and animals, careful planning can help avoid such problems. representing the fauna and flora of past geological ages, occur as fossils within these rocks. Scotland's oldest rocks were subjected to enormous temperatures and pressures whilst buried deep within the crust and bear witness to Scotland's eventful 3. A RESOURCE IN DEMAND 5. LANDSCAPE SCULPTURE journey across the face of the Earth. Scotland's geodiversity, provides a source of basic raw materials: Many of Scotland's landforms are relict features formed by coal for fuel; sand for glass; sand and gravel for aggregate; processes, such as glaciation, that are no longer active today. Over the last two and a half million years, vast ice sheets carved granite for concrete; sandstone for building; limestone for These landforms include moraines, eskers and drumlins which and moulded many of the landforms we see today. These Ice cement; and flagstone for paving. The soil supports crops, often strongly influence the local landscape character. Such Age glaciers and their meltwater rivers eroded the underlying forestry and natural habitats, and is an important factor in both landscape 'sculptures' can be lost for ever through inappropriate rocks and laid down deposits of ground-up rock, stones and water and air quality, vital for human life. building or infrastructure development and hidden beneath gravel. They were also responsible for changes in the relative commercial afforestation schemes. Some landforms are a rich levels of the land and sea and for alterations to river courses. Earth scientists use our geodiversity to research the origins of the source of sand and gravel and although the more extensive land, identify the location of natural resources, explain the processes deposits can sustain a limited level of extraction, smaller and At the end of the last glaciation, around 11,500 years ago, that continue to shape the landscape and influence the quality of more vulnerable landforms may be entirely destroyed. micro-organisms and plants colonised the deposits left by the our environment, and understand the evolution of life itself. glaciers, transforming them into living and productive soils, that Rocky uplands, coastal and river cliffs, old and new quarries, road form an interface between the geology and biosphere. These cuts, pits and mines offer excellent opportunities to study the soils are the basis for Scotland's valued habitats and ecosystems. geodiversity of an area. Fossils within a rock exposure, for example, can help tell us how old the rocks are and provide links