Student Field Trips - NW Scotland
Field course itinerary NW Scotland
The north-western part of Scotland is an area of classical geology that is one of the most visited in Europe. The three main themes of this course are:
- Examination of a typical piece of continental crust that was stabilised early in earth history consisting of early metamorphic basement and overlying, undeformed sedimentary cover rocks of both non-marine and marine origin
- Study of a major foreland thrust belt, the Moine Thrust Zone, where strongly deformed rocks of the fold belt to the east are pushed westwards onto the stable continental block
- Investigation of a major phase of igneous activity that was connected with the opening of part of the North Atlantic about 60 million years ago. This provides the opportunity to examine both lavas and associated rocks that formed at the surface but also the now eroded roots of the volcanic plumbing systems that formed at depth
