For JSG Scotland 2005, the focus is on the history of climate change, glacial geology, and tectonics, but we will visit many classic localities that played a role in the history of geology. The workshop will include geological field exercises in the Inner Hebrides and NW Highlands that do not require prior geologic mapping experience.

Goal of Workshop

The goal of JSG Field Workshops is to promote discussion of current research issues in Earth Sciences of interest to faculty and research staff of the Jackson School of Geosciences. By involving outstanding undergraduate students from many institutions the program seeks to fulfill a goal of the Jackson School Geology Foundation to promote the growth, progress and development of geological education and research.

Geology of Scotland

According to The Geology of Scotland (2002) edited by Nigel Trewin, "Scotland probably has greater variety of geology than any other country of comparable size on Earth. It is also the land in which many of the historically important arguments on the development of geology took place."

Owing to this variety Scotland remains a key area for debating many issues of current interest in Earth Sciences.

The 2005 field workshop focuses on aspects of the geology of the Inner Hebrides and Moine Thrust Zone of NW Scotland. The Moine Thrust Zone dominates the geology of the north-west Highlands and is a classic region of thrust tectonics. The foreland in the west contains Archean and Paleoproterozoic Lewisian Gneiss, Neoproterozoic Torridon Group sandstones and a Cambro-Ordovician shelf sequence. The Caledonian Moine Thrust emplaces the Neoprotereozoic Moine metasedimentary rocks over the younger Cambro-Ordovician quartzites, shales and limestones. In many areas, complicated imbricate thrust systems have developed, with thrust sheets containing Lewisian Gneiss, Torridonian Sandstone and parts of the Cambro-Ordovician sequence. In Assynt, numerous alkaline intrusions have intruded into the thrust sheets. The Quaternary geology shows a range of glacial and periglacial features, including evidence of nunataks during the Last Glacial Maximum as well as neotectonic features. And much else.

NW Scotland is a classic geological area¹ that also has stunning scenery and many historical and cultural attractions. For the purposes of this workshop, it has the great advantage that wide varieties of world-class geological phenomena are exceptionally well exposed and within a day’s drive. The focus of the JSG Workshop varies each summer reflecting the interests of JSG faculty members associated with the course that summer.

¹Strachan, R.A., Smith, M., Harris, A.L., Fettes, D.J., 2002. The northern Highland and Grampian terranes. In: Trewin, N.H. (ed.), The Geology of Scotland, The Geological Society, London, 81-148.