This book tells the story of how Scotland's landscape has changed over the last three billion years. Did you know that disappearing oceans, colliding continents and erupting volcanoes were some of the events which helped to shape the countryside we see today? Discover how coal formed from swamps which grew in a tropical climate. Did you know there was an ice age in Scotland that lasted for over two billion years ...and the ice may come back? Find out how to: make your own model volcano which erupts messily ...but safely; see a stalactite and stalagmite grow in just a couple of days; race your way around Scotland, collecting fossils as you go.

Scottish Rocks and Fossils (Scothe Books-Children's Activity Book Series)

Children's Books

McKirdy, Alan

McKirdy, Moira

Literature & Fiction

The Stationery Office/Tso

This book looks at Scotland -- a land of contrasts. The rugged mountains on Skye, the farmland of the Border country and the city streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow are all part of this diversity. Find out how the countryside changes with the seasons and read about the wildlife which is such an important part of the Scottish landscape. Find out: what Scotland looked like before the great Caledonian pine forest was chopped down; where the coldest place in Scotland is to be found; how to plan your route around the islands.

Scottish Landscapes (Scottie Books)

National Museums Of Scotland

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.

Set in Stone: The Geology and Landscapes of Scotland

History

Europe

Birlinn

The Isle of Arran dominates the Firth of Clyde. A favourite haunt of holidaymakers, it is also a place of fascination for the geologist, offering a huge variety of rocks that represent a massive slice through geological time. From the ancient bent and buckled strata of Dalradian - a small fragment of the roots of the once mighty Scottish Highlands - the dramatic Northern mountains through which ice gouged its way during the Ice Age, to the relatively recent (some 60 million years ago!) rocks associated with the Arran volcano, the geological record tells an amazing tale. This book is a fascinating introduction to the landscape of Arran - one of the significant geological areas of the country.

Arran (Landscapes in Stone)

Historical Study & Educational Resources

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  attracts climbers, walkers and assorted adventurers who want to pit themselves against some of the most challenging conditions to  found anywhere in the UK. The plants and animals of the Cairngorms need to be hardy to survive the severe winter conditions. The  reaches of the mountains are rich in montane vegetation such as lichen-rich heath and other habitats support many rare species.

Cairngorms: Landscapes in Stone

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 groundbreaking 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.

Edinburgh: Landscapes in Stone

The Isle of Skye offers a magical combination of wild land and breath-taking natural beauty. Skye's geological history involves some of the most ancient rocks on the planet; a grandstand view as the Highlands of Scotland were formed over 400 million years ago and the development of one of the mightiest volcanoes ever to blow its top. Skye is also known as Scotland's 'dinosaur island', yielding the remains of many species of plant and meat-eating creatures that stalked land some 140 million years ago. Finally, the rocks forged in earlier times were shaped into the familiar hills and glens of today by the passage of ice as a great freeze gripped the land. This book provides key information about the formation of the island and the on-going processes of natural landscape evolution that continue to leave their mark on these spectacular vistas.

Skye: Landscapes in Stone

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.

Mull, Iona and Ardnamurchan: Landscapes in Stone

Science & Math

Earth Sciences

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.

Argyll & the Islands: Landscapes in Stone

Americas

Scotland is justly famed for its magnificent scenery - mountains, lochs, islands, wild rocky places and sandy beaches. All this is evidence of an exciting geological history which began 3,500 billion years ago and is still continuing. The sheer diversity of Scotland's rocks and land forms are the physical reminders of a fascinating journey through time. They reveal that the land that makes up Scotland today has traveled the world and has not always even belonged to one single continental landmass. At different times, too, continents formed and split apart, ancient volcanoes erupted vast quantities of lava and Ice Age glaciers shaped the landscape. Containing a huge amount of detailed information presented in clear, comprehensible language and enhanced throughout with specially commissioned illustrations, diagrams and photographs, this is an essential book for anyone interested in the world around them.

Land of Mountain and Flood: The Geology of Scotland

Birlinn Ltd.

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