Tag: shetland

geology minerals scotland

Northern Rocks: Shetland

Neville Martin (UK) Shetland is famous for many things including ponies, knitwear, sheep and sheepdogs, birdlife and fishing. It is less well known for being an excellent attraction for the geologist or that it is currently going through the process of qualifying for European and World Geopark recognition. The rocks of Shetland are too old for fossils with the exception of some fish and aquatic plant fossils at the southern and western extremities. However, what it lacks in fossils it more than makes up for in an abundant variety of minerals and geological structures and, while looking for minerals, the geologist can enjoy some of the most spectacular seascape in the UK. In addition, the islands have a long history of mineral extraction and there has been talk of possible, future platinum and gold mining. Fig. 1. Old Red Sandstone Cliffs, Bard Bressay and Noss. One of the reasons for the geological diversity is that the Great Glen Fault, which formed Loch Ness, also manifests itself in Shetland. This gives rise to a displacement of some 60 to 80km, such that there is a distinct difference between East and West Shetland. The landscape is also the result of sculpturing by glaciers and the sea. The many submerged, glacial valleys are called “voes”, the largest of which is Sullom Voe, the site of the oil terminal where oil from north, east and west of Shetland is landed. The shelter provided by such a large voe (which is sea loch) made it … Read More

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climate geology minerals scotland volcanoes

Geopark Shetland: A journey through the 35th European Geopark

Allen Fraser (UK) In September 2009, the Shetland Islands were awarded the accolade of becoming the thirty-fifth European Geopark. This is fantastic news for the isles. It acknowledges the importance of Shetland’s incredible geology and creates opportunities to promote it to an international market and develop partnerships with other members. When visiting, the best place to start your journey into Shetland’s ancient past is at Shetland Museum, in Lerwick. Here, displays take you back into the mists of time, revealing vanished landscapes and the amazing events behind them. All across Shetland, the rocks and landscapes tell an endless story – of oceans opening and closing, of mountain building and erosion, of ice ages and tropical seas, volcanoes, deserts and ancient rivers, of land use, climate change and sea level rise, and of minerals and miners. Around 360mya, a walk through where Lerwick is now, would have meant a wade across fast-flowing rivers, in a climate like that in Death Valley, California. How do we know? Well, if you take a stroll around Lerwick, and walk from the Knabb to the Sletts and out to the Sands of Sound, you can see for yourself. Here, flat-lying beds of thick, buff-coloured sandstone begin to acquire rounded pebbles and cobbles of pink and white quartz. These sandstone beds tell us that fast flowing rivers once deposited their loads in the area and that flash floods occasionally scoured the riverbed, leaving trains of far-travelled cobbles and pebbles embedded in the sandy layers. These rivers … Read More

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