The Moine Thrust Belt or Moine Thrust Zone is a linear tectonic feature in the Scottish Highlands which runs from Loch Eriboll on the north coast 190 kilometres (120 mi) south-west to the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye. The thrust belt consists of a series of thrust faults that branch off the Moine Thrust itself. Topographically, the belt marks a change from rugged, terraced mountains with steep sides sculptured from weathered igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks in the west to an extensive landscape of rolling hills over a metamorphic rock base to the east. Mountains within the belt display complexly folded and faulted layers and the width of the main part of the zone varies up to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), although it is significantly wider on Skye.
The Highland Boundary Fault is a major fault zone that traverses Scotland from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east. It separates two different geological terranes which give rise to two distinct physiographic terrains: the Highlands and the Lowlands, and in most places it is recognisable as a change in topography. Where rivers cross the fault, they often pass through gorges, and the associated waterfalls can be a barrier to salmon migration.
The Dalradian Supergroup is a stratigraphic unit in the lithostratigraphy of the Grampian Highlands of Scotland and in the north and west of Ireland. The diverse assemblage of rocks which constitute the supergroup extend across Scotland from Islay in the west to Fraserburgh in the east and are confined by the Great Glen Fault to the northwest and the Highland Boundary Fault to the southeast. Much of Shetland east of the Walls Boundary Fault is also formed from Dalradian rocks. Dalradian rocks extend across the north of Ireland from County Antrim in the north east to Clifden on the Atlantic coast, although obscured by younger Palaeogene lavas and tuffs or Carboniferous rocks in large sections.
The Torridon Group is a series of Tonian arenaceous and argillaceous sedimentary rocks, which occur extensively in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. These strata are particularly well exposed in the district of upper Loch Torridon, a circumstance which suggested the name Torridon Sandstone, first applied to these rocks by James Nicol. Stratigraphically, they lie unconformably on gneisses of the Lewisian complex and sandstones of the lithologically similar Mesoproterozoic Stoer Group and their outcrop extent is restricted to the Hebridean Terrane.
The Argyll Group is a thick sequence of metamorphosed Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks that outcrop across the Central Highlands of Scotland, east of the Great Glen, as well as appearing in the north of Ireland. It is a subdivision of the Dalradian Supergroup and is itself divided into four units; from oldest to youngest these are the Islay, Easdale, Crinan and Tayvallich subgroups.
The Colonsay Group is an estimated 5,000 m thick sequence of mildly metamorphosed Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks that outcrop on the islands of Colonsay, Islay and Oronsay and the surrounding seabed. They have been correlated with the Grampian Group, the oldest part of the Dalradian Supergroup.
The Appin Group is a thick sequence of metamorphosed Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks that outcrop across the Central Highlands of Scotland, east of the Great Glen. It forms a part of the Dalradian Supergroup.
The Badenoch Group is a sequence of metamorphosed Tonian age sedimentary rocks that outcrop across the Central Highlands of Scotland, east of the Great Glen. This rock sequence has formerly been referred to as the Central Highland Migmatite Complex and the Central Highland Division.
The Waits River Formation (WRF) is a late Silurian to early Devonian limestone containing lesser amounts of phyllite and schist. It is located in the northern Appalachian Mountains of North America. It ranges from Long Island Sound in Connecticut to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec (about 1,000 km), and its width ranges from 10–50 km. It is part of the Connecticut Valley–Gaspé Trough, which is present in eastern and northeastern Vermont.
This article describes the geology of the Cairngorms National Park, an area in the Highlands of Scotland designated as a national park in 2003 and extended in 2010. The Cairngorms National Park extends across a much wider area than the Cairngorms massif itself and hence displays rather more varied geology.
Glen Kingie is a glen or valley in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland which opens onto Glen Garry at its north-eastern end at Kingie. It is drained by the River Kingie which rises at a 650m col between the peaks of An Eag and Sgurr Cos na Breachd-laoidh. The river is fed by numerous burns both to north and south, key amongst which are Allt a' Chinn Bhric, Allt a' Choire Ghlais, Allt Coir' an Stangain Mhoir, Allt a' ùRiabhaich and Allt Torrain Dharaich. The waters of the Kingie enter those of the River Garry at Kingie Pool. Much of the northern side of the glen is formed by the slopes of 1003m high mountain of Sgurr Mor and the 919m high Gairich, both of which are Munros. The more broken southern side is dominated, at least in its upper reaches, by three (Corbetts; the 835m high Sgurr Cos na Breachd-laoidh, the 858m Fraoch Bheinn and the 880m Sgurr Mhurlagain. The glen runs through territory formed by psammites and pelites of the late Precambrian Glenfinnan Group of the Loch Ness Supergroup, a thick sequence of metamorphosed rocks which is intruded by the West Highland Granite Gneiss in the middle section of the glen.
The geology of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park in the southwestern part of the Scottish Highlands consists largely of Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic bedrock faulted and folded and subjected to low grade metamorphism during the Caledonian orogeny. These older rocks, assigned to the Dalradian Supergroup, lie to the northwest of the northeast – southwest aligned Highland Boundary Fault which defines the southern edge of the Highlands. A part of this mountainous park extends south of this major geological divide into an area characterised by younger Devonian rocks which are assigned to the Old Red Sandstone.
The Torridonian is the informal name given to a sequence of Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks that outcrop in a strip along the northwestern coast of Scotland and some parts of the Inner Hebrides from the Isle of Mull in the southwest to Cape Wrath in the northeast. They lie unconformably on the Archaean to Paleoproterozoic basement rocks of the Lewisian complex and unconformably beneath the Cambrian to Lower Ordovician rocks of the Ardvreck Group.
The Hondo Group is a group of geologic formations that crops out in most of the Precambrian-cored uplifts of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology gives a maximum age for the lower Hondo Group of 1765 to 1704 million years (Mya), corresponding to the Statherian period.
The Ortega Formation is a geologic formation that crops out in most of the mountain ranges of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the formation of 1690-1670 million years (Mya), in the Statherian period of the Precambrian.
The Mazatzal Group is a group of geologic formations that crops out in portions of central Arizona, US. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the formation of 1660 to 1630 million years (Mya), in the Statherian period of the Precambrian. The group gives its name to the Mazatzal orogeny, a mountain-building event that took place between 1695 and 1630 Mya.
The Wester Ross Supergroup is one of the subdivisions of the Neoproterozoic sequence of sedimentary rocks in the Scottish Highlands. It lies unconformably on medium to high-grade metamorphic rocks and associated igneous rocks of the Archaean and Paleoproterozoic age Lewisian complex or locally over the Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Stoer Group. The contact between the Wester Ross Supergroup and the next youngest of the Neoproterozoic sequences in the Scottish Highlands, the Loch Ness Supergroup, is everywhere a tectonic one.
The Renlandian Orogeny is a Tonian tectonic and metamorphic event that is found in East Greenland, on Svalbard, on Ellesmere Island and in Scotland. It takes its name from Renland in East Greenland, where the event was first recognised.
The Morar Group is a sequence of Tonian sedimentary rocks that have been subjected to a series of tectonic and metamorphic events since their deposition. Originally interpreted to be lowest (oldest) part of a "Moine Supergroup", this sequence now forms part of the Wester Ross Supergroup. They lie unconformably on Archean to Paleoproterozoic basement of the Lewisian complex. The contact with the overlying Glenfinnan Group of the Loch Ness Supergroup is everywhere a tectonic one, formed by the Sgurr Beag Thrust or related structures.
The Moinian or just the Moine, formerly the Moine Supergroup, is a sequence of Neoproterozoic metasediments that outcrop in the Northwest Highlands between the Moine Thrust Belt to the northwest and the Great Glen Fault to the southeast and one part of the Grampian Highlands to the southeast of the fault. It takes its name from A' Mhòine, a peat bog in northern Sutherland.
