Geo (body of water)
In the Scottish Shetland and Orkney Islands, Geo is the term used to describe smaller, linear bays that were created by coastal erosion and that run along a line of structural weaknesses and are separated from the rest of the mainland by steep cliffs. Geos can also form when roofs collapse from narrow sea caves. Many geos have a rocky beach at the top, usually with a lot of floating debris. The restricted width of many geos reflects the narrowness of the geological weakening line that is being exploited. The word goes back to Old Norse gjá / gjó and stands for a chasm or a small valley. On both archipelagos as well as in the north of Highland , especially in Caithness , geo is also common as part of the name of topographic objects .
Christie's Hole on Papa Stour is a spectacular example of a geo with tunnels and collapsed sections of a cave. The geos are actively eroding on the exposed west coasts. The recent rockfalls are widespread, particularly in the inner parts of geos, indicating continued expansion of the geo heads.
Web links
- Possibility to search for topographical objects in the Gazetteer for Scotland of the University of Edinburgh (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Definition Geo on the Oxford English Dictionary website , accessed July 31, 2018 (English)
- ↑ Glossary of Scandinavian origins of place names in Britain on the Ordnance Survey website , accessed July 31, 2018