Midland Valley
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The Midland Valley , also called Central Lowlands , is a geologically defined, low-lying area in southern Scotland . It consists of a rift valley between two faults , the Highland Boundary Fault in the north and the Southern Uplands Fault in the south. The Midland Valley is one of the three geographical sub-units of Scotland. The others are the Highlands and Islands to the north and west, and the Southern Uplands , which are to the south of the Midland Valley.
Boundary disorders
The Highland Boundary Fault runs from Lochranza on the Isle of Arran in the southwest through the Isle of Bute and Helensburgh to then form the northern boundary of Strathmore before reaching Stonehaven in the northeast. The fault was active during the Caledonian Orogeny , a plate tectonic collision that occurred 520 to 400 million years ago between the Middle Ordovician and Middle Devonian and led to the closure of the Iapetus Ocean . The movements at the Highland Boundary Fault caused the Midland Valley to sink up to 4,000 meters. These early vertical movements were later replaced by horizontal displacements.
The Southern Uplands Fault runs from Rhinns of Galloway in the west to Dunbar on the east coast, about 50 kilometers from Edinburgh .
Geology and geomorphology
The Midland Valley is mainly built up from Paleozoic rocks. Many of these deposits are of great economic importance as they are home to the coal and iron ore that drove Scotland's industrial revolution. The area was also the site of intense volcanism . For example, Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh is the remnant of what was once a much larger volcano that was active during the Carboniferous approximately 300 million years ago.
The Talung's surface is relatively flat, although hills like the Ochil Hills and the Campsie Fells are visible from almost everywhere. Like the rest of Scotland, the area was affected by the Pleistocene glaciation that covered much of England .
Human geography
A successful combination of fertile plains with significant deposits of coal and iron has resulted in the Midland Valley being much more densely populated than the rest of Scotland. The big cities of Glasgow , Edinburgh , Stirling and Dundee are all here, and more than half of Scotland's residents live in the Midland Valley.
See also
literature
- Con Gillen: Geology and Landscapes of Scotland . Terra Publishing, Harpenden 2003.
- J. Keay, & J. Keay: Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland . Harper & Collins, London 1994.
- McKirdy, Alan Gordon, John & Roger Crofts: Land of Mountain and Flood: The Geology and Landforms of Scotland . Birlinn, Edinburgh 2007.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gillen 2003, p. 17
- ↑ Loch Lomond - Highland Boundary Fault ( en ) In: Scottish Geology . Hunterian Museum u. a .. July 20, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
- ^ Highland Boundary Fault ( en ) In: Gazetteer for Scotland . University of Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society . Retrieved February 4, 2010.
- ^ Southern Uplands Fault. (No longer available online.) In: Gazetteer for Scotland. Archived from the original on December 19, 2005 ; Retrieved February 4, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Regional Geology, Southern Uplands - Map. (No longer available online.) Scottishgeology.com, archived from the original on October 23, 2006 ; Retrieved February 4, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Keay 1994, p. 420.
Coordinates: 56 ° 24 ' N , 4 ° 3' W