Moray Firth

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Location, structure and surroundings of the Moray Firth

The Moray Firth [ˈmʌɹɪfɜːθ] ( Scottish Gaelic : An Cuan Moireach or Linne Mhoireibh ) is a large bay in the North Sea on the north coast of Scotland .

Geography and geology

The Moray Firth is considered the largest firth in Great Britain . This bay in the shape of an approximately equilateral triangle is tectonically pre-formed. In the last ice age it was partly completely glaciated, so it is a fjord overall . In addition, their inner parts also have the character of a fjord in themselves. The large funnel between Kinnairds Head near Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire and Duncansby Head near John o 'Groats and Noss Head near Wick is 120 km wide and 120 km long at the opening, followed by the Beauly Firth over 130 km. Inward, the large bay forks into two funnels, the larger of which forms the 50 km long inner part of the Moray Firth. Its opening between Burghead (or Covesea Skerries near Branderburgh ) and Tarbat Ness is 25 km wide. The further inner funnel adjacent to the north is called Dornoch Firth , is 40 km long and 16 km wide at the opening.

The inner funnel of the Moray Firth is narrowed 14 km before Inverness by two headlands to an S-curve. The tips of the headlands are Chanonry Point on the north bank and Fort George on the south bank. The elongated bay between this strait and Inverness is also called the Inverness Firth . At the nominal inner end of the Firth near Inverness, the bay is actually not yet over, but only narrowed laterally by the pointed delta of the River Ness . The innermost part of the bay is called Beauly Firth and is another twelve kilometers long. The 30 km long Cromarty Firth flows into the north side of the inner funnel through a narrow gap in a ridge .

Including all adjoining bays, the Moray Firth has a coastline of more than 800 km, not a small part of which is rocky cliffs. In the inner part and on the side arms there are considerable tidal flats . The highest peaks near the shore are the 1,048 m high Ben Wyvis , six kilometers from the end of the Cromarty Firth, and the 692 m high Beinn Tharsiunn , less than 5 km south of the Dornoch Firth.

Inner fjords

The mouths of the narrow inner areas of the inlets show a typical difference to fjords in Norway. While there is a threshold under the water, here the significantly stronger tidal currents have washed the straits at the mouths to a greater depth than the water areas in front of and behind. This applies to the inner 20 km (with Beauly Firth 32 km) of the Moray Firth, the inner 28 km of the Dornoch Firth, as well as the Cromarthy Firth and the ( Sea ) Loch Fleet, which flows into the north side of the outer Dornoch Firth .

Estuaries

Moray Firth from Findhorn: The first opposite coast ends in Tarbat Ness; behind the Dornoch Firth
Exit of the Moray Firth

Because of the coarse-grained sediment load from the surrounding mountains, despite a mean tidal range of around three meters, several bodies of water flow with a so-called pointed delta, a headland through which only one branch of the estuary flows at a time. They are:

But there are also estuaries :

Lagoon:

The Moray Firth in the time of the Picts

Groam House Museum

The importance of the area with its good harbors and the rich hinterland is indicated by the number of Pictish symbol stones and cross-slabs as well as by the Fort of Burghead . The Grenn Castle , a small Promontory Fort , is at Portknockie. It was surrounded by a palisade and the excavation revealed traces of a rectangular hall.

Halfway between Burghead and Lossiemouth, at Covesea, is Sculptor's Cave (the sculptor's cave). Named after the scratches on the walls, some of which are typically Pictish. The great cave went through at least two main phases. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC And a second that left the symbols around the entrance to the cave, coinciding with the activities at Burghead Fort in Pictish times. The area is also one of the distribution centers for the Carved Stone Balls . On the north side of the Firth, Rosemarkie was later a church center with the "Fairy Glen", where some fine cross-slabs or Pictish symbol stones can be seen in the Groam House Museum .

natural reserve

The Moray Firth is one of the most important places on the coast of the United Kingdom for the whale watching . The most famous whale and wildlife viewing point is at Chanonry Point. The inner Moray Firth, the area from Inverness to Chanonry Point, is designated as a bird sanctuary (English Special Protection Area) according to EU guidelines.

economy

The Outer Moray Firth area includes an important North Sea oil field, the Beatrice Oil Field , on the Scottish coast. At the same time, the Moray Firth is also an important fishing area, in which the fishing industry mainly focuses on Norway lobster and scallops . Construction of the Beatrice offshore wind farm in the bay is scheduled to start in 2017 , after two turbines were built there as a demonstration project.

Reference points

Longitude and latitude
Duncansby Head 58 ° 39 '  N , 3 ° 1'  W.
Chanonry Point 57 ° 34 '  N , 4 ° 5'  W
Inverness ( Kessock Bridge ) 57 °  30'N , 4 °  14'W
Fraserburgh (Kinnaird Head) 57 ° 42 '  N , 2 ° 0'  W.

Web links

Commons : Moray Firth  - collection of images, videos and audio files

cards

geology

Biology and Conservation

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tide Times for Inverness


Coordinates: 57 ° 40 ′ 0 ″  N , 3 ° 53 ′ 0 ″  W.