Geological excursion guide to the Stirling and Perth area

Edited by M. A. E. Browne and C. Gillen

Published in 2015 by Edinburgh Geological Society in association with NMS Enterprises Limited – Publishing a division of NMS Enterprises Limited National Museums Scotland Chambers Street Edinburgh EH1 1JF

Publication format, text and images © Edinburgh Geological Society 2015

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ISBN: 978 1 905267 88 0

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Cover image: View ENE from the Wallace Monument on Abbey Craig of the West Ochil Fault Scarp near Blairlogie. The Ochil Hills are formed by rocks of the Lower Devonian Ochil Volcanic Formation and the low ground by much softer Carboniferous-age rocks overlain by thick Quaternary deposits © M. A. E. Browne.

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(Figure S.1), (Figure 2.1), (Figure 2.2), (Figure 3.1), (Figure 3.2), (Figure 3.3), (Figure 4.1), (Figure 4.2), (Figure 5.1), (Figure 6.1), (Figure 6.2), (Figure 7.1), (Figure 8.1), (Figure 8.2), (Figure 9.1), (Figure 13.1), (Figure 14.1), (Figure 15.1) and (Figure 17.1) are derived in part from data reproduced by permission of the British Geological Survey © NERC. All rights reserved. CP15/025. Ordnance Survey map data reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey. Licence number 100033582.

Photographs © M. A. E. Browne and C. Gillen.

Contributors

Matt Armstrong (deceased, formerly BGS)

Mike Browne BGS, Edinburgh

Peter Craig Tarland by Alford, Aberdeenshire (formerly BGS)

Doug Fettes Edinburgh (formerly BGS)

Rhoda Fothergill Perth

Howell Francis (deceased, formerly BGS and Leeds University)

Rosalind Garton St Andrews University

Con Gillen Edinburgh University

Ian Hall Edinburgh (formerly BGS)

Tony Harris

Cardiff University (formerly BGS and Liverpool University)

Donald MacIntyre (deceased, formerly Pomona College, USA)

Andrew McMillan Edinburgh (formerly BGS)

Jon Merritt BGS, Edinburgh

Bill Read (deceased, formerly BGS)

Philip Rose Aberdeen (formerly Liverpool University)

Jack Soper Threshfield, Skipton (formerly Sheffield University)

Acknowledgements

All the maps have been drafted by Angus Miller of Geowalks (Edinburgh). All photographs are by the editors. We wish to thank those geologists who kindly undertook to review individual excursions. The Edinburgh Geological Society made a grant available for the drawing of the excursion maps.

David Stephenson and Kathryn Goodenough are thanked for their editorial contributions. We would like to express particular thanks to David Stephenson for his meticulous editing.

Editorial introduction

This field guide has had a long history since the idea was mooted in the 1970s, and many of the excursions had been drafted by the end of the 1980s. We have taken the opportunity when editing the text and revisiting all the exposures to remove out-of-date references and add the most-recent research results and concepts. Some localities had degraded to the extent that we could not justify retaining them in the guide. In addition, we were obliged to remove some excursions entirely, as a result of restrictions on the overall size of the book. All national grid references are based on GPS readings taken at the time of our visits.

Since this is a field guide, readers wishing to have overviews of the geology and landscapes are referred to the following works: Cameron & Stephenson (1985), Browne & Mendum (1995), Trewin (2002), McKirdy et al. (2009), Friend (2012), Gillen (2013). The Stirling Memoir (Francis et al., 1970) and the Perth Memoir (Armstrong et al., 1985) are key references for most of the more detailed geology and are referred to separately only in chapters where there is a specific reason.

Contents

Summary of geology

Excursion 1: Stirling: building stones

Excursion 2: Bannock Burn

Excursion 3: Falkirk

Excursion 4: Muiravonside Country Park

Excursion 5: Bridge of Allan and Dumyat

Excursion 6: Silver Glen, Alva

Excursion 7: Mill Glen, Tillicoultry

Excursion 8: Teith valley and Strathallan

Excursion 9: Gargunnock Burn

Excursion 10: Fintry

Excursion 11: Kilsyth and Denny

Excursion 12: Braeleny, Keltie Water

Excursion 13: Bracklinn Falls, Keltie Water

Excursion 14: Craig Rossie

Excursion 15: Perth

Excursion 16: Perth: building stones

Excursion 17: Stanley and Campsie Linn

Excursion 18: Dunkeld and Little Glen Shee

Figures and plates

References