Mountains and hills of Scotland

Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain, located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of Scotland.

Scotland is the most mountainous country in the United Kingdom. The area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault is known as the Scottish Highlands (or simply Highlands), and contains the country's main mountain ranges.

The southern and eastern parts of Scotland are usually referred to as the Scottish Lowlands, but these areas also have significant ranges of hills, although they are lower than the Highland mountains.

Within the Lowlands are two regions: the Midland Valley or Central Lowlands, and the Southern Uplands. The Midland Valley consists of rolling plains interrupted by volcanic outcroppings. The Southern Uplands form a continuous belt across southern Scotland from Galloway to the Borders and is divided into five local ranges.

The majority of the country's population resides in the Midland Valley, allowing the remote Highlands and Southern Uplands regions to remain unscathed by the advancements of civilization. Rugged and romantic, they are places of allure, places of dreams and escape.

Geography of Scotland

Sunset on Goatfell, Isle of Arran. June 2005.

Scotland comprises the northern third of the island of Great Britain, off the coast of northwestern Europe. The total land mass is around 30,414 square miles. Scotland's only land border is with England, running for 60 miles between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west.

The country consists of a mainland area plus several island groups. The mainland has three areas: the Highlands in the north; the Central Belt, and the Southern Uplands in the south. The Highlands are generally mountainous and are bisected by the Great Glen, which includes Loch Ness. The highest mountains in the British Isles are found there, including Ben Nevis, the highest peak at 4,409 feet. The Central Belt is generally flat and is where most of the population resides. This area is divided into the West Coast, which contains the areas around Glasgow; and the East Coast which includes the areas around the capital, Edinburgh.

Faults

The 'Highland Boundary Fault' is a geologic fault that traverses Scotland from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east. It separates two distinctly different physiographic regions: the Highlands from the Lowlands, but in most places it is only recognizable as a change in topography.

The fault allowed the Midland Valley to descend as a major rift by as much as 4000 meters, and there was subsequently vertical movement. This earlier vertical movement was later replaced by a horizontal shear. A complementary fault, the 'Southern Upland Fault', forms the southern boundary for the Central Lowlands region.

Regions

Scottish Highlands

The Quirang, Trotternish peninsula, on the Island of Skye

The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Highlands are popularly described as one of the most scenic regions of Europe.

The key highland ranges are:

• The Grampians, the main belt of mountains across the center of Scotland. The Cairngorms form the eastern part of the Grampians.
• The Northwest Highlands, lying to the north and west of the Great Glen.
• Cuillin, on the Isle of Skye.

Geology of the Highlands

The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the north west are up to 3,000 million years old and among the oldest found anywhere on Earth. These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and Skye Cuillin. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstones found principally along the Moray Firth coast. The Great Glen is a rift valley which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.

The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.

Scottish Lowlands

The southern and eastern parts of Scotland are usually referred to as the Scottish Lowlands, but these areas also have significant ranges of hills, although these are lower than the Highland mountains. In addition to the main ranges, there are numerous individual hills in the Lowlands, often volcanic in origin. Many are known by the Scots word Law, meaning hill.

Midland Valley

The Midland Valley lies between the Highlands and the Southern Uplands. Its northern boundary with the Highlands is formed by a wall-like escarpment, while the Southern Uplands boundary is sharp only near the coast. This vast area is filled by both plain and masses of volcanic rock.

Southern Uplands

In the Southern Uplands

The Southern Uplands is the southernmost of Scotland's three major geographic areas. It is a range of of hills nearly 125 miles (200 km) long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie South of the Southern Uplands fault line that runs from Girvan on the Ayrshire coast in the West to Dunbar in East Lothian on the North Sea coast. The Southern Uplands is the least populated of the 3 major Scottish geographic areas.

This continuous belt is divided into several local ranges; Carrick, Lowther Hills, Pentland Hills, Moorfoot Hills and Lammermuir Hills.

This region includes, among others, the cross border Cheviot Hills shared with the Pennines that form the "backbone of England". The Southern Uplands and Pennines are of a similar size both in terms of area covered and height. Although the summits are not as high as many in the Scottish Highlands or other famous mountain regions, the Southern Uplands is remote and mountainous, containing about 120 hills. Some of the more notable peaks in the Southern Uplands include:

• Merrick (the highest in the South of Scotland at 843 m)
• Broad Law (840 m)
• White Coomb (822 m)
• The Cheviot (815 m)
• Corserine (814 m)
• Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (797 m)
• Lamachan Hill (717 m)
• Cairnsmore of Fleet (711 m)
• Tinto (711 m)

Scotland's highest mountains

The ten highest mountains in Scotland are also the ten highest in the United Kingdom.

1. Ben Nevis 1344 metres (4409 feet)
2. Ben Macdhui 1310 m (4297 ft)
3. Braeriach 1296 m (4251 ft)
4. Cairn Toul 1291 m (4235 ft)
5. Sgor an Lochain Uaine 1258 m (4127 ft)
6. Cairn Gorm 1244 m (4081 ft)
7. Aonach Beag 1234 m (4048 ft)
8. Càrn Mòr Dearg 1220 m (4002 ft)
9. Aonach Mòr 1218 m (3996 ft)
10. Ben Lawers 1214 m (3982 ft)

Listings

Scottish peaks are categorized by means of the following hill lists. Note that any one peak may ‘qualify’ for inclusion in several lists.

• The Munros comprise all hills in Scotland over 3000 feet (914.4 m). The list was originally compiled by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891, and is modified from time to time by the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC). It includes 284 peaks.

• The Corbetts are hills in Scotland between 2500 and 3000 feet (762 and 914.4 m), with a relative height of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). The list is maintained by the SMC, currently 219 peaks listed.

• The Grahams are hills in Scotland between 2000 and 2500 feet (609.6 and 762 m), with a relative height of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). The list was first compiled by Fiona Graham. Currently 224 listed.

• The Donalds are hills in the Scottish Lowlands over 2000 feet (609.6 m). The list was originally compiled by Percy Donald, and is maintained by the SMC, 89 peaks are listed.

• The Marilyns are hills in the British Isles that have a relative height of at least 150 m, regardless of distance, absolute height or merit. The list was compiled and is maintained by Alan Dawson. There are currently 1214 Scottish peaks listed, see List of Marilyns in Scotland.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mountains of Scotland

• Jim Willsher Website. Hills of Scotland Retrieved May 21, 2008.
• Miller, Mary. 1978. From the hills and the heather of Scotland. Invercargill, N.Z.: M. Miller. ISBN 9780473000127
• Steven, Campbell Rodger. 1975. The story of Scotland's hills. London: R. Hale. ISBN 9780709149750
• The Mountaineering Council of Scotland. Mountaineering Council of Scotland Retrieved May 21, 2008.

External links

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