UK 2012 Siccar Point and Hutton's Unconformity

Between Pitlochry and Northumbria we stopped in at Siccar Point, on the North Sea coast.  The site is one of several places in Scotland where Hutton's Unconformity can be seen.

The unconformity marks the boundary between rocks from the lower Silurian (known as greywackie) that were produced about 425 million years ago, and overlaid by rock of upper Devonian sandstone.  The disjunct between the two different rock strata were predicted by Scottish geologist James Hutton as part of his theory of rock formations.  Hutton and several others approached the specific unconformity at Siccar Point by sea--it can be difficult to approach from the land due to the steepness of the slope and the strong tide.

The unconformity helped to cement the idea of an Earth that was very old--tremendous amounts of time were required to produce such a disjunct between an initial layer of of sedimentary rock, followed by an uplift and additional sedimentary rock formation.  The scientist John Playfair who accompanied Hutton said of the site "The mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far back into the abyss of time".

Richard had seen the unconformity previously while in other parts of Scotland, but this was his first visit to Siccar.  Though we tried to reach it from the land, we had to give up a little higher and see it more from above.

Siccar Point also allowed a great view of the coast!