Category 8: Outcrops

Rock outcrops give us important information about geological structures, rock types and past processes. Good outcrops are key to geological mapping and understanding local geological history, and need to be protected from damage, for example as a result of irresponsible coring. This category contains some of the best!
Click on the links below to find out about each Geosite:
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Brimham RocksNorth Yorkshire, England Brimham rocks are balancing rock formations on Brimham Moor. Glaciation and erosion have carved them into amazing shapes! ![]() |
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Snowball Earth Deposits, IslayInner Hebrides, Scotland These deposits are thought to support the 'Snowball Earth' hypothesis that the Earth’s surface became entirely or nearly entirely frozen earlier than 650 million years ago. ![]() |
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Coast around CrasterNorthumberland, England The coast around Craster provides many opportunities to observe the Great Whin Sill at Dunstanborough Castle, and also the unusual formations associated with it such as Greymare Rock. ![]() |
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Permian Red Sandstone Cliffs, DawlishDevon, England These colourful outcrops of red sandstone along the Dawlish Coast provide a reminder of when Britian lay closer to the equator and much of the country as we now know it was a desert! |
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Scourie MoreSutherland, Scotland The outcrops at Scourie More offer an opportunity to observe deep time and cross-cutting relationships in the earth's crust. |
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FunzieFetlar, Shetland, Scotland A unique outcrop exposing originally round pebbles that have been squashed into discs or stretched into rods during a mountain-building period. |
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Sub-Torridonian unconformity on the Assynt RoadSutherland, Scotland This site is one of the most visited unconformities in Britain and defines the landscape through Assynt. |
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Sand Volcanoes near KilkeeCounty Clare, Ireland These unusual features can be found along the Atlantic coast of Ireland, and can be studied to aid in the understanding of ancient earthquakes. |
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The Moho on the Heogs and Nikka VordUnst, Shetland, Scotland There are few places on Earth today where a sequence of oceanic rocks from the mantle to the top of the oceanic crust can be seen uplifted to the surface, but this site has one of the most accessible and complete examples in the world. |
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Dalradian Marble, Maam ValleyConnemara, Ireland This area of folded rocks has been described as a structural and metamorphic paradise! |