Cairngorm Granite Scotland

This tough igneous rock is highly resistant to erosion and forms the dissected highland plateau which is the cairngorms.

Cairngorm granite scotland.

The distinctive shape of the mountains owes its appearance to the properties and distribution of this rock and the minerals which occur in it are directly related to its. Scotland s gem cairngorm cairngorm a yellow or. The cairngorm granite lies at the heart of our story. The central lowlands is a rift valley mainly comprising palaeozoic formations.

Morion classed cairngorm quartz is of a very dark colour and rarely found thus more desirable and expensive. The geology of scotland is unusually varied for a country of its size with a large number of differing geological features. The plants animals and birds that live there also form a unique community one that is very fragile and of great interest to study in these times of recognisably changing. Shallow pits were formerly dug in the kaolinized granite for sake of the cairngorm andthe mineral was also found as pebbles in the bed of the river avon.

The extensive main granite is a coarse pink biotite granite. Introducing the official national gemstone of scotland. Although the cairngorms give their name to and are at the heart of the cairngorms national park they only form one. The cairngorm granite is one of the largest plutons in the united kingdom.

The mountains are made from granite found one of the largest exposed plutons in great britain. The highlands and islands is a diverse area which lies to the north and west of the highland boundary fault. There are three main geographical sub divisions. And the southern uplands which.

Am monadh ruadh are a mountain range in the eastern highlands of scotland closely associated with the mountain of the cairn gorm the cairngorms became part of scotland s second national park the cairngorms national park on 1 september 2003. The cairngorms scottish gaelic. Cairngorm is a favourite ornamental stone in scotland being set in the lids of snuff mulls in the handles of dirks and in brooches for. As granite is a hard rock resistant to erosion it formed a broad plateau while the surrounding rocks continued to be eroded.

Handcrafted in small batches in the highlands of scotland granite north gin is distilled using water from its cairngorm mountain range home. During this time the cairngorms were entirely covered by an ice sheet. There are many other mountains in scotland made of similar granite but the scale of the cairngorms high plateau wilderness and its tundra like appearance make it unique. Although the rocks are well known the granites still hold tectonic puzzles.

The cairngorm pluton is one of a series of major granite bodies emplaced into the grampians around 415 400 million years ago. A particular type of smoky quartz found exclusively in the cairngorm mountain range it is known as cairngorm quartz cairngorm stone or simply cairngorm. The last major ice age to affect the cairngorms peaked around 20 000 18 000 years ago and ended approximately 13 000 years ago.