Western Grampian Highlands

• Main Authors: Gordon, John E., Williams, D. Noel
• Other Authors: Ballantyne, Colin K.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media B.V. 2021
• Subjects: Alluvial fans; Caldera collapse; Debris flows and cones; Geopark; Glacial erosion; Hummocky recessional moraines; Loch Lomond Readvance; Rock-slope failures; Valley sandar; Ben Nevis; Loch Lomond; Rugged Mountain; Sandar; Ice cap
• Online Access: https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/western-grampian-highlands(3d63d51b-481f-4cc3-a595-093131c0d98d).html; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71246-4_17; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71246-4; https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?isn=9783030712457&rn=1

The Western Grampian Highlands, including Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, form a rugged mountain landscape displaying classic features of glacial erosion developed across a range of metamorphic and igneous rocks. Glacial troughs radiate out from Rannoch Moor, which formed a major ice dispersal centre during successive Pleistocene glacial episodes. The area is also notable for glacier depositional landforms associated with the Loch Lomond Readvance, particularly a large valley sandur and associated landforms at the western end of Loch Etive and hummocky recessional moraines on Rannoch Moor—a key locality for establishing the timing of deglaciation of the West Highland ice cap. Excellent examples of Holocene rock-slope failures, debris flows, debris cones and alluvial fans add to the geomorphological diversity, while Glen Coe provides a geologically outstanding illustration of a caldera collapse. A large part of the area lies within Lochaber Geopark.