Geilston Burn
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Condition (NatureScot)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Quaternary of Scotland | Favourable | — | 2009-04-21 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Quaternary
Landscape processes: Coastal, Glacial
Description
GEILSTON BURN Geilston Burn is located to the south of Geilston village between the A814 and the railway line. The exposed glacial material and marine deposits along the banks of the burn are a sedimentary record of environmental changes during and after the last ice-age. The site provides an exceptionally valuable sedimentary record of the sequence of environmental changes which occurred on the west coast of Scotland during the Late Devensian part of the Quaternary. The key exposures along the Geilston Burn show a sequence of glacial and marine sediments which illustrate the deposits of the Late Devensian ice sheet initially laid down under the ice (lodgement till), then in the sea (glacimarine till) as the ice receded. Full marine conditions are then indicated by Clyde Beds, a series of fossiliferous clays and silts containing cool water species. The Clyde Beds were later truncated by an episode of marine erosion (equated with that which formed the Main Late glacial Shoreline in Western Scotland) and then capped by a series of beach deposits. The whole succession is now raised above present sea-level and preserves a most important record of former sea-level changes in Western Scotland. Also, since it includes the best permanent exposures of the Clyde Beds, Geilston Burn is a key reference site for studies of these deposits.