Pittodrie

Also within

Aberdeenshire County

Condition (NatureScot)

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Neogene, Quaternary · Rock Type: Granite

Landscape processes: Glacial, Periglacial, Volcanic / Igneous

Description

Pittodrie Pittodrie is located 8 km to the north-west of Inverurie. The site is important for deeply weathered bedrock, one of the characteristic features of the geomorphology of north-east Scotland. It shows a relatively intense type of weathering in granite represented at only a few sites in the area, and it is the only known location for a particular type of clay mineral, macaulayite. The weathered granite shows evidence of periglacial disturbance and is overlain by till and/or soliflucted till. The weathering of the granite to an incoherent clayey grus (clayey, silty sand) originated under warmer and wetter subtropical climate conditions during the Miocene. Mineralogical analysis indicates the production of clay minerals including kaolinite, illite and macaulayite. The decomposed bedrock at Pittodrie is important for interpreting geomorphological processes during the longer-term evolution of the landscape of north-east Scotland. Its preservation is also significant in demonstrating a relatively low intensity of glacial erosion in this area during the Quaternary glaciations, although cold-climate processes have extensively modified the slopes. In sum, the evidence from Pittodrie provides an important demonstration of changing environmental conditions and geomorphological processes during Neogene and Quaternary landscape evolution in north-east Scotland.