Windy Hills

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 57.4496, -2.3320

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Also within

Aberdeenshire County

Condition (NatureScot)

Favourable (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
F1 Quaternary of Scotland Favourable — 2009-04-20

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Neogene · Rock Type: Flint, Quartzite

Landscape processes: Glacial, Periglacial

Description

Windy Hills The Windy Hills are located between Turriff and Ellon. The site is the ‘type locality’ for a series of quartzite gravels (the Windy Hills Gravel Member) that, together with a series of flint gravels (the Buchan Ridge Gravel Member), form a unique set of deposits, the Buchan Gravel Formation, often known as the ‘Pliocene’ gravels of Buchan. The age and origin of these deposits have long been a source of scientific study and debate. Current interpretations suggest that the Windy Hills gravels are in situ Neogene river deposits. Following deposition, the gravels were modified by a range of processes reflecting later changes in environmental conditions, including chemical weathering, glaciation and periglacial processes. The imprint of periglacial processes, in particular, is strikingly displayed in several classic features of soil development associated with cold environments. Together with the flint gravels at Moss of Cruden, Windy Hills is of exceptional importance in providing a uniquely long record of some of the geomorphological processes and environmental conditions that have shaped the landscape of Scotland during and since the Neogene.

Plant communities

A9 — Fast flowing river and stream, Marginal and inundation, Pond ditch and canal, Sluggish river and stream

Potamogeton natans community

Schoenoplectus lacustris, Juncus bulbosus, Sparganium angustifolium, Sparganium erectum, Sparganium minimum, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Lemna trisulca, Nymphaea alba, Callitriche platycarpa, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus trichophyllus, Glyceria fluitans, Chara subspinosa

A14 — Fast flowing river and stream

Myriophyllum alterniflorum community

Isolepis fluitans, Juncus bulbosus, Fontinalis antipyretica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton filiformis, Potamogeton gramineus, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus peltatus, Chara spp., Nitella hyalina

A17 — Chalk river and stream, Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans community

Berula erecta, Nasturtium officinale, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Veronica beccabunga, Polygonum amphibium, Polygonum hydropiper, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans

A18 — Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus fluitans community

Fontinalis antipyretica, Fontinalis squamosa var. curnowii, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Myriophyllum spicatum, Elodea canadensis, Mentha aquatica, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Ranunculus fluitans, Glyceria fluitans, Phalaris arundinacea