Siccar Point and Hutton's Unconformity
Siccar Point is one of geology’s iconic locations.
Siccar Point (East Scotland) is an important type location where intellectual progress was made by James Hutton (1726-1797).
At ´Hutton’s Unconformity´ two very different rock formations are coming together at very crass angles.
The older rock, a Silurian deep-water greywacke, was uplifted, folded, and eroded during a period of ~50-80 million years before the younger Devonian Old Red Sandstone was deposited on top.
In fact, the Old Red Sandstone contains some greywacke lithoclasts.
You should consider making this outcrop part of your next visit to Scotland not only because of its beauty, but also because of its significance for geology as a #science in general.
This iconic outcrop is considered to have spurred modern geologic thinking how deposition, folding, and erosion work.
Furthermore, Hutton also used Siccar Point as a prime example to proof how much time is stored in the rock record contrary to previous assumptions.
Further reading
The Geological Society’s 100 Great Geosites: Siccar Point
