Shetland Seven Day Geology Tour

 Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Lerwick. If you are flying in to Sumburgh Airport (LSI), an airport transfer to Lerwick can be arranged. If you are arriving by ferry, our accommodation is a short taxi ride from the ferry port. There will be a group dinner arranged this evening, to give you a chance to meet your fellow travellers.

Day 2:  Unst. We will begin our tour of Shetland with a ferry crossing to the most northerly island of Unst. It is an island in two halves - the western half is comprised of Dalradian rocks from the ancient continent of Laurentia while the east is a section of oceanic crust (an ophiolite) thrust onto the continental mass when the Iapetus Ocean closed around 420 million years ago The tour will start at Norwick Beach, where the two halves meet, then we’ll take a trip to see the unique Skaw granite and Britain’s most northerly house. We’ll place a foot on the Moho - the boundary between Earth’s crust and the mantle – at Hagdale and Hamar before we explore what was once the largest chromite quarry in the UK.  Our journey through the Shetland ophiolite will take in an expanse of serpentine desert, which is home to Edmondstons Chickweed - a plant found nowhere in the world except Unst. We’ll then take the opportunity to travel up through the ophiolite sequence discovering dunite, wehrlite, pyroxenite and gabbro and end our journey back at the ferry terminal on Unst, where we discover the ophiolite shear zone at Belmont Quarry. We then return to our accommodation in Lerwick.

Day 3: North Mainland. Today is an opportunity to get to know the volcanic landscape of the North Mainland. With dramatic rugged hills, sea cliffs and stacks, this is a landscape to remember. We will begin by taking a scenic route north to Mavis Grind – a narrow strip of land with North Sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  Between the two, a geowall provides an insight into the complex geology we will witness throughout the day. Breath-taking views may be enjoyed along the Eshaness coast as we walk through the flank of an ancient volcano and find vivid traces of its explosive past. The landscape remains dynamic today - as one of the highest energy coastlines in the world it is battered by the full force of the North Atlantic. In the afternoon we will enjoy the beach at Braewick - granite at the eastern end is faulted against Devonian sandstones and volcanics to the west, making for an extraordinary variety of beach pebbles and rocks. We’ll also get a chance to hunt for agates at Stennes, which was an important Haaf fishing station in the 18th and 19th centuries. We finish the day back at our accommodation in Lerwick.

Day 4: North Mainland. On day three we begin with a couple of quarries, at Virdnis and Haggrister, which are close in proximity but very different in character. We will then follow the magnificent Ronas Voe - as close as Shetland gets to a fjord - stopping to visit The Blade.  This geomorphological sandy feature is changing year on year, slowly burying traces of a thriving herring station. In the afternoon we’ll take the high road to obtain a (hopefully) clear view of Ronas Hill, Shetland’s highest point at 450m. This formed as a granite pluton in the roots of the Caledonian mountains and is now the site of a granite boulder field - the result of freeze thaw action- not to mention arctic alpine plants normally only found in the Arctic Circle. At our finishing point of Ollaberry we will encounter the Walls Boundary Fault - the best exposure of the Great Glen Fault to be seen anywhere in Scotland. For those who would like a scramble, there are incredible folded rocks to be found on the beach at Back Sand. We then return to our accommodation in Lerwick.

Day 5: Central Mainland. Today’s watchword will be variety! We will make our way through the Central Mainland discovering Shetland’s Moine and Dalradian rocks and some interesting intrusions.  We’ll begin with an overview of the Nesting Fault - one of the reasons behind Shetland’s extraordinary geological diversity - and gain a fine view over Shetland’s ancient capital of Scalloway.  We’ll visit Dalradian limestones that tell a story of a snowball earth, a pyroxene rich granite, and the beautiful Valayre Gneiss at Grutness that forms a boundary between Shetland’s Moine and Dalradian rocks.  The Laxo Beach allows us to gaze into the heart of the Nesting Fault, giving a real sense of tectonic forces at work, not to mention a look at the striking Graven Granite and some calc-silicate rocks that could be taken for an art installation. Finally, at Kirkhouse in Voe we’ll discover one of the best bits of boudinage you’re ever likely to see... We finish the day back at our accommodation in Lerwick.

Day 6: South Mainland. On our final touring day, we will see some of Shetland’s youngest rocks, still nearly 400 million years old! We will start with Devonian alluvial fan deposits at Rova Head in Lerwick before experiencing Shetland’s Siccar Point - a nonconformity at Quarff. Braided river deposits may be seen as we take a walk along the Scatness peninsula. Lunch at Sumburgh head in the vicinity of a Stevenson lighthouse will afford views of dramatic cliffs teaming with seabirds including puffins, guillemots, razorbills and fulmars. This site played host to a WW2 radar station that successfully gave early warning of an attack on the British naval fleet stationed at Scapa Flow. The Old Red Sandstone cliffs are also home to Asterolepis Thule – a fossil fish found nowhere else in the world. We will make the connection between geology and archaeology in the afternoon with a visit to a massive sulphide deposit at Garths Ness which was mined in the 19th Century and a Viking soapstone quarry at Catpund. We return to Lerwick to enjoy a farewell group meal together.

Day 7: Departure. You can depart at any time this morning, or you may wish to extend your travels. Transfers to Sumburgh Airport (LSI) can be arranged for departure flights this morning.