The Geoi.ogv ov Lochki ttox. li> 



and the Morkiand Bridge proniinenl rocky ridges running- 

 parallel with ihe valley have been rounded, polished, and left 

 almost bare. The softer shales between the hard bands 

 have been hollowed out, leaving puzzling depressions with- 

 out any apparent cause. Ihe whole eastern shore of the 

 Loch has suffered from ice abrasion. Rocky ribs run into 

 the Loch without any covering of glacial drift. The band 

 of hard rock now running through the village was polished 

 by Nature's chisel before roadmaking dawned upt)n the 

 untutored mind of palaeolithic man as he watched the slow- 

 retreat of the valley glacier. 



MoR.MXHS. 



The distribution and arrangement of these large masses 

 of rock rubbish play a very important part in the conditions 

 which were inaugurated at the close of the Ice Age. The 

 material deposited by the ice was arranged in various forms 

 according to the position it occupied in the moving glacier. 

 The moraine heaps in this district have one feature in 

 common. They consist of rounded ridges of boulder clay 

 and gravel with smooth flowing outline. Their long axes 

 agree always with the direction of the ice movement; and 

 the internal structure of the stones and clay is convex — 

 agreeing- with the outward shape of the ritiges. These 

 characteristics point to a sub-glacial origin. The n-oraines 

 have all been formed underneath the ice, possibly some of 

 them on the valley floor. Torrential streams tunnelled the 

 ice and swept along an irregular assortment of clay, sand, 

 and stones, gathered from the ice above. This material 

 was built up in a convex form, and frequently assumed large 

 dimensions. 



Probably the oldest moraines deposited by the Rutton 

 ice are those proininent drums running diagonally along the 

 east3ern slopes. There are at least three. One of them lies 

 across a little pre-glacial valley, but is being steadily removed 

 by the Minnin Burn in its flow to the Loch. The drums 

 are in a direct line with the upper Merkland valley, and 

 belong to the earlier period when the large glaciers were 



