﻿OF 
  THE 
  ABEKDEENSHIBE 
  COAST. 
  165 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  Stirling 
  Hill, 
  260 
  feet 
  high, 
  close 
  beside 
  Buchan 
  

   Ness, 
  where 
  the 
  old 
  quarries 
  of 
  red 
  granite 
  have 
  long 
  been 
  worked, 
  

   • 
  I 
  also 
  found 
  evidence 
  of 
  glaciation, 
  but 
  not 
  so 
  well 
  marked 
  : 
  the 
  

   striae 
  are 
  worse 
  preserved 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  direction 
  seems 
  to 
  vary 
  more. 
  

   So 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  could 
  make 
  out, 
  they 
  pointed 
  at 
  one 
  spot 
  S. 
  10°-20° 
  W., 
  

   at 
  another 
  S. 
  45° 
  W., 
  at 
  another 
  S. 
  25°-30° 
  W. 
  ; 
  and 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  

   could 
  form 
  an 
  opinion, 
  the 
  action 
  had 
  come 
  from 
  S.W. 
  Some 
  traces 
  

   of 
  the 
  red 
  clay 
  occur 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  on 
  the 
  hill. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  north 
  brow 
  of 
  Stirling 
  Hill 
  I 
  also 
  found 
  some 
  instances 
  of 
  

   of 
  the 
  E. 
  and 
  W. 
  glaciation. 
  The 
  surface 
  so 
  marked 
  was 
  of 
  very 
  

   small 
  extent 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  striae 
  were 
  distinct 
  and 
  pointed 
  nearly 
  due 
  W. 
  

   or 
  W. 
  5° 
  S. 
  These 
  are 
  probably 
  of 
  older 
  date, 
  like 
  those 
  beneath 
  

   the 
  grey 
  clay 
  at 
  the 
  Cove 
  ; 
  for 
  at 
  Peterhead 
  Bay, 
  just 
  at 
  the 
  south 
  

   side 
  of 
  the 
  town, 
  we 
  find 
  a 
  thick 
  mass 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  grey 
  Boulder-clay, 
  

   full 
  of 
  granite 
  and 
  gneiss 
  debris, 
  resting 
  immediately 
  upon 
  the 
  

   surface 
  of 
  the 
  granite, 
  which 
  is 
  here 
  somewhat 
  soft 
  and 
  disintegrated 
  

   and 
  does 
  not 
  bear 
  signs 
  of 
  glaciation. 
  Upon 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  this 
  grey 
  

   Boulder-clay 
  at 
  Peterhead 
  Bay 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  heavy 
  bed 
  of 
  the 
  Red 
  Clay, 
  

   quite 
  distinct 
  in 
  colour, 
  and 
  with 
  fewer 
  stones 
  : 
  it 
  is 
  not, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  so 
  extensively 
  or 
  so 
  deeply 
  exposed 
  as 
  the 
  grey 
  clay 
  beneath 
  ; 
  

   but 
  its 
  position 
  above 
  the 
  latter 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  very 
  satisfactorily 
  

   displayed. 
  

  

  The 
  clear 
  evidence 
  at 
  Murdoch 
  Head 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  ice 
  from 
  

   the 
  southward 
  came 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  on 
  to 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  

   Peterhead, 
  grazing 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  rocks 
  at 
  the 
  projecting 
  head- 
  

   lands 
  and 
  bringing 
  with 
  it 
  the 
  red 
  clay 
  and 
  debris 
  of 
  the 
  Sandstone 
  

   formation 
  ; 
  so 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  here 
  the 
  movement 
  traced 
  for 
  a 
  distance 
  

   of 
  40 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  Stonehaven 
  by 
  its 
  action 
  on 
  the 
  rocks, 
  

   while 
  the 
  Red 
  Clay 
  itself 
  extends 
  ten 
  miles 
  further. 
  This 
  flow 
  of 
  ice 
  

   along 
  the 
  coast 
  from 
  south 
  to 
  north 
  accounts 
  for 
  the 
  drift 
  of 
  red 
  

   sediment 
  and 
  sandstone 
  debris 
  which 
  we 
  find 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  of 
  

   Aberdeenshire 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  Peterhead, 
  and 
  likewise 
  for 
  the 
  trans- 
  

   port 
  of 
  the 
  serpentine 
  boulders 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  direction. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  somewhat 
  difficult 
  to 
  decide 
  whether 
  the 
  ice 
  which 
  flowed 
  

   northward 
  along 
  the 
  Aberdeenshire 
  coast 
  was 
  of 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  a 
  

   glacier 
  or 
  pack-ice, 
  such 
  as 
  that 
  which 
  fringes 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  of 
  

   Greenland, 
  where 
  it 
  drifts 
  steadily 
  along 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  

   southwards 
  to 
  Cape 
  Farewell, 
  under 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  Arctic 
  

   current. 
  Such 
  extensive 
  sheets 
  of 
  ice, 
  30 
  or 
  40 
  feet 
  thick, 
  with 
  

   bergs 
  occasionally 
  frozen 
  into 
  them 
  and 
  moving 
  steadily 
  along 
  a 
  

   coast, 
  seem 
  competent 
  to 
  exert 
  some 
  abrading 
  action 
  on 
  the 
  rocks 
  ; 
  

   for 
  in 
  Nares's 
  Expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Arctic 
  regions 
  Capt. 
  Feilden 
  tells 
  

   us 
  that 
  they 
  obtained 
  ocular 
  demonstration 
  that 
  even 
  the 
  shore-ice. 
  

   acted 
  on 
  by 
  the 
  rise 
  and 
  fall 
  of 
  the 
  tide, 
  picked 
  up 
  material 
  from 
  

   the 
  bottom 
  and 
  scratched 
  the 
  imbedded 
  stones 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  rocks 
  

   against 
  which 
  the 
  ice 
  grated*. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  contended 
  that 
  the 
  fine 
  

   red 
  mud 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  brought 
  in 
  suspension 
  by 
  the 
  current 
  of 
  

   water 
  which 
  carried 
  the 
  floe 
  on 
  its 
  surface, 
  while 
  the 
  stones 
  scattered 
  

   through 
  the 
  clay 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  dropped 
  from 
  fragments 
  of 
  ice 
  into 
  

   * 
  Quart. 
  Journ. 
  Geol. 
  Soc. 
  vol. 
  xxxiv. 
  p. 
  566, 
  August 
  1878. 
  

  

  