What is the Highland Boundary Fault?
Q: What is the Highland Boundary Fault?
A: The Highland Boundary Fault is a geological fault that crosses Scotland diagonally from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east. It separates two distinctly different regions, the Highlands from the Lowlands.
Q: What are the other three great faults across Scotland?
A: The other three great faults across Scotland are the Great Glen Fault in the north, the Southern Uplands Fault in the south, and further south just over the border with England, is the Iapetus Suture where the palaeo-Iapetus Ocean closed.
Q: When did this plate tectonic collision take place?
A: This plate tectonic collision took place from Mid Ordovician to Mid Devonian periods (520 to 400 million years ago), during closure of Iapetus Ocean.
Q: How much vertical movement was caused by this fault?
A: This fault allowed for a major rift by up to 4000 metres and there was subsequently vertical movement.
Q: What replaced this vertical movement?
A: This vertical movement was later replaced by a horizontal shear.
Q: What forms southern boundary for Central Lowlands?
A: A complementary fault, known as Southern Uplands Fault forms southern boundary for Central Lowlands.
Q: What event caused formation of global super-continent Pangaea?
A:The formation of global super-continent Pangaea was caused by two great tectonic events which took place millions of years ago.
