Geology of Unst and Fetlar in Shetland : memoir for 1:50 000 geological sheet 131 (Scotland) Unst and Fetlar

This memoir, and the 1:50 000-scale geological map that it accompanies, are the products of a contract between the Natural Environment Research Council and the University of Liverpool to produce the map; and a subsequent contract between the British Geological Survey and Professor Derek Flinn to produce the memoir. Such contracts stem from the NERC policy of encouraging academics with substantial knowledge about specific areas in the UK to transfer their information into the public domain. This is done by funding them to extend mapping from areas in which they have worked to the boundaries of BGS map sheets. The maps, and accompanying descriptive memoirs (supported by open file reports and archives), are then published by the British Geological Survey. In the case of Unst and Fetlar the contracts have built on more than fifty years of experience of Shetland geology possessed by Professor Flinn, who resurveyed the solid and drift geology of the 1:50 000-scale Unst and Fetlar sheet (Sheet 131) and is the main author of this memoir. He had also earlier surveyed the area of Central Shetland (Sheet 128), published by the Institute of Geological Sciences (now BGS) as 1 inch to 1 mile geological maps in 1981 and 1982, and more recently produced the 1:50 000-scale geological map (Sheet 130) and accompanying memoir for the neighbouring island of Yell, published by the BGS in 1994. The 1:50 000-scale geological map of Unst and Fetlar (Sheet 131), to which this memoir relates, was published by the BGS in 2002. Some minor changes in interpretation by the author since that date have been incorporated in this memoir, which includes information gathered and interpretations made up to and including 2007. Sadly Derek Flinn passed away in June 2012, whilst this memoir was undergoing final preparations for publication. The British Geological Survey is proud to publish it in his memory, reflecting a lifetime of dedicated geological work on Shetland in general and on Unst and Fetlar in particular. The printing of this memoir has been funded with the support of the Shetland Amenity Trust in recognition of Professor Flinn's contribution to Shetland Geology.