Scotland's geology: evolution, crustal structure and societal relevance

Scotland has a remarkably varied geology (Fig. 1.1). Onshore expo- sures combined with offshore data incorporate rock units that together represent all the major slices of geological time from three billion years ago up to the Quaternary. In the first section of this introduction to the 5th edition of The Geology of Scotland, we present a summary of the geological framework and its evolution as evidenced from the onshore rocks and offshore borehole cores and seismic data. We present this evolution in terms of dynamic Earth processes and highlight major global geological events. In the second section, we draw together various independent lines of research to reveal the heterogeneous nature and ancient pedigree of the crust beneath Scotland, its current state of stress, and implica- tions for earthquake risk and fault reactivation. In the final section, in a change from previous editions, we present Scotland’s geological resources in the context of their relevance to society and to the underpinning of climate change mitigation and transition towards net zero emissions.