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.