Looking into the abyss of time
Glen Tilt is a special valley in the Cairngorms of Scotland. Like many other upland valleys, Ice Age glaciers carved it into a broad, flat-bottomed feature with a very typical U-shape across the valley.
Such ‘glacial’ valleys are characteristic of the uplands of Scotland, Wales and northern England. But Glen Tilt is also unusually straight because there is a line of weakness in the rocks here that the ice and water have exploited in carving the valley. Glen Tilt is formed along a fault line - a fracture in the upper layers of the Earth’s crust.
In a similar way the Great Glen valley to the north has formed along a much bigger fault line, marked by Loch Ness at one end and Loch Linnhe at the other.
The Ice Age
During the most severe periods in the Ice Age, ice was not just restricted to glaciers in the valleys, but it covered the whole landscape as a blanket several kilometers thick.
Great ice sheets extended over Scandinavia, Scotland and northern England. The ancient rocks in this part of Scotland were already fairly well smoothed and worn by millions of years of erosion and the ice sheets added the final smoothing touch. Traces of ice movement can be found today as parallel grooves (striations) across rock surfaces.
The Cairngorms
The Cairngorms National Park is well known for its rich wildlife. The list is long and impressive, and includes rare birds such as the black grouse, golden eagle, hen harrier and short eared owl; and mammals ranging from red squirrels, roe and red deer and mountain hares to pine martens and wild cats. It has been estimated that the Cairngorms is home to one quarter of the UK’s threatened bird, animal and plant species.
