View of glacial deposits taken at the Muckhart Golf Course, looking north-west, Perth and Kinross.

Valuable natural resources can be found in the most unlikely places! As on Arran, this rolling countryside on the mainland is formed from sediments that have been sorted by rivers that flowed from melting glaciers during the ice-ages.

The gently rolling uneven topography in the foreground extending to the base of the foothills is composed of glacial sand and gravels deposited at the end of the Devensian when the ice sheets melted. The Ochil Hills are formed of volcanic rocks of Lower Devonian age.

The Ochil Fault, a major fracture in the Midland Valley separates the Carboniferous lower lands covered by sands and gravels from the Lower Devonian high ground. This normal fault has a maximum downthrow of 3000 metres near Alva.

SCRAN ID: 000-000-148-201-C; British Geological Survey