On the structural geology of Strathnairn

Abstract

Area of District. The area included in the district over which the following personal observations have been made is about 130 square miles. It includes the whole of the country drained by the River Nairn and its tributaries, and is bounded on the south-east by the range of hills which separates the Nairn from the Findhorn, or Strathnairn from Strathdearn. Boundaries. On the north-west it is bounded by the low range of hummocky hills which separates the Nairn from the Ness and the Moray Firth, and which varies in height from the sea-level at the mouth of the Nairn to the ridge which separates Loch Ceiglais from Loch Ness, and which rises to the height of 1514 feet on Tom-Bailgeann. The southern boundary may be considered the cross ridge of hills above Dunmaglass and the water-shed going round the east end of Loch Ruthven, and extending westward again through Dalcrombie and Dunchea to Bochruben, the extreme point of the north branch of the Nairn. Source and Course of the Nairn. The Nairn rises in the Monadh Liath hills at a height of 2637 feet above the sea-level, and for a few miles of its course may be characterised as a brawling mountain stream, often, however, swollen by sudden rains into a furious torrent, carrying with it into the plain below large quantities of the sand, gravel, clay, and loose rocks through which it flows. There are here extraordinary accumulations of gravel, clay, and boulders, which in certain places are arranged