Physical landscapes Revision Questions: Part 1

Physical Regions of Scotland.
(The Central Lowlands is the area between the Grampians and the Southern Uplands)




The key to this map helps you to identify the main rock type
in the Scottish Highlands, Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands

Ice Age in Scotland

Please click here for lots more information on the Ice Age in Scotland.

The Ice Age began 2.6 million years ago. We are still in the Ice Age now-but a warm phase.
During this Ice Age, the climate has swung regularly back and forth between warm and cold conditions. In the colder episodes (glacials), slow moving rivers of ice called glaciers existed in Scotland; during the warmer periods (interglacials), the climate was more like it is today and may even have been warmer.

The greatest amount of ice came around 18,000 years ago. Scotland was buried under an ice-sheet over 4000ft (1300m) thick in places: like Greenland today. Only the very tops of peaks would have not beem covered. Much of the central lowlands is plastered by glacial deposits called boulder clay or moraine. These are thick layers of earth, clay and rocks of varying sizes that had been scraped by the glaciers as they eroded the mountains, transported many miles and then deposited to form low hills and ridges. In Glasgow, we have many such hills, hence the steep streets in places. These hills are called drumlins. (Click here for more information)