The Quaternary of the Banffshire Coast & Buchan was produced to accompany the QRA Short Field Meeting to the Banffshire Coast and Buchan, based at Banff Links Hotel, Swordanes, Banff, 7th-10th September, 2000.
The length, complexity and variety of the Quaternary succession in the north-east is unrivalled in Scotland. Particularly so, for the record it contains of Pleistocene cold stages represented by periglacial deposits and the presence of sediments with a biological or pedological record of interstadial and interglacial climates. The widespread preservation of ancient peneplanation surfaces associated with deeply weathered rock and enigmatic flint and quartzite gravels are unique in NW Europe. These features, together with a significant offshore stratigraphical record, provide unique information illustrating the effects of Pleistocene glaciation and Cainozic landscape evolution. The area has been a focus of Quaternary research for more than 150 years, most notably by Thomas Jamieson and Alexander Bremner, and it continues to offer a broad range of future research and teaching opportunities.