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Geological Formation

Moine Thrust Belt

Structural and Tectonic Formations

The Moine Thrust Belt is a roughly 190 kilometer long band of thrust faults across the Scottish Highlands, running from Loch Eriboll on the north coast southwest to the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye, and marking a dramatic topographic line between rugged mountains to the west and rolling metamorphic hill country to the east. It formed during the Scandian phase of the Caledonian orogeny, when the ancient continents of Laurentia and Baltica collided, with movement along its faults dated to around 430 million years ago by radiometric dating of associated intrusive rock. Detailed mapping of the belt by Ben Peach and John Horne in 1883 and 1884 proved that its rock contacts were the product of large scale horizontal thrusting rather than ordinary metamorphism, one of the founding demonstrations of thrust tectonics in the history of geology, and in 2022 the International Union of Geological Sciences recognized the belt as a geological heritage site.

Facts
Classification
Protected Status
IUGS Geological Heritage Site 1
Connections

Associated With

Gneiss, Materials
Source Moine Thrust Belt (Wikipedia)
Schist, Materials
Source Moine Thrust Belt (Wikipedia)

Caused By

Faulting, Processes
Source Moine Thrust Belt (Wikipedia)
Folding, Processes
Source Moine Thrust Belt (Wikipedia)

In Discipline

Geomorphology, Disciplines
Source Moine Thrust Belt (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Scotland

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Moine Thrust Belt (Wikipedia)Article lead
Quote, Article lead
is a linear tectonic feature in the Scottish Highlands
Sources
1. Moine Thrust Belt (Wikipedia)
  • Article text
    In respect of it being 'the classic orogenic front of significant importance in both modern and historical tectonics research', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the 'Moine Thrust Zone' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022.
  • Caused By: Folding, Lead, process Folding
    Mountains within the belt display complexly folded and faulted layers and the width of the main part of the zone varies up to ten kilometres (six miles), although it is significantly wider on Skye.
  • Caused By: Faulting, Lead, process Faulting
    Mountains within the belt display complexly folded and faulted layers and the width of the main part of the zone varies up to ten kilometres (six miles), although it is significantly wider on Skye.
  • Associated With: Gneiss, Article text, rock Gneiss
    The presence of metamorphic gneisses and schists lying apparently stratigraphically above sedimentary rocks of lower Paleozoic age in the Northwest Highlands had been known since the early 19th century, convincing Roderick Murchison that the change was a purely metamorphic effect and that the upper gneiss was younger than the sediments beneath.
  • Associated With: Schist, Article text, rock Schist
    The presence of metamorphic gneisses and schists lying apparently stratigraphically above sedimentary rocks of lower Paleozoic age in the Northwest Highlands had been known since the early 19th century, convincing Roderick Murchison that the change was a purely metamorphic effect and that the upper gneiss was younger than the sediments beneath.
  • In Discipline: Geomorphology, Lead paragraph
    The Moine Thrust Belt or Moine Thrust Zone is a linear tectonic feature in the Scottish Highlands which runs from Loch Eriboll on the north coast 190 kilometres (120 mi) southwest to the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye
  • Caused By: Faulting, Lead section (caused-by Faulting)
    The Moine Thrust Belt or Moine Thrust Zone is a linear tectonic feature in the Scottish Highlands which runs from Loch Eriboll on the north coast 190 kilometres (120 mi) southwest to the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye.
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