Scottish Geologist

Scottish Geologist That girl that makes videos about rocks 🌋🪨⚒️🌍💎🏜️⛰️

I take people out on scottish geology tours and talk about rocks for a living 🌋🪨. Or what that rock is?
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Ever wanted to know what that mountains made of? Am gonnae tell ye!

If you missed this weeks video on YouTube you can go check it out here - The geology of Isle of Staffahttps://youtu.be/2...
02/09/2026

If you missed this weeks video on YouTube you can go check it out here - The geology of Isle of Staffa
https://youtu.be/2YVrPLOcyJg

01/09/2026

Ever wondered why some rocks look like they’ve been stretched into pieces? 🪨

This is boudinage — a structure that forms when rocks are subjected to intense stretching and deformation deep within the Earth.

In the ancient Lewisian Gneiss, layers of different rock types were buried deep in the crust and exposed to enormous temperatures and pressures during multiple episodes of metamorphism and mountain building.

When the rock was stretched, the stronger, more competent layers couldn’t deform as easily as the softer surrounding gneiss. Instead, they began to thin, fracture and separate into sausage-shaped blocks, while the more ductile rock flowed around them.

These individual blocks are called boudins, from the French word for sausage.

Structures like these are a brilliant reminder that even solid rock can flow, stretch and deform when it’s buried deep enough, hot enough and under pressure for millions of years.

And in the Lewisian Gneiss, we’re looking at deformation preserved within some of the oldest rocks in Britain — rocks with a history stretching back billions of years. 🤯

30/08/2026

The world’s last turntable ferry is currently at risk of closure..

You may remember me making a “Did you know that in Scotland” video about it. It’s a brilliant wee operation run by great local staff.

Last year was a good year for the ferry, but bad weather meant it wasn’t able to operate as much this season.

The problem is that they pay the landowner 5% each year to operate from the site, and under an old legal arrangement, the amount due each year can’t be lower than the year before.

So despite having a much quieter season, they’re still facing a payment of around £10,000.

I’m sharing this simply to help get more eyes on what’s happening.

If you want to help, I’ll put the petition with more information in the comments

29/08/2026

How did basalt form in East Lothian?

Around 340 million years ago, during the Carboniferous Period, East Lothian looked very different from the landscape we see today.

This part of Scotland was volcanically active, with magma rising through weaknesses in the Earth’s crust. When that magma reached the surface as lava, it cooled and solidified to form basalt — a dark, fine-grained volcanic rock rich in iron and magnesium.

Because lava cools relatively quickly at the surface, the crystals within basalt don’t have much time to grow, which is why they’re usually too small to see with the naked eye. 🔍

You can still find evidence of this volcanic past all across East Lothian today — from lava flows and volcanic vents to plugs, sills and other igneous features preserved in the landscape.

So when you’re standing on a basalt outcrop here, you’re looking at the remains of volcanic activity that took place more than 300 million years ago. 🌋🪨

Scotland might not have active volcanoes today… but the rocks certainly haven’t forgotten them.

My big bear Yura. You may have noticed Yura in some of my videos. She appears in the background rolling in sh*te. She’s ...
26/08/2026

My big bear Yura. You may have noticed Yura in some of my videos. She appears in the background rolling in sh*te. She’s a 4 and a half year old Utonagan that comes along on a lot of my adventures with me when I go out and make content. If you’ve met yura, you’ll know she likes to have a good time running about like a dafty as well as rolling about in sh*te. Here’s a nice wee picture of Yura. Her name means ‘one who is beautiful’.

Thought I’d try the kinda chic trend that’s going about
24/08/2026

Thought I’d try the kinda chic trend that’s going about

23/08/2026

When you get excited about a big crystal of K-Feldspar 😍😍😍

22/08/2026

Why does pegmatite have such HUGE crystals?

Pegmatite is an extremely coarse-grained igneous rock that usually forms during the final stages of magma crystallisation, commonly around granitic intrusions.

As a body of magma cools underground, minerals begin to crystallise — but not everything fits neatly into those early-forming crystals.

Water and other volatile components become concentrated in the remaining melt, along with elements that don’t easily fit into the crystal structures of the common minerals.

This leftover melt becomes increasingly water-rich and chemically concentrated. Water helps ions move more easily through the melt, allowing crystals to grow incredibly quickly and, crucially, VERY large. 🤯

That’s why pegmatites can contain spectacular crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica that are centimetres — and sometimes even metres — across.

But pegmatites can also concentrate less common elements such as lithium, beryllium, boron, tantalum and rare earth elements, which is why they’re so interesting when we’re exploring for critical minerals.

Essentially, pegmatite is what happens when you get down to the last, volatile-rich leftovers of a crystallising magma body…

…and those leftovers can create some absolutely spectacular rocks. 🪨✨

Watch my new wee video on YouTube. Since YouTube will be changing its monetisation rules soon, I thought I better post m...
21/08/2026

Watch my new wee video on YouTube. Since YouTube will be changing its monetisation rules soon, I thought I better post more longer format content as I need to try reach the 4000 watch hours before they do so I appreciate every little video people watch when it comes to my YouTube. Lewisian Gneiss Isle of Iona
https://youtu.be/Zt3Qii1YcY4

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