Ben Klibreck
Geological Conservation Review site | GCR #2784 | Structural and Metamorphic Geology | Moine
Scotland's geosites are chosen because of their local, national or international importance. Take only photos, leave only footprints: avoid causing any damage to this site. You can walk almost anywhere in Scotland without the need to ask permission or keep to paths, but you have a responsibility to care for your own safety, to respect people's privacy and peace of mind and to cause no damage.
This site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly damage the protected natural features of a SSSI, and this includes unauthorised sample collection.
The right of access does not extend to quarries, building sites or any land where public access is prohibited, or to the collection of geological samples.
Summary
The Ben Klibreck area is one of the classic migmatitic gneiss terranes in the British Isles, exemplifying many of the features commonly associated with regional migmatisation. This region was sub-divided by H H Read into his celebrated zonation of migmatitic belts. West of Ben Klibreck, unmigmatised Moine metasediments crop out. Eastwards (and structurally up the succession), they pass transitionally into Read's zone of veins and thence into the zone of migmatite, which comprises migmatised pelitic gneisses and granitic sheets, situated along the top of Ben Klibreck. Also included within this site is the southern tip of the Naver Lewisian basement body. The relative importance of anatexis and metasomatism in migmatite genesis has always been, and still remains, a controversial issue. Within this context the Klibreck migmatites are highly significant, being the best known migmatites in Britain, which it has been suggested were produced primarily be Na-metasomatism. It is important that the Klibreck migmatites remain accessible and available for study as one of the few migmatite terranes in the British Isles. The area contains critical evidence regarding the relationships between high-grade metamorphism and granite production.