Geosites Project

#1: view from the south east to the Ben Wyvis Massif. Glas Leathad Mor, at 1046m, is the highest point along a 2km ridge all of which sits above 950m.

'Regolith', the term used to describe the loose material blanketing the Moine-age schist and gneiss underlying the summit and upper slopes, is likely derived from the weathering of the bedrock.
The BGS Geology Viewer more specifically advises that these almost exclusively consist of pelites and semipelite, metamorphic rocks derived from sediments originally enriched with clays and silts.

The regolith contains both relict Late Glacial periglacial features which are well preserved, as well as contemporary features which continuing to evolve.

Examples of features to be found include: Soliflucation sheets and lobes; 'ploughing' boulders; nivation hollows; turf hummocks; non-sorted stripes.

#2: Ben Wyvis Massif from the north west, viewed from Glascarnoch dam. This perspective can be corollate with information board in #3.

#3: the walking path extending from the Forestry and Land Scotland's carpark at the edge of the Garbat Forest. The boundary of the Ben Wyvis National Nature Reserve are shown on the inset map. However, it should be noted that the GCR/SSSI boundary extends beyond those shown for the NNR .

#4: the footpath beyond the eastern extend of the forest, with the steep flank of An Cabar (946m) to the upper left of the image, up which the path can be seen climbing. An Cabar is located at the south western limit of the Ben Wyvis ridge.

#5: the path higher up on the flank of An Cabar, well within the boundary of the GCR. Garbat Forest is visible towards the top of the photograph, beyond which lies the Ben Wyvis car park.

#6: it is noted that much of the largely smooth, vegetation covered regolith mantling the summit and upper slopes, predates the last glacial maximum, which would have been subjected to prolonged periods of freeze/thaw conditions as it protruded above the surrounding ice. This resulted in sever weathering of the pelites and semipelites, in which a wide variety of geomorphological features subsequently formed in the weathered product. The photograph shows the trig point on Glas Leathas Mor surrounded by soil exposed by erosion. These soils seem particularly well suited to produce a wide range of periglacial landforms. These include those formed during the the Lateglacial (and as such are often relict features, i.e. no longer actively evolving) as well as those formed and remaining active during the Holocene.

#7: towards the left side of the image, the 946m summit of An Caber and the valley of Bealach Mor beneath mark the south western extent of the site, with the Ben Wyvis plateau rising to1046m running away along the horizon to its right: see also #4 and #6.

In the foreground, the ice-smoothed exposure marks the northerly extent of the garnet-muscovite pegmatite within the Moine-age Ben Wyvis Pelite Formation and part of the Carn Gorm GCR Site. The height here is circa 540m. All heights are referenced to OS datum.