- Siccar Point
Siccar Point is a rocky promontory in the county of
Berwickshire on the east coast ofScotland . It is famous in the history ofgeology forHutton's Unconformity found in 1788, which James Hutton regarded as conclusive proof of his uniformitarian theory of geological development.History
Siccar Point was the site of a
dun , or smallhill fort , in the territory of the ancient Britons.Siccar Point is now in the parish of
Cockburnspath but was formerly in the parish ofOld Cambus , from which the ancient parish church of St Helen's Chapel survives as aruin about one kilometre to the west of the point. The church is built in a Romanesque style, in a mixture ofOld Red Sandstone believed to have been quarried from the nearbyGreenheugh Bay Fact|date=April 2008 and of thegreywacke rock also used in the drystane dyke forming the field boundaries. It is likely that the medieval village of Old Cambus was nearer to Siccar Point than the extant hamlet of Old Cambus.To the south of the point twentieth century
quarry ing forgreywacke to be used as roadstone left a hollow which is now occupied by a vegetable processing plant.Hutton's Unconformity
Siccar Point is famous in the history of
geology as a result of a boat trip in1788 in which James Hutton, with James Hall andJohn Playfair , observed the angular unconformity which Hutton regarded as conclusive proof of his uniformitarian theory of geological development.External links
* [http://www.gardenvisit.com/travel/guides/edinburgh/siccar-point-geology.htm James Hutton's account of his visit to Siccar Point in Berwickshire]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_5_108/ai_54830705 John Playfair's historic remarks upon seeing Siccar Point, in vol. V, pt. III, 1805, "Transactions of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh ".]
* [http://www.rescast.com/portfolio/show_project.php?PortfolioID=4 Research Casting International hung on scaffolding off the cliffs at Siccar Point] , [http://www.rescast.com/Images/portfolio/4/gallery/scotland_2.jpgpainting a large section of the rocks with thick liquid latex (photo)] [http://www.amnh.org/rose/hope/rocks/ to fabricate an exhibit for the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth,]American Museum of Natural History .*oscoor gbx|NT813710
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