This lineage can be traced back to the period of time known as the Pre-Cambrian – around 700 million years ago – when what is now modern-day Scotland lay close to the South Pole.

A new booklet, 'Cairngorms, a landscape fashioned by geology', has been published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and gives a fascinating insight into the massive earth movements and processes which have shaped these mountains.

The Cairngorms are Britain's second largest area of granite, which formed around 425 million years ago during massive continental collisions.

Over many millions of years, the Cairngorm range has witnessed huge extremes in temperature, from Equatorial conditions to a succession of Ice Ages, while the continental movements involved in shaping the Cairngorms were on a truly massive scale.

Before 425 million years ago, Scotland was joined with North America and Greenland, forming part of an ancient continent known as Laurentia. England and Wales lay on a different continent, separated by an ocean as wide as the present Atlantic.

Eventually, through the movements of the Earth's tectonic plates, this ocean shrank, the continents collided, and Scotland became joined with England and Wales to form the British Isles.

At one time the ancient mountain range was of Alpine or Himalayan proportions before it was eroded by the weather and by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Now all that remains of these mountains are their granite roots.

Many of the present straths, glens and corries were carved out along lines of weakness in the granite by the Ice Age glaciers. Geological study and interpretation of the landforms can also tell us a great deal about the landscape history, said author John Gordon.

He stated: "We can tell from the record of the landforms and plant remains that the Ice Age did not end with a smooth transition from glacial to interglacial conditions, but with a series of rapid climate changes."

'Cairngorms, a landscape fashioned by geology' also offers an insight into the formation of birch and hazel woodlands around 9,700 years ago, with grass and heath forming on the higher slopes, before the expansion of pine forest into the straths around 8,800 years ago.

The Cairngorms can also lay claim to the semi-precious quartz known as 'Cairngorm crystal' or 'Cairngorm Stone'.

The majestic Cairngorms, which once rivalled the Himalayas in height.

The area is home to nationally and internationally important habitats and species, and the new publication written by SNH specialists also delves into the impact of people on the landscape, from clearing of the forests to the mining of local limestone through the 17th to 19th centuries.

Mr Gordon co-wrote the booklet with Rachel Wignall, Ness Brazier and Patricia Bruneau.

He said: "In this booklet we trace the evolution of the Cairngorms and discover how the rocks, landforms and soils have been fashioned through time by weathering, glaciers and rivers, and how the natural environment, climate and plant life have changed.

"It makes for a fascinating read."

The Cairngorms are the subject of a number of natural heritage designations, with much of the high plateaux and mountain glens being incorporated within Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and National Nature Reserve (NNR) designations.

A large part of the area is notified under the European Habitats Directive and the European Birds Directive, and the Cairngorms area was designated Scotland's second national park in 2003.

The international significance of the geodiversity of the Cairngorm mountains is recognised in their inclusion in the UK Tentative List of World Heritage sites for their exceptional physical features.

Copies of "Cairngorms, a landscape fashioned by geology" are available from SNH by contacting pubs@snh.gov.uk

musgrove_g@spp-group.com

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