The Ice Age in Scotland

As recently as 22,000 years ago Scotland was completely buried by an ice sheet over a kilometre thick, the last of a succession of ice sheets and glaciers that have sculpted the landscape into its present form over the last 2.6 million years. This talk will explore the climate changes of the last ice age, the spectacular effects of glaciation on Scotland’s scenery, the ways the landscape is still adjusting to its glacial past, and the evidence for a time when humans first colonized a tundra environment that supported mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and reindeer.

Biography

Colin K Ballantyne FRSE FRSGS FGS FBSG is Emeritus Professor of Physical Geography at the University of St Andrews. He has published over 200 papers on various aspects of geomorphology and Quaternary science, many of which concern Scotland. His recent books include The Quaternary of Skye (2016), Periglacial Geomorphology (2018), Scotland’s Mountain Landscapes: a Geomorphological Perspective (2019) and Landscapes and Landforms of Scotland (2021). He is a recipient the Clough Medal of the Edinburgh Geological Society, the Saltire Earth Science Medal, the Gordon Warwick Medal and Wiley Award of the British Society for Geomorphology, the President’s Medal, Coppock Research Medal and Newbigin Prize of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and the Lyell Medal of the Geological Society.