Geology

The British Geological Survey has made its geological maps available to view online, so you can explore both the surface geology around Aberlady and the deeper rocks beneath.

Geological Survey of Scotland, 1:50,000

Sheet 33W and part of 41 – Haddington – published 1978

www.bgs.ac.uk/data/maps/maps.cfc?method=viewRecord&mapId=10808

Black squiggly lines with orange shading show former coastline; the pale orange colour that accompanies many of these lines is former beach. White with orange dots is blown sand, ideal for links golf courses. The pale blue-green that makes up most of the map is boulder clay, while purple is bedrock at or near the surface.

Geological Survey of Scotland, 1:50,000

Sheet 33W and part of 41 – Haddington – published 1983

Bright green is olivine-basalt or dolerite, an igneous rock which comes from the volcanoes of the Garleton Hills and shapes Gosford Bay. Mid blue and darker blue bands are a mix of sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and marine limestones which form the Craigielaw peninsula. The grey-brown is calciferous sandstone, with a softer sandy upper layer, which has worn away to form Aberlady Bay. Orange is trachyte, a fine-grained igneous rock that can be pale buff or pink.

Aberlady, East Lothian