The field of landscape studies has gained enormous popularity in the past century. The practice is deeply rooted in the field of ecology, geography, and geology, and has led to a greater understanding of the link between human activity and the surrounding landscapes in which they lived.
Roman Description of Scotland
One of the earliest accounts of landscape studies in the British Isles can be traced back to Tacitus, the Roman historian who lived and wrote during the 1st century AD. His account of the land was extremely meticulous, and surprisingly accurate. He described Britain as "a large, irregular tract of land which juts out from the furthest shores, tapering off in a wedge-like form" (C. Tacitus)
He also documented the ferocity with which the Atlantic Ocean smashed against the rocks and shore of the islands. The imagery of the savage coasts of England and Scotland demonstrates the turbulent landscape of the British Isles; Britain truly was at the edge of the world during the Roman period (C. Tacitus).
The Landscape of Scotland
Scotland is located at approximately the same latitude as Norway to the east, and Alaska to the west. Despite this northern latitude, the region is actually quite mild, enough so that it maintains ice-free coasts during the winter months (McCarthy).
This mild temperature is achieved thanks to a phenomenon known as Thermohaline Circulation, more commonly known as the North Atlantic Current. Warm water from the Gulf of Mexico circulates east through the Atlantic Ocean, mixing with cooler Arctic water and forcing the cooler water down. The warmer water heats the region of the British Isles until it cools, is forced down by warmer Gulf waters, and returns to the Gulf of Mexico to be reheated (McCarthy).
Due to the high latitude, much of the region also enjoys long summer twilights, and it never completely gets dark at night. These long summer days are well known in Shetland, where on July 21st the sun rises at 3:30 am and doesn't set until 10:30 that night, giving it a full four hours more sunlight than London (McCarthy).
The Water and Lochs of Scotland
Scotland is a nation characterized by water. The mainland, along with the islands and estuaries, is composed of approximately 10,000 km of shoreline, along with over 800 islands, only 130 of which are even populated. The landscape of northern Scotland is dominated by sea lochs as well, and many can penetrate inland over 50 km (Sissons).
There are approximately 3,000 of these lochs which, along with other inland bodies of water, cover 2.3% of the Scottish landmass, and that number jumps to over 5% in the Scottish Highlands. By contrast, England has only 1% of landmass covered in water (Sissons).
The Scarcity of Trees in Scotland
Another landscape feature that becomes almost immediately obvious to visitors is the scarcity of trees. Around 100,000 years ago Scotland was buried in a thick layer of glacial till after the glaciers retreated. The trees returned after several thousand years, and up to 6,000 years ago the region was heavily forested (Sissons).
Yet, in the last few generations, human activity such as fires and house building, and other natural processes (namely erosion) have resulted in the intensive deforestation of the region (Sissons).
The Rocks and Geology of Scotland
Most of the solid rock coastlines of Scotland have changed very little since the time of Tacitus. Specifically the harder metamorphic and igneous rock features of the west coast have experienced much less erosion than on the eastern and northern coasts (A. McMillan and E. Hyslop).
A large proportion of the north and east coasts are comprised of relatively soft sandstone known as Devonian sandstone. This has led to much greater erosion to the north, specifically on the islands of Shetland and Orkney (A. McMillan and E. Hyslop).
- C. Tacitus, The Agricola and The Germania, Harold Mattingly trans. England; Hazell, Watson, and Viney Ltd. 1970.
- A. McMillan and E. Hyslop. "A Land of Stone", Building with Scottish Stone. British Geological Survey, 1983.
- J.B. Sissons, The Evolution of Scotland's Scenery. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1967.
- James McCarthy. Scotland, Land, and People: An Inhabited Solitude. Edinburgh, Luath Press Limited, 1999.
