This illustration shows Holyrood park and Arthur's Seat as it might have looked in ancient times. The Arthur's Seat volcano, much higher than it is today, is all that can be seen above a shallow, warm sea. This sea, which existed around 350 million years ago, is teaming with life, some very similar to the crustaceans and molluscs which live today, but without the larger animals which had not yet evolved, before even the time of dinosaurs.
This shallow sea lay close to a tree-rimmed shore, in a period when Scotland was much warmer, indeed the area was much like the Gulf coast of the U.S.A. today.
The picture also shows that Arthur's Seat was not the only volcano in the area. There were smaller erupting cones elsewhere in Holyrood Park (for example, on the bask of Salisbury Crags), but also scattered around the City, including Castle Rock, and elsewhere in the Midland Valley of Scotland.
It must not be reproduced in any manner without permission.
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These pages are provided by the Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh as part of Scottish Geology Week. Scottish Geology Week is coordinated by Scottish Natural Heritage. |  |