The metamorphic rocks of the Scaraben area, East Sutherland and Caithness

Synopsis The Scaraben area contains a continuous sequence of metasediments which include psammites and semi-pelites, of undoubted Moine affinities, and the Scaraben Quartzite which several workers have assigned to the Dalradian. These metasediments have undergone a common tectono-metamorphic history, involving four phases of deformation (D1–D4) and associated amphibolite-facies metamorphism. Four different phases of granite intrusion have been identified. The Scaraben Quartzite is assigned to the ‘old Moine’ of the Northern Highlands: there is no evidence that it is an outlier of the Dalradian NW of the Great Glen Fault.