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Home > Angus Listings > Architecture & Natural Attractions > Midland Valley
One of the three main physiographic divisions of Scotland, the other Midland Valley lies between the Highlands and the Southern Upland, separated from the former by the Highland Boundary Fault and the latter by the Southern Upland Fault.
The Midland Valley represents an immense block of the earth's crust which descended more than 4,000m (13,123 feet) between the Late Silurian and Carboniferous periods (410 and 320 million years ago).
Geologically the valley is filled with sedimentary rocks, primarily the Old Red Sandstone which was deposited under desert conditions contemporaneously as the valley descended and Carboniferous sediments and coal measures deposited in coastal or shallow marine conditions.
The volcanoes and volcanic intrusions from Carboniferous times have pushed through the sediments and remain as steep volcanic plugs, for example, Abbey Craig north-east of Stirling, Castle Rock in Edinburgh and North Berwick Law.
Fertile soils ensure that the Midland Valley includes much of Scotland's prime agricultural land, for example, the Valley of Strathmore, the Mearns, East Lothian, the Forth and Clyde Valleys and Ayrshire.
It also concentrates almost 80% of Scotland's population and much of its industry.
