Hutton's Unconformity

This is a sculpture to celebrate James Hutton's (1726-1797) contribution to geology.

Hutton noticed the rock formation on the river bank and concluded that it had taken hundreds of thousands of years to form. This challenged the prevailing beliefs at the time.

An unconformity is a geological term for the junction between two bodies of rock that not in a continuous sequence. Hutton noticed vertical bands of rock called greywacke(a mixture of sandstone and shale) were covered by horizontal layers of sandstone. The point where they meet represents a time gap of 55 million years.

It's amazing what you can find out in a Jedburgh car park waiting for a friend.