Orkney Islands, Scotland, UKi

Regional Level Types
Orkney Islands	Archipelago
Scotland	Country
UK	Country

Orkney (/ˈɔːrkni/; Scots: Orkney; Old Norse: Orkneyjar; Norn: Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, Mainland, is often referred to as "the Mainland", and has an area of 523 square kilometres (202 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney’s largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall.

Orkney is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a lieutenancy area, and a historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents.

The islands have been inhabited for at least 8,500 years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes and then by the Picts. Orkney was colonised and later annexed by Norway in 875 and settled by the Norse. In 1492, the Scottish Parliament absorbed the earldom into the Kingdom of Scotland, following the failure to pay a dowry promised to James III by the family of his bride, Margaret of Denmark.

Most of the islands, including the Mainland, fall into one of two groups—the North Isles or the South Isles—all of which have an underlying geological base of Old Red Sandstone. The climate is relatively mild and the soils are extremely fertile: Most of the land is farmed, and agriculture is the most important sector of the economy. The significant wind- and marine-energy resources are of growing importance; the amount of electricity that Orkney generates annually from renewable energy sources exceeds its demand.

The local people are known as Orcadians; they speak a distinctive dialect of the Scots language and have inherited a rich body of folklore. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe; the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Orkney also has an abundance of marine and avian wildlife.

Geochronology

Mineralization age: Triassic : 245 ± 12 Ma to 235 Ma

Important note: This table is based only on rock and mineral ages recorded on mindat.org for this locality and is not necessarily a complete representation of the geochronology, but does give an indication of possible mineralization events relevant to this locality. As more age information is added this table may expand in the future. A break in the table simply indicates a lack of data entered here, not necessarily a break in the geologic sequence. Grey background entries are from different, related, localities.

Geologic Time				Rocks, Minerals and Events
Phanerozoic
	Mesozoic
		Triassic
			Late/Upper Triassic	ⓘ Monchiquite 235 Ma Orkney Islands Dike Swarm, Mainland Island, Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK
			Middle Triassic	ⓘ Camptonite 245 ± 12 Ma Orkney Islands Dike Swarm, Mainland Island, Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK

Fossils

There are 13 fossil localities from the PaleoBioDB database within this region.

BETA TEST - These data are provided on an experimental basis and are taken from external databases. Mindat.org has no control currently over the accuracy of these data.

Occurrences	96
Youngest Fossil Listed	0.01 Ma (Pleistocene)
Oldest Fossil Listed	393 Ma (Middle Devonian)
Stratigraphic Units	Unit No. Occurrences Age Eday flagstone 74 388.1 - 383.7 Ma (Middle Devonian) Sandwick fish beds 8 393.3 - 383.7 Ma (Devonian)
Fossils from Region	Click here to show the list.
Accepted Name Hierarchy Age Physeter macrocephalus species Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Cetacea : Physeteridae : Physeter : Physeter macrocephalus 0.0117 - 0 Ma Quaternary Pinguinus impennis species Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Charadriiformes : Alcidae : Pinguinus : Pinguinus impennis 0.0117 - 0 Ma Quaternary Leiotriletes genus Plantae : Leiotriletes 388.1 - 383.7 Ma Middle Devonian Verrucosisporites genus Plantae : Verrucosisporites 388.1 - 383.7 Ma Middle Devonian Rhabdosporites genus Rhabdosporites 393.3 - 383.7 Ma Devonian Perotrilites genus Plantae : Tracheophyta : Lycopodiopsida : Selaginellales : Selaginellaceae : Perotrilites 388.1 - 383.7 Ma Middle Devonian Convolutispora genus Plantae : Tracheophyta : Polypodiopsida : Schizaeales : Convolutispora 388.1 - 383.7 Ma Middle Devonian Trileites genus Trileites 393.3 - 383.7 Ma Devonian Calamospora genus Plantae : Tracheophyta : Calamospora 393.3 - 383.7 Ma Devonian Punctatisporites genus Plantae : Punctatisporites 393.3 - 383.7 Ma Devonian Retusotriletes genus Retusotriletes 393.3 - 383.7 Ma Devonian Anapiculatisporites genus Plantae : Bryophyta : Anapiculatisporites 388.1 - 383.7 Ma Middle Devonian Raistrickia genus Raistrickia 388.1 - 383.7 Ma Middle Devonian Apiculatisporites genus Plantae : Pteridophyta : Pteridopsida : Apiculatisporites 393.3 - 383.7 Ma Devonian Acanthotriletes genus Plantae : Lycophyta : Acanthotriletes 388.1 - 383.7 Ma Middle Devonian Morus bassanus species Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Suliformes : Sulidae : Morus : Morus bassanus 0.0117 - 0 Ma Quaternary Dibolisporites genus Dibolisporites 393.3 - 383.7 Ma Devonian
Fossil Localities	Click to show 13 fossil localities

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney
Wikidata ID:	Q100166
GeoNames ID:	2640923

Localities in this Region

Other Regions, Features and Areas that Intersect