OR/19/016 Acknowledgements

Palamakumbura, R, and Auton, C. 2019. New exposed section in the Ardersier Silts Formation; November 20th-21st, 2017. British Geological Survey Internal Report, OR/19/016.

In addition to the BGS staff acknowledged in the Foreword, Diarmad Campbell, Chief Geologist Scotland provided funding and logistic support that contributed to the production of this report.

Several individuals in Morrison Construction, notably Ryan Keith, Project Manager for the Tornagrain pipeline and his colleague Andy Leggatt enabled timely access to the excavations, provided detailed plans of the pipeline route and initial digital photography of the exposed sequence. This enabled efficient targeting of the field study. This assistance and cooperation was vital to undertaking the study as both the scheduling and location of excavations were subject to numerous changes during the planning of the work, which took place over the preceding 12 months.

The enthusiastic support for this field work, by Vanessa Kirkbride, from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), was instrumental in enabling the excavations to take place within a Scottish Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The designation of the Ardersier site as a SSSI is based primarily on its importance as a locality that provides evidence of a glacial readvance, during the late Quaternary deglaciation of the Moray Firth. In her role within SNH, Vanessa is responsible for assessing the validity of Quaternary SSSI’s and, where possible, increasing the scientific data and interpretations of that data available from them.