The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the others being the Central Lowlands and the Highlands). The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills within this region. The Southern Uplands lie south of the Southern Uplands Fault line that runs from Ballantrae on the Ayrshire coast northeastwards to Dunbar in East Lothian on the North Sea coast, a distance of some 220 km (140 mi). In geological terms, the Southern Uplands consist mainly of Silurian deposits laid down from 400-500 million years ago and pushed up from the sea bed into an accretionary wedge by the collision of ancient continents. The majority of the rocks are weakly metamorphosed coarse greywacke. An overwhelmingly rural and mainly agricultural region, the Southern Uplands are partly forested and contain many areas of open moorland.
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Famous quotes containing the words southern and/or uplands:
“As it grew darker, I was startled by the honking of geese flying low over the woods, like weary travellers getting in late from Southern lakes, and indulging at last in unrestrained complaint and mutual consolation. Standing at my door, I could hear the rush of their wings; when, driving toward my house, they suddenly spied my light, and with hushed clamor wheeled and settled in the pond. So I came in, and shut the door, and passed my first spring night in the woods.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Thanks to the morning light,
Thanks to the foaming sea,
To the uplands of New Hampshire,
To the green-haired forest free.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)