Talk:Moine Supergroup

A fact from Moine Supergroup appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 16 September 2009 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the Moine Supergroup, a sequence of Neoproterozoic metasediments forming the main outcrop in the northwest Scottish Highlands, is named after 'a'Mhoine', a peat bog in northern Sutherland?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2009/September.

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New stratigraphy

This article is impacted by the work of Krabbendam and co-workers in ~~2021~~ 2022. Taking this into account will require a rewrite, which I may get around to at some point. Mikenorton (talk) 15:42, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Goodness, (interesting article btw) I shall mourn the passing of the Moine into history, this and the Torridonian having been backdrops to all considerations of Northwest Highland landscapes throughout my geological life. That said, just as with similar developments elsewhere (the Old Red has been substantially revised here in the Anglo-Welsh basin), they'll remain with us through maps and references for decades to come, so will still need to be referred to. Good luck with the re-write! Geopersona (talk) 16:02, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's fascinating and hard to fault on what I know, although I'm not sure that we can regard it as fully accepted yet. When I created the Moine article in 2009 and rewrote the Torridonian one (with help) in 2010, it all seemed so simple but that's the way with geology. Oddly enough, it was only last year that I first saw the Moine and the Torridonian in the field (apart from some Moinian stuff in Caithness, Orkney and Shetland when I was working on the Devonian in those parts). I've still never seen the Moine Thrust. Mikenorton (talk) 16:32, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This does mean that Wester Ross Supergroup and Loch Ness Supergroup need to be written, apart from the various other rewrites in existing articles. Mikenorton (talk) 16:37, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Now that I've had chance to digest the new stratigraphy, I realise that this article will probably eventually be replaced by a brief historical review as there is no Moine in the new scheme and no sensible redirect. The Morar Group will be covered in the Wester Ross Supergroup article and the Glenfinnan, Loch Eil and Badenoch Groups will be covered by the Loch Ness Supergroup article. New articles beckon on the Knoydartian Orogeny, Renland Orogeny, Stoer Group and possibly some of the other groups. Mikenorton (talk) 20:59, 1 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think a visit on your part to Knockan Crag is called for at this point, Mike! There is a wider issue for stratigraphy on WP as a whole insofar as the confusion that arises from the labeling and re-labeling of parts is considerable - for geologists as well as the lay-person. Look at an example of BGS's Lexicon of Named Rock units such as https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=RG where three former names are included and the reader's attention is being pointed to a further name just being introduced. And they are so often not simple re-namings of a particular 'stable' unit but the subdividing of or amalgamating of units and sub-units. The hapless WP reader may often not know whether a rock unit name is the up-to-date one or one of potentially many from different eras of survey and research. There is no mention for example at stratigraphic unit that these things are not 'set in stone' so to speak. The process will be never-ending but can we better assist readers in navigating all of this - directing them to a page/pages that provide some further context/history, some explanation and guidance. cheers Geopersona (talk) 05:53, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I got close last year, we reached Shieldaig but ran out of time and there's only so much of a trip I can spend looking at geology when I'm not with other geologists.

You're right about the difficulty of all this. I'm sure that the BGS have a grand plan and at least it looks like they're committed to the new stratigraphy for the Proterozoic of the Highlands. Something should be added to the stratigraphic unit article as you suggest, I'm just thinking of how to go about it. As to the Moine and Torridonian articles, the various new ones now exist in some sort of completeness, so it's "just" a question of producing new versions of those two articles, mainly as historical reviews. I've started thinking about one for the Torridonian but it will probably take a while, although you never know. Mikenorton (talk) 21:08, 7 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've created a draft of a "Moine" article at User:Mikenorton/sandbox, although I'm not sure what to call it - Moine is a dab page - Moinian is a possibility, however. Mikenorton (talk) 23:09, 8 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

And there's now a draft of a "Torridonian" article at User:Mikenorton/Sandbox2. Mikenorton (talk) 20:56, 10 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Moinian article is now "live" as is a separate Morar Group article. Both Wester Ross Supergroup and Loch Ness Supergroup articles also exist, as do articles for the Sgurr Beag Thrust, Knoydartian Orogeny and Renlandian Orogeny. All of these can undoubtedly be improved but I've finished for now. Mikenorton (talk) 12:39, 15 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A new map showing the newly-defined supergroups with their constituent groups is needed, based on Figure 3 of Krabbendam et al. 2022, something that I will get around to at some point. Mikenorton (talk) 14:44, 15 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]