THE MARYTON exposure is not the latest political scandal, but it is attracting considerable interest.

In geological terms the Maryton exposure on the west side of Montrose Basin is one of the sites where a possible storm surge or tsunami deposit, dating to slightly before the maximum of the main post-glacial transgression, is exposed.

In layman’s terms it shows clear evidence of what is believed to have been a major coastal flood caused by a series of tidal waves that swept across the North Sea about 7000 years ago and laid down a layer of sand along the east coast of Scotland up to a couple of kilometres inland.

Following the recent disaster in the Indian Ocean, many people have wondered if it could happen here?

According to many experts the answers is that it has, several times—and possibly could again.

A cut into the face of the bluff at Maryton overlooking the south-western corner of Montrose Basin graphically reveals a record of the changes that occurred in the sea level and coastal environments.

The waves that deposited the clearly visible foot-thick layer of sand are thought to have been caused by a slip of land the size of Scotland off the Norwegian coast.

They probably swept across in a series of 20 or 30, the first three or four up to 10 to 15 metres high.

Dr Adrian Hartley, head of the department of geology and petroleum geology at Aberdeen University, has said there is evidence tsunamis overwhelmed the east coast, most significantly 12,000 years ago and again 7000 years ago.

He claims that evidence is only now starting to emerge that there was another underwater landslide 1000 years ago.

“Nobody is quite sure how stable this area in Norway is,” he said.

Experts point out that these events have a long and uncertain timescale and, while there is no reason to panic, the possibility exists that there could be another slide and it would be imprudent to ignore that.

There is also survey evidence that suggests the unstable sediments dis- appeared with the slide 7000 years ago and that a new ice age would be required, with the deposition of new glacial sediments on top of the soft clays in the slide scar, to get conditions for new large-scale sliding.