The Burn o' Vat is a

mountain stream A mountain stream is a Stream, brook or stream, usually with a steep gradient, flowing down a mountainside. Its swift flow rate often transports large quantities of rock (geology), rock, gravel, soil, wood or even entire Trunk (botany), logs with ...

Deeside Deeside () is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the England–Wales border, Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee t ...

, Scotland, rising on Culblean Hill and flowing into

Loch Kinord Loch Kinord is a small, freshwater loch at Muir of Dinnet, Aberdeenshire, Scotland just north of the River Dee and east of Ballater. The loch is also known as ''Loch Ceander'' and ''Loch Cannor''. It is approximately in length and was forme ...

. The Vat, a

pothole A pothole is a pot-shaped depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affecte ...

of glacial origin, lies upon its course.

Formation

Around 16,000 years ago, the area surrounding the Burn o' Vat was covered by a glacial ice sheet. As the area warmed around 14,000 years ago, the ice sheet began to melt, resulting in a torrent of

meltwater Meltwater (or melt water) is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glaciers, glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelf, ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found during early spring (season), spring when snow packs a ...

that carried with it debris previously caught up in the glacial ice. This debris, consisting of rocks and boulders, is thought likely to be the most important component in the formation of The Vat. It is thought that a rock from the meltwater stream lodged in a small hollow on the

river bed A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a channel or the banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports different types of aquatic vegeta ...

, causing the meltwater to flow around it in a spiralling motion. This spiralling motion caused the bed underneath the rock to erode over a long period of time, creating a feature known as a pothole. Around 13,500 years ago the volume of meltwater decreased to such a level that the stream began to deposit more than it was eroding. This change resulted in the deposition of sand and gravel into the bottom of the pothole. It is believed that this sediment extends down around 5–7 metres, below the current ground level, though no-one can be certain of the true value. The pothole measures 18 metres across and 13 metres high, from present ground level. Approximately 12,000 years ago, the entrance to the Vat was exposed when the rock in front of it was undercut by the same stream that formed the Vat, albeit in the form of a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

. Image:vat_burn_upper_course.JPG, Typical view of the Vat Burn in its Upper Course Image:vat_lower_course.JPG, Typical view of the Vat Burn in its Lower Course

History of the Vat

According to local folklore, the cave behind the waterfall in the Vat was used by Rob Roy, a notorious outlaw, to hide from the authorities. In fact, this is not true, with the cave instead being used as a hiding place for Patrick Gilroy Macgregor, an outlaw renowned for his exploits in

during the 17th century and a possible relative of Rob Roy.
Video of Gilderoy and the Burn o' Vat (2018)

The Vat today

In modern times, the Vat has become a popular tourist attraction, offering many walks around the area, as well as into the Vat itself. The Vat also has its own visitor centre which provides the opportunity to see taxidermy models of local wildlife, as well as giving detailed explanations of the formation of the local

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

. The visitor centre, as well as the Vat itself, are acknowledged as four-star visitor attractions by the Scottish Tourist Board.

References

External links

Scottish Geology WebsiteGeograph Square for Burn o' VatVideo of Gilderoy and the Burn o' Vat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burn O'vat Landforms of Aberdeenshire Tourist attractions in Aberdeenshire Canyons and gorges of Scotland