Abstract Until the late 20th century, accounts of the Jurassic rocks of Scotland mainly comprised descriptions of the fine coastal outcrops of the Inner Hebrides region, with emphasis also on the east Sutherland coast with its spectacular boulder beds of Kimmeridgian age. That changed with the discovery and development of the North Sea oilfields, where much of Britain’s oil is found in Jurassic sandstone reservoirs and has its source in Kimmeridge shale. Thus for many geologists the Jurassic is known principally from seismic reflection lines and downhole geophysical logs. Hydrocarbon exploration also revealed a major episode of Jurassic volcanism in the Central North Sea. Nevertheless, the onshore outcrops retain their relevance. Those along the Moray Firth are directly marginal to the Inner Moray Firth Basin and provide many analogies to the other North Sea Basins. The western outcrops, with a much more complete section exposed, were important in the history of geology and continue to stimulate research in biostratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeoecology. They also serve as onshore guides to the stratigraphy of the recently explored basins to the west of Scotland.

Abstract The most important North Sea Jurassic–lowermost Cretaceous lithostratigraphic units, as developed in the UK, Norway and Danish sectors, are summarized in this chapter (55 units from the UK, 25 from Norway and 10 from Denmark). Some significant issues remain with the use and application of lithostratigraphic terminology in the Jurassic of the North Sea Basin. In particular, there are inconsistencies in unit definition and nomenclature changes across country sector boundaries that obscure the recognition of regional stratigraphic patterns that exist across the region. To aid clarity and to overcome some issues of definition, some revisions are made to the existing lithostratigraphic schemes. Several informal lithostratigraphic units are described, a number of unit definitions are revised and various formerly informal units are formalized (Buzzard Sandstone Member, Ettrick Sandstone Member and Galley Sandstone Member). It is recommended that use of the Heno Formation in offshore Denmark is discontinued. In addition, four new lithostratigraphic member terms are introduced (Home Sandstone Member, North Ettrick Sandstone Member, Gyda Sandstone Member and Tambar Sandstone Member). All described units are placed into a sequence stratigraphic context. All significant lithostratigraphic boundaries conform with key sequence stratigraphic surfaces.