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 This chapter describes uppermost Middle Jurassic–lowermost Cretaceous second-order stratigraphic sequences J40, J50, J60 and J70, and their component third-order sequences J42–J46, J52–J56, J62–J66 and J71–J76. The latest Callovian–Berriasian was an interval of significant tectonism that led to the development of complex stratigraphy and highly variable successions, the elucidation of which is aided by the recognition of the correlation of the J sequences. Marine sedimentation dominated the Callovian–Berriasian interval, with the development of multiple sandstone members comprising reservoir units in many hydrocarbon fields, charged by marine source rocks (e.g. the Kimmeridge Clay Formation). Each of these units is subdivided and correlated by a succession of J sequences. Several sequences are renumbered (e.g. J54, J55, J65 and J66), some sequence definitions are amended or their basal boundaries recalibrated chronostratigraphically (J52, J54, J72, J73, J74 and J76) and new sequence subdivisions are recognized (J64a, J64b, J72a–J72c, J73a and J73b). Significant unconformities are recognized at the bases of the J54, J55, J62, J63, J64, J71 and J73 sequences. The top of J70 (J76) equates to the major ‘Base Cretaceous Unconformity’ seismic sequence boundary.