Isle of Jura research casts new light on how rivers carve through landscapes
Published: 7 September 2026
A team of researchers led by the University of Glasgow used the unique geology of the island, which is home to around 250 people as a natural laboratory to show that hard rock fragments can act like sandpaper to scour softer bedrock when they are carried downstream. Their findings suggest that the contrast between the hardness of the riverbed and the sediment which causes the erosion helps determine how quickly rivers wear down rocks.