This memoir describes the bedrock geology of the mountainous country lying between upper Deeside and upper Glen Clova in north-east Scotland (1:50,000 geological sheet 65E (Scotland)). The greater part of the Balmoral estate lies in this district, and the large granite/diorite mass of Lochnagar dominates the country, which is popular with climbers and walkers and immortalised in verse by Lord Byron.

This memoir describes the solid geology of a mountainous area on the southern edge of the Grampian Highlands; a brief summary of the drift geology of the district is included.