Curlethney Hill is a landform

Landform

A landform or physical feature in the earth sciences and geology sub-fields, comprises a geomorphological unit, and is largely defined by its surface form and location in the landscape, as part of the terrain, and as such, is typically an element of topography...

 in Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 within the Mounth

Mounth

The Mounth is the range of hills on the southern edge of Strathdee in northeast Scotland. It was usually referred to with the article, i.e. "the Mounth". The name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic monadh which in turn is akin to the Welsh mynydd, and may be of Pictish origin...

 Range of the Grampian Mountains. (Grid Reference NO 918 839) The peak elevation of this mountain is 246 metres above mean sea level. This landform lies slightly southwest of the village of Netherley. The northwest boundary of the moorland

Moorland

Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...

 atop Curlethney Hill is formed by the southwestern flanks of Craggie Cat

Craggie Cat

Craggie Cat is a hill landform in the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains at the southern edge of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The peak elevation of Craggie Cat is 198 metres according to the Ordnance Survey...

, a nearby peak.

Geology and hydrology

This mountain is covered virtually entirely with moorland. Curlethney Hill is situated approximately 0.9 kilometers to the east of Meikle Carewe Hill

Meikle Carewe Hill

Meikle Carewe Hill is a landform in Aberdeenshire, Scotland within the Mounth Range of the Grampian Mountains. The peak elevation of this mountain is 266 metres above mean sea level...

; surface runoff

Surface runoff

Surface runoff is the water flow that occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess water from rain, meltwater, or other sources flows over the land. This is a major component of the water cycle. Runoff that occurs on surfaces before reaching a channel is also called a nonpoint source...

 and drainage from the northern and eastern slopes of Curlethney Hill flows north to Crynoch Burn, at reaches above the Red Moss. Waters within the Red Moss are decidedly acid

Acid

An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

ic, with measured summer pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

 values in the range of 5.67. These low pH levels may be caused in part by the peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

 drainage from the moorland on Meikle Carewe Hill and Curlethney Hill. The southwest flanks of Curlethney Hill drain to Cowton Burn

Cowton Burn

Cowton Burn is a stream that rises in the Mounth, or eastern range of the Grampian Mountains, on some of the northwest slopes of the Durris Forest west of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Grid Reference for the headwaters is NO 925 823); Cowton Burn is a tributary to the Cowie Water...

, a tributary of the Cowie Water

Cowie Water

The Cowie Water is a river rising in the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea in the northern part of Stonehaven. south of the ruined Cowie Castle...

.

Wind farm proposal

Renewable Energy Resources has an application pending before the Aberdeenshire Council to create a windfarm

WindFarm

WindFarm is wind energy software used to analyse, design, optimise and visualise wind farms. It calculates and optimises the energy yield subject to natural, planning and engineering constraints. WindFarm has the wind modelling software MS-Micro integrated. MS-Micro is based on the same...

 for electrical power

Electric power

Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...

 generation using Curlethney Hill, Meikle Carewe Hill and nearby high ground to install 12 wind turbines, four of which are proposed for Curlethney Hill itself, and two others to be in the saddle areas on either side of Curlethney Hill. Each turbine would reach a height of 70 metres above grade level, and the entire complex could generate enough power to supply the equivalent of 5000 homes. Environmental concerns over the proposal include noise pollution

Noise pollution

Noise pollution is excessive, displeasing human, animal or machine-created environmental noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life...

, visual impact and ecological disturbance.