Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T16:13:55.101Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lateglacial and early Flandrian environmental history of the Isle of Mull, Inner Hebrides, Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

J. J. Lowe  and
M. J. C. Walker
J. J. Lowe
Affiliation:
Geography Department, City of London Polytechnic, Calcutta House, Old Castle Street, London El 7NT, England.
M. J. C. Walker
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, St David's University College, Lampeter, Dyfed SA48 7ED, Wales.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Pollen-stratigraphic data, supported by lithological, geochemical and radiocarbon evidence are described from two Late Devensian Lateglacial sites on the Isle of Mull, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. The data suggest that, following the wastage of the Late Devensian ice sheet some time prior to 13,000 BP, an open grass- and sedge-dominated landscape was colonised first by juniper scrub and subsequently by Empetrum heaths. Tree birch development was limited principally, it would seem, by exposure to strong westerly winds, although some scattered birch woodland did become established in more sheltered localities. The thermal maximum of the Lateglacial Interstadial appears to have occurred from c. 13,000 to 12,000 BP after which climate began to deteriorate as the atmospheric Polar Front migrated southwards. The harsh climatic conditions of the Loch Lomond Stadial, the full effects of which were experienced after c. 10,700 BP, led to the break-up of the Interstadial vegetation cover, the development of an ice cap and several smaller cirque and valley glaciers in the hills of south-central Mull, and the establishment of a periglacial regime throughout the island. By c. 10,200 BP, however, climatic amelioration was underway once more, the Loch Lomond Advance glaciers had wasted completely, and a plant succession was initiated which led to the replacement of tundra vegetation communities by Empetrum heath, juniper scrub and eventually hazel-birch woodland within the space of c. 1500 years.

Keywords

chemical dataclimatic changeglacial limitLoch Lomond StadialPolar Frontpollen stratigraphyradiocarbon datingvegetation.
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , 1986 , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrew, R. 1980. A practical pollen file of the British Flora. Botany School, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Bailey, E. B., Clough, C. T., Wright, W. B., Richey, J. E. & Wilson, G. V. 1924. The Tertiary and post-Tertiary geology of Mull, Loch Aline and Oban. MEM GEOL SURV SCOTLAND.Google Scholar
Ballantyne, C. K. 1984. The Late Devensian periglaciation of upland Scotland. QUAT SCI REV 3, 311–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, C. D., Coxon, P. & Gibbard, P. L. 1978. A new method for the preparation of clay-rich sediment samples for palynological investigations. NEW PHYTOL 81, 459–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, J. N. L. & Tallis, J. H. 1968. Biological flora of the British Isles. Empetrum nigrum L. J ECOL 61, 289–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernas, B. 1968. A new method for decomposition and comprehensive analysis of silicates by atomic absorption spectrometry. ANAL CHEM 4, 1682–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bibby, J. S. 1978. Geomorphology and soils. In Jermy, A. C. & Crabbe, J. A. (eds) The Island of Mull: a survey of its flora and environment, 5.1–16. London: British Museum (Natural History).Google Scholar
Birks, H. H. 1984. Late-Quaternary pollen and plant macrofossil stratigraphy at Lochan an Druim, north-west Scotland. In Haworth, E. Y. & Lund, J. W. G. (eds) Lake Sediments and Environmental History, 377–405. Leicester: Leicester University Press.Google Scholar
Birks, H. H. & Mathewes, R. 1978. Studies in the vegetational history of Scotland. V. Late Devensian and early Flandrian pollen and macrofossil stratigraphy at Abernethy Forest, Inverness-shire. NEW PHYTOL 80, 455–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birks, H. J. B. 1973. The past and present vegetation of the Isle of Skye—a palaeoecological study. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Birks, H. J. B. & Williams, W. 1983. Late Quaternary vegetational history of the Inner Hebrides. PROC R SOC EDINBURGH B83, 269–92.Google Scholar
Bishop, W. W. 1963. Late-glacial deposits near Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. TRANS PROC DUMFRIES GALLOWAY NAT HIST ANTIQ SOC 40, 117–32.Google Scholar
Bjorck, S. & Hakansson, S. 1982. Radiocarbon dates from Late Weichselian lake sediments in south Sweden as a basis for chronostratigraphic subdivision. BOREAS 11, 141–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caseldine, C. J. 1980. A Lateglacial site at Stormont Loch near Blairgowrie, eastern Scotland. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. & Robinson, J. E. (eds) Studies in the Lateglacial of North-west Europe, 69–88. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Clapperton, C. M.Gunson, A. R. & Sugden, D. E. 1975. Loch Lomond Readvance in the eastern Cairngorms. NATURE 253, 710–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coope, G. R. 1970. Climatic interpretations of Late Weichselian Coleoptera from the British Isles. REV GEOGR PHYS GEOL DYN 12, 149–55.Google Scholar
Coope, G. R. 1977. Fossil coleopteran assemblages as sensitive indicators of climatic changes during the Devensian last cold stage. PHIL TRANS R SOC LONDON B280, 313–40.Google Scholar
Coope, G. R. & Joachim, M. J. 1980. Lateglacial environmental changes interpreted from fossil Coleoptera from St. Bees, Cumbria, North-west England. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. & Robinson, J. E. (eds) Studies in the Lateglacial of North-west Europe, 55–68. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Coope, G. R. & Pennington, W. 1977. The Windermere interstadial of the Late Devensian. PHIL TRANS R SOC LONDON B280, 337–9.Google Scholar
Craig, A. J. 1978. Pollen percentage and influx analyses in South-east Ireland. A contribution to the ecological history of the Late-glacial period. J ECOL 66, 297–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cundill, P. & Whittington, G. 1983. Anomalous arboreal pollen assemblages in Late Devensian and Early Flandrian deposits at Creich Castle, Fife, Scotland. BOREAS 12, 297–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cushing, E. J. 1964. Redeposited pollen in Late-Wisconsin pollen spectra from east-central Minnesota. AM J SCI 262, 1075–1088.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cushing, E. J. 1967. Evidence for differential pollen preservation in Late-Quaternary sediments in Minnesota. REV PALAEOBOT PALYNOL 4, 87–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cwynar, L. C., Burden, E. & McAndrews, J. H. 1979. An inexpensive sieving method for concentrating pollen and spores from fine-grained sediments. CAN J EARTH SCI 16, 1115–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, H. C., Dobson, M. R. & Whittington, R. J. 1984. A revised seismic stratigraphy for Quaternary deposits on the inner continental shelf west of Scotland between 55°30N and 57°30N. BOREAS 13, 49–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donner, J. J. 1957. The geology and vegetation of Late-glacial retreat stages in Scotland. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 63, 221–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duplessy, J. C., Delibrias, G., Turon, J. L., Pujol, C. & Duprat, J. 1981. Deglacial warming of the North-eastern Atlantic ocean. Correlation with the palaeoclimatic evolution of the European continent. PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCLIMATOL PALAEOECOL 35, 121–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emeleus, C. H. 1983. Tertiary Igneous Activity. In Craig, G. Y. (ed.) Geology of Scotland, 2nd edn, 357–97. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.Google Scholar
Erdtman, G., Berglund, B. & Praglowski, J. 1961. An introduction to a Scandinavian pollen flora, vol. I. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wicksell.Google Scholar
Erdtman, G., Praglowski, J. & Nilsson, S. 1963. An introduction to a Scandinavian pollen flora, vol. II. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wicksell.Google Scholar
Fredskild, B. 1973. Studies in the vegetational history of Greenland. MEDD OM GRONLAND 198, 1–245.Google Scholar
Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. 1959. Radiocarbon dating of the Late-glacial period in Britain. PROC R SOC LONDON B150, 199–215.Google Scholar
Gray, J. M. 1981. ‘p’ forms from the Isle of Mull. SCOTT J GEOL 17, 39–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, J. M. & Brooks, C. L. 1972. The Loch Lomond Readvance moraines of Mull and Menteith. SCOTT J GEOL 8, 95–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J. 1977. The Scottish Lateglacial environment: a synthesis. In Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J. (eds) Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment, 163–81. Oxford: Pergamon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harkness, D. D. & Wilson, H. W. 1974. Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre radiocarbon measurements II. RADIOCARBON 16, 238–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hesse, P. R. 1971. A Textbook of Soil Chemical Analysis. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Huntley, B. & Birks, H. J. B. 1983. An atlas of past and present pollen maps of Europe 0–13,000 years ago. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ince, J. 1981. Pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of Lateglacial and early Flandrian deposits in Snowdonia. Unpublished PhD thesis, City of London Polytechnic.Google Scholar
Iversen, J. 1954. The Lateglacial flora of Denmark and its relation to climate and soil. DANM GEOL UNDERS SER II 80, 87–119.Google Scholar
Jermy, A. C., James, P. W. & Eddy, A. 1978. Terrestrial Ecosystems. In Jermy, A. C. & Crabbe, J. A. (eds) The Island of Mull: a survey of its flora and environment, 10.1–77. London: British Museum.Google Scholar
Kirk, W. & Godwin, H. 1963. A Lateglacial site at Loch Droma, Ross and Cromarty. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 65, 225–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, J. J. 1977. Pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of Lateglacial and early Flandrian deposits in southern Perthshire. Unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh University.Google Scholar
Lowe, J. J. 1978. Radiocarbon-dated Lateglacial and early Flandrian pollen profiles, from the Teith Valley, Perthshire, Scotland. POLLEN SPORES 20, 367–97.Google Scholar
Lowe, J. J. 1982. Three Flandrian pollen profiles from the Teith Valley, Perthshire, Scotland. II. Analysis of deteriorated pollen. NEW PHYTOL 90, 371–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, J. J. & Gray, J. M. 1980. The stratigraphic subdivision of the Lateglacial in N.W. Europe: a discussion. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. & Robinson, J. E. (eds) Studies in the Lateglacial of North-West Europe, 157–75. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Lowe, J. J. & Walker, M. J. C. 1976. Radiocarbon dates and the deglaciation of Rannoch Moor, Scotland. NATURE 246, 632–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, J. J. & Walker, M. J. C. 1977. The reconstruction of the Lateglacial environment in the southern and eastern Grampian Highlands. In Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J. (eds) Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment, 101–18. Oxford: Pergamon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, J. J. & Walker, M. J. C. 1980. Problems associated with radiocarbon dating the close of the Lateglacial period in the Rannoch Moor area, Scotland. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. & Robinson, J. E. (eds) Studies in the Lateglacial of North-West Europe. 123–37. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Mackereth, F. J. H. 1965. Chemical investigations of lake sediments and their interpretation. PROC R SOC LONDON B161, 295–309.Google Scholar
Mackereth, F. J. H. 1966. Some chemical observations on post-glacial lake sediments. PHIL TRANS R SOC LONDON B250, 165–213.Google Scholar
Macpherson, J. B. 1980. Environmental change during the Loch Lomond Stadial: evidence from a site in the upper Spey Valley, Scotland. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. & Robinson, J. E. (eds) Studies in the Lateglacial of North-west Europe, 89–102. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
McVean, D. N. & Ratcliffe, R. A. 1962. Plant communities of the Scottish Highlands. Edinburgh: HMSO.Google Scholar
Moar, N. T. 1969. Late Weichselian and Flandrian pollen diagrams from south-west Scotland. NEW PHYTOL 68, 433–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, P. D. 1980. The reconstruction of the Lateglacial environment: some problems associated with the interpretation of pollen data. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. & Robinson, J. E. (eds) Studies in the Lateglacial of North-west Europe, 151–5. London: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Moore, P. D. & Webb, J. A. 1978. An illustrated guide to pollen analysis. London: Hodder & Stoughton.Google Scholar
Pennington, W. 1970. Vegetation history in the north-west of England. In Walker, D. & West, R. G. (eds) Studies in the Vegetational History of the British Isles, 141–58. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pennington, W. 1973. Absolute pollen frequencies in sediments of lakes of different morphometry. In Birks, H. J. B. & West, R. G. (eds) Quaternary Plant Ecology, 79–104. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Pennington, W. 1975. A chronostratigraphic comparison of Late-Weichselian and Late-Devensian subdivisions, illustrated by two radiocarbon-dated profiles from western Britain. BOREAS 4, 157–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, W. 1977a. The Late Devensian flora and vegetation of Britain. PHIL TRANS R SOC LONDON B280, 247–71.Google Scholar
Pennington, W. 1977b. Lake sediments and the Lateglacial environment in northern Scotland. In Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J. (eds) Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment, 119–42. Oxford: Pergamon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, W. & Lishman, J. P. 1971. Iodine in lake sediments in northern England and Scotland. BIOL REV 46, 279–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, W. & Sackin, M. J. 1975. An application of Principal Components Analysis to the zonation of two Late-Devensian profiles. NEW PHYTOL 75, 419–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, W., Haworth, E. Y., Bonny, A. P. & Lishman, J. P. 1972. Lake sediments in northern Scotland. PHIL TRANS R SOC LONDON B264, 191–294.Google Scholar
Persson, K. 1974. Biosystematic studies in the Artemisia maritima complex in Europe. OPERA BOT SOC BOTAN LUNDENSI 35, 1–88.Google Scholar
Punt, W. (ed.) 1976. The North-west European pollen flora, parts 1–7. Amsterdam: Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.Google Scholar
Ratcliffe, D. A. 1964. Mires and bogs. In Burnett, J. H. (ed.) The vegetation of Scotland, 426–78. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Reitsma, T. 1966. Pollen morphology of some European Rosaceae. ACTA BOT NEERL 15, 290–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richey, J. E. 1961. British Regional Geology: Scotland, the Tertiary Volcanic Districts, 3rd edn. Edinburgh: HMSO.Google Scholar
Ruddiman, W. F. & McIntyre, A. 1981. The North Atlantic during the last deglaciation. PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCLIMATOL PALAEOECOL 35, 145–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rymer, L. 1977. A Lateglacial and early Postglacial pollen diagram from Drimnagall, North Knapdale, Argyllshire. NEW PHYTOL 79, 211–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sissons, J. B. 1976. The geomorphology of the British Isles, Scotland. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Sissons, J. B. 1979. The Loch Lomond Stadial in the British Isles. NATURE 280, 199–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sissons, J. B. 1981. The last Scottish ice sheet: facts and speculative discussion. BOREAS 10, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sissons, J. B. 1982. The so-called high “interglacial” rock shoreline of western Scotland. TRANS INST BRIT GEOGR NEW SER 7, 205–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sissons, J. B. 1983. The Quaternary geomorphology of the Inner Hebrides: a review and reassessment. PROC GEOL ASSOC 94, 165–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sissons, J. B. & Walker, M. J. C. 1974. Lateglacial site in the central Grampian Highlands. NATURE 249, 822–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sissons, J. B. & Sutherland, D. G. 1976. Climatic inferences from former glaciers in the south-east Grampian Highlands, Scotland. J GLACIOL 17, 325–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sissons, J. B., Lowe, J. J., Thompson, K. S. R. & Walker, M. J. C. 1973. Loch Lomond Readvance in the Grampian Highlands of Scotland. NATURE PHYS SCI 244, 75–7.Google Scholar
Srivastava, S. K. 1975. Maastrichtian microscope assemblages from the inter-basaltic lignites of Mull, Scotland. PALAEONTOGRAPHICA ABT B150, 125–56.Google Scholar
Strakhov, N. M. 1967. Principles of Lithogenesis, vol. I. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuart, A. J. 1982. Pleistocene vertebrates in the British Isles. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Sutherland, D. G. 1980. Problems of radiocarbon-dating deposits from newly-deglaciated terrain: examples from the Scottish Lateglacial. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. & Robinson, J. E. (eds) Studies in the Lateglacial of North-west Europe, 139–49. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Sutherland, D. G. 1981. The high-level marine shell beds of Scotland and the build-up of the last Scottish ice sheet. BOREAS 10, 247–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tipping, R. M. 1984. Late Devensian and early Flandrian vegetational history and deglacial chronology of western Argyll. Unpublished PhD thesis, City of London Polytechnic.Google Scholar
Vasari, Y. 1977. Radiocarbon dating of the Lateglacial and early Flandrian vegetational succession in the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye. In Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J. (eds) Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment, 143–62. Oxford: Pergamon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vasari, Y. & Vasari, A. 1968. Late and Postglacial macrophytic vegetation in the lochs of northern Scotland. ACTA BOT FENN 80, 1–12.Google Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. 1975a. Lateglacial and early Postglacial environmental history of the Grampian Highlands, Scotland. J. BIOGEOGR 2, 265–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. 1975b. Two Lateglacial pollen diagrams from the eastern Grampian Highlands of Scotland. POLLEN SPORES 16, 67–92.Google Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. 1977. Corrydon: a Lateglacial profile from Glenshee, south-east Grampian Highlands, Scotland. POLLEN SPORES 19, 391–406.Google Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. 1982. The Lateglacial and early Flandrian deposits at Traeth Mawr, Brecon Beacons, South Wales. NEW PHYTOL 90, 177–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. 1977. Postglacial environmental history of Rannoch Moor, Scotland. I. Three pollen diagrams from the Kingshouse area. J. BIOGEOGR 4, 333–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. 1979. Postglacial environmental history of Rannoch Moor, Scotland. II. Pollen diagrams and radiocarbon dates from the Rannoch Station and Corrour areas. J. BIOGEOGR 6, 349–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. 1980. Pollen analyses, radiocarbon dates and the deglaciation of Rannoch Moor, Scotland, following the Loch Lomond Advance. In Cullingford, R. A., Davidson, D. A. & Lewin, J. (eds) Timescales in Geomorphology, 247–59. Chichester: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. 1981. Postglacial environmental history of Rannoch Moor, Scotland. III. Early and mid-Flandrian pollen-stratigraphic data from sites on western Rannoch Moor and near Fort William. J BIOGEOGR 8, 475–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. 1982. Lateglacial and early Flandrian chronology of the Isle of Mull, Scotland. NATURE 296, 558–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. 1985. Flandrian environmental history of the Isle of Mull, Scotland. I. Pollen stratigraphic evidence and radiocarbon dates from Glen More, south-central Mull. NEW PHYTOL 99, 587–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W. A. 1977. The Late Devensian vegetation of Ireland. PHIL TRANS R SOC LONDON B280, 273–93.Google Scholar
Webb, J. A. & Moore, P. D. 1982. The Late Devensian vegetational history of the Whitlaw Mosses, south-east Scotland. NEW PHYTOL 91, 341–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, W. 1977. The Flandrian vegetational history of the Isle of Skye and Morar Peninsula. Unpublished PhD thesis, Cambridge University.Google Scholar