Pollen analysis and quaternary research in Scotland

Walker, M. J. C.

doi:10.1016/0277-3791(84)90013-1

Cited by 27 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 140 publications

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“…None of these pioneeering studies, however, examined deposits from the Cairngorm area, and the first investigations into the vegetation history of the region appear to have been macrofossil work on former tree-lines by Pears (1968a; and Birks (1975), and the use of pollen analyses to investigate woodland history by Birks (1970), Mathewes (1978), andO'Sullivan (1973;1974a;1976). The late-glacial and Holocene vegetation history of the Cairngorms is reviewed by Gordon (1993), and the region is also covered by reviews of Holocene vegetation history of Scotland (Birks, 1977;Walker, 1984;Dickson, 1992), of north-east Scotland (Gunson, 1975), of pine (O'Sullivan, 1977;Bennett, 1984;1995), and of British upland vegetation (Birks, 1988). Since the 1970s the only new work in the region has been investigation of isotopic ratios in fossil pine stumps (Dubois & Ferguson, 1985;Pears, 1988) as a measure of past climatic change, a faunal and pollen analysis of a tufa sequence at Inchrory, north of Ben Avon (Preece, Bennett & Robinson, 1984), and a surface pollen study across the tree-line at Creag Fhiaclach (McConnell & Legg, 1995).…”

Section: History Of Investigation In the Cairngormsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Late-Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics of the Cairngorms

Bennett

1996

Botanical Journal of Scotland

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Until about 15,000 years ago, the whole of the Cairngorms region was covered by part of an ice-sheet that extended across all of the northern British Isles. Our understanding of the development of vegetation following retreat of that ice comes from studies of fossil pollen preserved in peat and lake sediments, and from mapping and radiocarbon-dating of wood remains in peat. Initial plant communities were open, but woodland of birch (Betula spp.) spread rapidly across the landscape in the early Holocene, followed by pine (Pinus sylvestris). The origin of the pines that established woodland in the Cairngorms is currently unknown: a continental origin (via a spread through England and southern Scotland) or a west Scottish/Irish refugial origin are both possible. Woodland became established, with pine as the dominant, by about 8000 years ago, probably at all altitudes up to about 800 m. Birch, and hazel (Corylus avellana) on less acidic soils, would also have been present. At higher altitudes, plant communities are likely to have been always open, but there is no direct evidence for the Holocene development of vegetation at these altitudes. After about 3000 years ago forest declined regionally as a result of increasing anthropogenic pressures, and peatland ecosystems increased in areal extent.

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Section: History Of Investigation In the Cairngormsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Late-Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics of the Cairngorms

Bennett

1996

Botanical Journal of Scotland

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“…3 (Table 1). Over 60 late-glacial pollen records are found in Scotland alone (Walker 1984), though many of these lack dates. Available estimates of mean July temperature depression are given in Table 4.…”

Section: Estimates Of Climate Change In Europe During the Younger Dryasmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of cold North Atlantic sea surface temperatures on climate: implications for the Younger Dryas cooling (11?10 k)

et al. 1986

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Abstract. The sensitivity of global climate to colder North Atlantic sea surface temperatures is investigated with the use of the GISS general circulation model. North Atlantic ocean temperatures 18,000 B.P., resembling those prevalent during the Younger Dryas, were incorporated into the model of the present climate and also into an experiment using orbital parameters and land ice characteristic of 11,000 B.P. The results show that with both 11,000 B.P. and present conditions the colder ocean temperatures produce cooling over western and central Europe, in good agreement with Younger Dryas paleoclimatic evidence. Cooling also occurs over extreme eastern North America, although the precise magnitude and location depends upon the specification of ocean temperature change in the western Atlantic. Despite the presence of increased land ice and colder ocean temperatures, the Younger Dryas summer air temperatures at Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes in the model are warmer than those of today due to changes in the orbital parameters, chiefly precession, and atmospheric subsidence at the perimeter of the ice sheets.

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“…The existence of the Lomond Hills, rising to over 500 m, provides the chance to carry out investigations at a greater altitude within the Fife region, but still in an extreme easterly location (Fig. Investigations at Pickletillem showed that the Betula presence there during the Allerod, unlike that purportedly in central and western Scotland (Walker 1984), was due to B. nana rather than tree birch. In addition to establishing the general vegetational history of the Lomond Hills, the palynological and sedimentological investigations reported in this paper had several more specific aims.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 12 000-year record of environmental change in the Lomond Hills, Fife, Scotland: Vegetational and climatic variability

Edwards

Whittington

1997

Veget Hist Archaebot

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The Lomond Hills of Fife, an isolated upland area rising to over 500 m, provide an opportunity to investigate the effect of altitude on vegetation and climate in an area otherwise dominated by lower-lying land. The West Lomond site contains sediments of the Devensian Late-glacial period; they reveal a well-defined sequence of Boiling-Older Dryas-AUerod-Younger Dryas events, commencing ca. 12 190 radiocarbon years B.P. and a probable Amphi-Atlantic Oscillation between ca. 11 040 and 10 800 B.P. The Holocene record is constrained by low sediment input but does reveal a woodland presence at this altitude, dominated by Betula and Corylus. Size statistics for Betula pollen are presented and the implications of the vegetational and climatic record are discussed. The traditional view of a smooth progress towards more temperate conditions following the Younger Dryas is not supported; between 10 180 and 9120 B.P., three cooler periods are inferred, the earliest of which may belong to a terminal phase of the Younger Dryas. Comparative pollen 'influx' data strongly suggest that Quercus, Ulmus and Alnus were not present locally. As a working hypothesis, it is suggested that the demise of woodland, from ca. 5950 B.P., was a result of exposure. Pollen indicative of human impact was probably derived from areas of lowland agricultural activity from ca. 5330 B.P. onwards.

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Pollen analysis and quaternary research in Scotland

Cited by 27 publications

References 140 publications

Late-Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics of the Cairngorms

Late-Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics of the Cairngorms

The impact of cold North Atlantic sea surface temperatures on climate: implications for the Younger Dryas cooling (11?10 k)

A 12 000-year record of environmental change in the Lomond Hills, Fife, Scotland: Vegetational and climatic variability

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