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Paleohydrological Records from Peat Profiles and Speleothems in Sutherland, Northwest Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Dan J. Charman ,
Chris Caseldine ,
Andy Baker ,
Ben Gearey ,
Jackie Hatton  and
Chris Proctor
Dan J. Charman
Affiliation:
Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom, E-mail:dcharman@plymouth.ac.uk
Chris Caseldine
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, United Kingdom
Andy Baker
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
Ben Gearey
Affiliation:
Centre for Wetland Archaeology, Department of Geography, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, United Kingdom
Jackie Hatton
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, United Kingdom
Chris Proctor
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
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Abstract

Paleohydrological changes during the late Holocene are inferred from humification, testate amoebae, and pollen evidence from three blanket peat profiles in northwest Scotland. Replicate peat humification records from the Traligill basin share the same patterns of change for a 600-yr period of overlap between 1800 and 2400 cal yr B.P. The shared patterns, inferred from samples with a resolution of 5–13 yr, represent basinwide hydrological changes. In a nearby, but hydrologically separate, area with caves beneath peat, the luminescence emission wavelength measured in two speleothem samples correlated with the humification record in the overlying peat. This correlation implies that speleothem luminescence emission wavelength depends primarily on decay rates in the soils from which drip waters are derived, as long as there is no major change in soil or vegetation. The peat and speleothem records from the cave site further correlate with the peat records from the Traligill basin. Taken together, the records thus represent a regional climatic signal. Peaks in surface wetness replicated in two or more records occur at ca. 2300, 2090, 2030, 1820, 1600, and 1440 cal yr B.P. Further peaks occur at 800, 570, and 115 cal yr B.P. in the humification and stalagmite records that extend to the present day. Correlative changes have been observed, not only in other peat records from Scotland but also in ice accumulation at GISP2. These further correlations imply that precipitation regimes in Scotland and Greenland were in phase during the late Holocene.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , March 2001 , pp. 223 - 234
Copyright
University of Washington

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