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Late Devensian and Holocene relative sea‐level changes on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK
Author(s) -
Selby Katherine A.,
Smith David E.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.1012
Subject(s) - holocene , geology , younger dryas , shore , sea level , oceanography , physical geography , paleontology , geography
Detailed litho‐ and biostratigraphical analyses from three coastal sites in contrasting coastal settings on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK, reveal evidence for several changes in relative sea level during the Late Devensian and Holocene. At the start of the record, relative sea level in the area was high at ca. 12 500 14 C (ca. 14 800 cal.) yr BP but then fell, reaching a low point during the Younger Dryas, at ca. 11 000–10 000 14 C (ca. 13 000–11 600 cal.) yr BP, when a rock platform, correlated with the Main Rock Platform, was formed. In the early–middle Holocene, relative sea level was rising by ca. 8000 14 C (ca. 8800 cal.) yr BP and in northeast Skye a lagoonal surface, correlated with the Main Postglacial Shoreline, was formed at ca. 6600 14 C (ca. 7500 cal.) yr BP. By the late Holocene, relative sea level was again falling, but a rise, registered at at least two sites, began probably before ca. 4000 14 C (ca. 4500 cal.) yr BP, and a second lagoonal surface in northeast Skye, correlated with the Blairdrummond Shoreline, was formed, although by ca. 3000 14 C (ca. 3200 cal.) yr BP relative sea level in the area had resumed its downward trend. The pattern of relative sea‐level changes disclosed is compared with evidence elsewhere in Scotland. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.