Nature, origin and age of Holocene aeolian sand on Muckish Mountain, Co. Donegal, Ireland

Dissected sand sheets and flow‐aligned sand shadows occur near the summit of Muckish Mountain, Co. Donegal. The sand is of medium to fine size and moderately sorted to moderately well sorted. Sand transport by northerly winds is indicated by the location and morphology of the deposits. The source of the sand is a series of friable quartzite beds immediately below the northern edge of the summit plateau. Minor additions of gravel and very coarse sand, derived from the disintegration of plateau clasts, were probably also incorporated within the deposits by aeolian action, although surface wash associated with heavy rain or snowmelt may have mobilized these particles. The absence of diagnostic aeolian transport textures on quartz grain surfaces reflects the short distance/duration of transport. 14 C dates indicate two phases of sand sheet accumulation: one between c. 5,300 ande. 2,650 B.P. and again after c. 1,910–1,760B.P. The sand shadows have formed within the last hundred years in response to the construction of small cairns across the plateau. Sand sheet dissection suggests erosion is currently occurring, but this began prior to the late nineteenth century. Present‐day sand accumulation is also apparent from the widespread scatter of grains trapped by surface Vegetation. The sand represents the first recognition of aeolian deposition in the uplands of Ireland.