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Relative sea-level rise during the Main Postglacial Transgression in NE Scotland, U.K.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

D. E. Smith ,
C. R. Firth ,
C. L. Brooks ,
M. Robinson  and
P. E. F. Collins
D. E. Smith
Affiliation:
Centre for Quaternary Science, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry, CV1 5FB, U.K.
C. R. Firth
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Brunei University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, TW7 5DU, U.K.
C. L. Brooks
Affiliation:
18 Bullfinch Close, Creekmoor, Poole, Dorset, BH17 7UP, U.K.
M. Robinson
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9ST, U.K.
P. E. F. Collins
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, TW7 5DU, U.K.
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Abstract

Flandrian (Holocene) relative sea level changes in the lower Ythan valley, NE Scotland, U.K., are inferred from detailed stratigraphical evidence including microfossil analysis and radiocarbon assay. The principal event recorded is the Main Postglacial Transgression, which was under way in the area by c. 8300 and had culminated before c. 4000 radiocarbon years BP. It is concluded that the rise in relative sea levels during the transgression in the area exceeded 12 m; that the mean rate of rise there was 8·05 mm a−1 between c. 8300 and c. 7100 radiocarbon years BP, or 7·09 mm a−1 based upon calibrated dates for the same period, before declining markedly to 1·75 mm a−1 (radiocarbon) or 1·86 mm a−1 (calibrated) to the culmination of the event. By comparison with other sites, the culmination appears to have been time-transgressive in eastern Scotland. Deposits of the Second Storegga Slide tsunami, which occurred during the Main Postglacial Transgression, are present in the Ythan valley, where the sediment run-up of the event at the sites studied is estimated to have been within the range 2·99–5·19 m.

Keywords

diatomsFlandrianglacio-isostasyMain Postglacial Shorelinepollenstratigraphytsunami.
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 90 , Issue 1 , 1999 , pp. 1 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1999

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