The full programme book (PDF) - Royal Geographical Society

T8
Tanera Mor: a new stratotype for tephra in the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition
(LGIT).
Rhys Timms 1 *, Ian Matthews 1 , Dorothy Weston 1
1 Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, England
The Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT) (ca. 15–9 ka), was a period characterised
by a series of abrupt climatic oscillations and concomitant environmental instability. The
evolving tephrostratigraphy of NW Europe over this period provides an excellent means to
correlate and synchronize ice-core, marine, and terrestrial records.
In line with the aims of the INTIMATE group, the scope of this project is to investigate and
quantify the relative impact of shorter-lived centennial to decadal scale events in Scottish
lacustrine deposits, and aims to begin to establish whether such events can be seen to
lead or lag the Greenland stratotype.
As a mode of correlation tephrostratigraphy can provide a level of precision beyond that of
any radiometric method, and for the period in question is highly robust.
Here we present a new tephrostratigraphic record from Tanera Mor, NW Scotland.
Emerging results from the site have shown that the tephrostratigraphy of Scotland during
the LGIT is more complex than previously documented. The number of tephras preserved
at the site, and the stratigraphic clarity of those is unparalleled for a sequence in the
British Isles. As a working hypothesis at least 6 stratigraphically distinct horizons are
believed to be present. The site also potentially exhibits, for the first time in the UK, the
occurrence of pre-interstadial tephras during the Late Dimlington Stadial, and a Late
Windermere Interstadial tephra.
In conjunction with this record, site conditions have yielded a number of excellently
preserved plant-macrofossil assemblages, which will enable the high-resolution
radiocarbon dating of this important sequence. When coupled with the tephra record, and
considering the positioning of the site on the Eastern margin of the Atlantic, Tanera Mor
offers great potential in developing a highly robust chronology of climatic variability during
the LGIT, and provides a key site in the assessment of synchronicity in the climate
system.
Keywords; Tephra; Lateglacial; Radiocarbon; Plant Macrofossils; Scotland