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Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Loch Duart (NW Scotland, UK) since the Last Glacial Maximum: implications from a multiproxy approach

Taylor, Jennifer; Selby, David; Lloyd, Jeremy M.; Podrecca, Luca; Masterson, Andrew L.; Sageman, Bradley B.; Szidat, Sönke

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Loch Duart (NW Scotland, UK) since the Last Glacial Maximum: implications from a multiproxy approach Thumbnail


Authors

Jennifer Taylor

Luca Podrecca

Andrew L. Masterson

Bradley B. Sageman

Sönke Szidat



Abstract

A sediment core from the salt marsh fringing Loch Duart, NW Scotland, UK, containing Lateglacial to Holocene sediments, was analysed using a multi-element geochemical approach to elucidate the relative sea level (RSL) and palaeoenvironmental changes associated with the deglaciation of the British and Irish Ice Sheet. Elemental and isotopic measurements of rhenium, osmium, carbon and nitrogen, X-ray fluorescence scanning, radiocarbon dating, and foraminiferal analysis produced a suite of data that complements the existing biostratigraphic framework. This suite of bio-, litho- and chemostratigraphic analyses permits discussion of RSL changes that reflect the interplay between post-glacial eustatic rise and glacio-isostatic adjustment. The osmium-isotope (187Os/188Os) data, coupled with a new age–depth model, depict an RSL fall between 16.8 and 14.1 ka cal bp at an average rate of 2 mm a−1. Falling RSL culminates in basin isolation and is followed by subsequent marine inundation from 11.6 ka cal bp. This RSL record preserves the local interaction between glacial isostatic adjustment and glacio-eustatic sea-level change, a relationship that is reflected in the sediment's 187Os/188Os signature. This is the first known application of the osmium isotope system in an isolation basin that is shown to be a viable proxy for RSL change, a technique that could be applied to glacially influenced isolation basins globally.

Citation

Taylor, J., Selby, D., Lloyd, J. M., Podrecca, L., Masterson, A. L., Sageman, B. B., & Szidat, S. (online). Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Loch Duart (NW Scotland, UK) since the Last Glacial Maximum: implications from a multiproxy approach. Journal of Quaternary Science, 39(1), 6-23. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3566

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 18, 2023
Online Publication Date Sep 11, 2023
Deposit Date Sep 20, 2023
Publicly Available Date Sep 20, 2023
Journal Journal of Quaternary Science
Print ISSN 0267-8179
Electronic ISSN 1099-1417
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 39
Issue 1
Pages 6-23
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3566
Keywords Paleontology; Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous); Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1743835

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Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors Journal of Quaternary Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.





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