Icelandic volcanic ash and the mid- Holocene Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) pollen decline in northern Scotland
- 1 October 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in The Holocene
- Vol. 2 (3) , 260-265
- https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369200200308
Abstract
A volcanic ash-layer in peat from northern Scotland has been identified and coincides exactly with an abrupt decline in Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) pollen frequencies. This provides an isochrone (time-equivalent marker horizon) with which to investigate the timing of the Holocene 'pine-decline'. Furthermore, two possible causes of the southward shift of the range of Pinus in Scotland c. 4000 BP are suggested; a direct effect of acid pollution by chemicals produced by the eruption of Hekla (H-4), or a volcanically-induced climatic perturbation. These possibilities have wider implications for the influence of volcanism on postglacial environmental change.Keywords
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