THE PRE‐PEAT VEGETATION OF THE SOUTHERN PENNINES

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Abstract
Summary: Pollen counts from the upper layers of the mineral soil underlying deep blanket peat at two sites in the southern Pennines show a varied assemblage of Late‐glacial and montane species such as Armeria maritima, Thalictnim, Juniperus, and possibly Betula nana, existing in zone VI at 550–610 m. This ‘montane’ flora disappears where the pollen spectrum indicates waterlogging of the soil developing as a result of the increased wetness of climate. Peat formation at these two sites appears to begin at the B.A.T., but pollen counts from other sites in the southern Pennines show that peat may have begun to form elsewhere at any time during zone VIIa, depending on local topography. Corylus pollen values show a pronounced maximum at the close of zone VI, and it is suggested that extensive hazel thickets may have formed in sheltered gullies and valley heads; at one of the two sites very high values of fern spores are also encountered in the uppermost layers of mineral soil. The abrupt decline in the fern spore values and equally abrupt changes in values of other pollen types at the level of the peat‐mineral soil junction suggest that there may possibly be a gap in the pollen record at the end of zone VI, resulting from local soil erosion.