Stratigraphy of a Lateglacial lake basin sediment sequence at Turret Bank,upper Glen Roy,Lochaber: implications for the age of the Turret Fan

New lithostratigraphical, pollen-stratigraphical and tephrostratigraphical data are presented for a sediment sequence at Turret Bank, a site that lies close to the confluence of the River Turret with the River Roy in Lochaber, the western Scottish Highlands. The site is also adjacent to the inner margin of a major gravel fan, the Glen Turret Fan, the age of which has been debated and has a crucial bearing on the overall sequence of events in Glen Roy, especially concerning the maximum limit of Loch Lomond Readvance (Younger Dryas) ice. Several lines of evidence point to the sediment sequence at Turret Bank having been wholly deposited during the Loch Lomond Stadial-early Holocene transition: (i) the pollen sequence is typical for this transitional period; (ii) varved deposits preserved in the sequence bear a strong resemblance to mid-Stadial varves in a regional master varve scheme for Glen Roy and vicinity (the Lochaber Master Varve Chronology); and (iii) an early Holocene tephra – the Askja-S Tephra – is preserved within the sequence. Some limitations with the new data are considered, but it is concluded that the coherent integration of lithostratigraphic, geomorphological, pollen-stratigraphical and tephrostratigraphical data point to the likelihood that Loch Lomond Readvance ice extended to the inner margin of the Glen Turret Fan, and that the fan was probably constructed by glacial meltwaters at this time.     

Geomorphology and sedimentology of the Caol Lairig valley,Scottish Highlands: evidence for local glacier margin advance and retreat during the Loch Lomond Stadial

A sedimentological investigation of new sections of Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS) age deposits is presented from Caol Lairig valley, located adjacent to Glen Roy, Lochaber, Scottish Highlands. The ice lobes in Caol Lairig and Glen Roy blocked local fluvial drainage systems forming lakes that cut shorelines, the ‘Parallel Roads of Glen Roy’ (Agassiz, 1840; Jamieson, 1863, 1892). Within Caol Lairig sediment sequences of proximal, distal and deltaic glaciolacustrine sediments and a subglacial till are reported. The till was deposited during ice advance into the valley and the different glaciolacustrine facies formed in the gap between the head of Caol Lairig and the receding ice margin. When the sediments are related to the shoreline and glacial geomorphological evidence, phases of ice advance and ice retreat and the concomitant changes in lake levels are identified. Initially ice retreat in Glen Roy and Caol Lairig was synchronous but after the fall to 325 m the ice in Glen Roy retreated more quickly than in Caol Lairig. Differences in the ice thickness and the lake water depth in Glen Roy and Caol Lairig may have lead to preferential calving of the Glen Roy ice margin hastening ice retreat.     

The Parallel Roads of Glen Roy,Scotland: geoconservation history and challenges

Glen Roy is a classic geosite for ice-dammed lake shorelines, the Parallel Roads, and associated features formed during the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stade (12.9–11.7 ka). The area played a key part in the development of the glacial theory in the early 19th century and continues today to have outstanding scientific value for understanding the processes and timing of events at the end of the last glaciation. Glen Roy has also been long-appreciated as an awe-inspiring visitor attraction, and is now a flagship site for geotourism within Lochaber Geopark. Statutory geoconservation in Glen Roy, beginning in the second half of the 20th century, was founded on the exceptional scientific value of the area. The history and practice of geoconservation in Glen Roy illustrate the contested values of geoheritage and the evolving approaches adopted. Important lessons include the need for open dialogue and partnership working among the local community, land owners and managers, the statutory conservation agency (Scottish Natural Heritage), Lochaber Geopark and the scientific community.     

Dynamic landscape changes in Glen Roy and vicinity,west Highland Scotland,during the Younger Dryas and early Holocene: a synthesis

This paper introduces a special issue devoted to the sequence of events in and around Glen Roy during the Loch Lomond or Younger Dryas Stadial, the short but important cold period dated to between ∼12,900 and 11,700 years ago, during which glaciers last expanded to occupy the Scottish Highlands, and during the subsequent transition to warmer conditions at the start of the Holocene. The Glen Roy area is internationally famous for the ‘Parallel Roads’, pre-eminent examples of ice-dammed lake shorelines which were formed during the stadial. What makes these shorelines unique, however, is their role as distinctive time markers, allowing the order of formation of landforms and sediments to be construed with unprecedented detail. Varved lake sediments preserved within Glen Roy and nearby Loch Laggan provide a precise timescale – the Lochaber Master Varve Chronology (LMVC) – for establishing the rates and timing of some of the events. This introductory paper first sets the geological context for those new to this topic, with a digest of key advances in understanding made between the nineteenth century and the publication of the LMVC in 2010. It then summarises the evidence and ideas that have emerged from new research investigations reported in this special issue for the first time, and which shine new light on the subject. Two final sections synthesise the new data and consider future prospects for further refinement of the precise sequence and timing of events. A major conclusion to emerge from this new body of work is that the ice-dammed lakes, and the glaciers that impounded them, persisted in the area until around 11,700 to perhaps 11,600 years ago. This conflicts with recently promoted suggestions that the last glaciers in Scotland were already in a state of considerable decline by ∼12,500 years ago.     

The varve-related ice-dammed lake events in Glen Roy and vicinity: a new interpretation

This paper presents a new interpretation of the sequence of events in Glen Roy and vicinity during the Loch Lomond Stadial that can be inferred from a detailed varve record constructed by Palmer et al. (2010). 300 years of Younger Dryas glacier advance in the Scottish Highlands are recorded by very thin varves formed in an ice-dammed lake up to 35 km long. At a varve site now occupied by Loch Laggan the lake stood permanently at 260 m, but in Glen Roy varves were also laid down in a lake at 325 m and, later, 350 m caused by glacier advance. Initial ice retreat recorded by a gradual increase in varve thickness was soon followed by much thicker varves. The varve sequences are interrupted by a sand bed caused by sudden drainage of the 350 m lake. The major varves of the Glen Roy sequence show that storminess was still increasing in intensity at least 160 years after glacier retreat had begun. At the Loch Laggan site 15 cm of deformed sediments register an earthquake that produced 3 m faulted uplift of all three Glen Roy shorelines, a response to the abrupt removal of 5 km³ of water when the 260 m lake was catastrophically drained by jökulhlaup. The deformed sediments are immediately followed by varves deposited in a local lake, ice-dammed lake sedimentation now having ceased, having lasted more than 460 years.     

Revision of the lateglacial Swedish varve chronology

A survey of the revised lateglacial varve chronology is given. Almost all revisions are based on new, independent measurements not yet finished. Compared with the old time scale, the preliminary datings (calendar years ± a margin of error) of the ice margin retreat are 'older', mainly due to the fact that the postglacial varve chronology has been extended by 365 years. This implies that the so-called zero year ( sensu De Geer 1940: limit of late glacial and beginning of postglacial varve sedimentation). earlier estimated at 6,923 B.C. (Nilsson 1964), is now dated 7,288 B.C. According to the new time scale, deglaciation from Stockholm to the area of zero-year formation in Indalsälven's valley lasted about 1,190 ± 40 years, compared with 1,073 years in De Geer's (1940) time scale or 1,092 in Jarnefors' (1963). Preliminary varve graph correlations, which are still very weak concerning the Fennoscandian moraine zone, indicate that the ice receded from Högsby, northwest of Kalmar at approximately 10,700⁺²⁰⁰₋₃₀₀ B.C. At localities just to the north of the Fennoscandian moraines, deglaciation started about 8,750⁺⁵⁰₋₁₅₀ years B.C. according to the new varve measurements, and the ice front receded in southern Stockholm 8,470⁺⁴⁰₋₁₄₀ B.C. Varve dating now gives older ages (calendar years) than ¹⁴C-dating; about 200–400 years older regarding some ice margin positions in south Sweden.     

Correlation of Alaskan varve thickness with climatic parameters, and use in paleoclimatic reconstruction

The thickness of varves in the sediments of Skilak Lake, Alaska, are correlated with the mean annual temperature (r = 0.574), inversely correlated with the mean annual cumulative snowfall (r = −0.794), and not correlated with the mean annual precipitation (r = 0.202) of the southern Alaska climatological division for the years 1907–1934 A.D. Varve thickness in Skilak Lake is sensitive to annual temperature and snowfall because Skilak Glacier, the dominant source of sediment for Skilak Lake, is sensitive to these climatic parameters. Trends of varve thickness are well correlated with trends of mean annual cumulative snowfall ( ) of the southern Alaska climatological division and with trends of mean annual temperature of the southern ( ) and northern ( ) Alaska climatological divisions. Trends of varve thickness also correlate with trends of annual temperature in Seattle and North Head, Washington ( , respectively). Comparisons of trends of varve thickness with trends of annual temperature in California, Oregon, and Washington suggest no widespread regional correlation. Trends of annual snowfall in the southern Alaska climatological division and trends of annual temperature in the southern and northern Alaska climatological divisions are reconstructed for the years 1700–1906 A.D. Climatic reconstructions on the basis of varve thickness in Skilak Lake utilize equations derived from the regression of series of smoothed climatological data on series of smoothed varve thickness. Reconstruction of trends of mean annual cunulative snowfall in the southern Alaska climatological division suggests that snowfall during the 1700s and 1800s was much greater than that during the early and mid-1900s. The periods 1770–1790 and 1890–1906 show marked decreases in the mean annual snowfall. Reconstructed trends of the annual temperature of the northern and southern Alaska climatological divisions suggest that annual temperatures during the 1700s and 1800s were lower than those of the early and mid-1900s. Two periods of relatively high annual temperatures coincide with the periods of low annual snowfall thus determined.     

A 1500-year record of temperature and glacial response inferred from varved Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska

We present a varve thickness chronology from glacier-dammed Iceberg Lake in the southern Alaska icefields. Radiogenic evidence confirms that laminations are annual and record continuous sediment deposition from A.D. 442 to A.D. 1998. Varve thickness is positively correlated with Northern Hemisphere temperature trends, and more strongly with a local, ∼600 yr long tree ring width chronology. Varve thickness increases in warm summers because of higher melt, runoff, and sediment transport (as expected), but also because shrinkage of the glacier dam allows shoreline regression that concentrates sediment in the smaller lake. Varve thickness provides a sensitive record of relative changes in warm season temperatures. Relative to the entire record, temperatures implied by this chronology were lowest around A.D. 600, warm between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1300, cooler between A.D. 1500 and A.D. 1850, and have increased dramatically since then. Combined with stratigraphic evidence that contemporary jökulhlaups (which began in 1999) are unprecedented since at least A.D. 442, this record suggests that 20th century warming is more intense, and accompanied by more extensive glacier retreat, than the Medieval Warm Period or any other time in the last 1500 yr.     

Late Weichselian pollen stratigraphy, clay varve chronology and palaeomagnetic secular variations in Lake Bolmen, Småland, south Sweden

Pollen analysis, glacial varve chronology and palaeomagnetic measurements were carried out on Late Weichselian lake sediments from southwestern Smaland, south Sweden. The sequence is correlated to the GRIP event stratigraphy, expressed in calendar years BP, and covers the period from the deglaciation at c. 14 400 to 11 300 calendar years BP. The series encompasses c. 930 varves and has been connected to the local varve chronology. Varve thickness increases markedly after the Older Dryas stadial, which indicates an accelerated deglaciation and melting of dead ice. The pollen diagram displays the vegetation development from the deglaciation at c. 14 400 calendar years BP to the transition to the Holocene. The vegetation succession starts with an arctic pioneer vegetation at the deglaciation, changes to a more stable tundra environment and displays a development which concurs with the traditional lateglacial pollen stratigraphy for southern Sweden. A palaeo-magnetic secular variation curve is presented displaying two westerly declination swings at 14200-13800 and 12 800-11 600 calendar years BP, respectively. The upper one can be recognized from other palaeomagnetic stratigraphies from southern Sweden and Estonia.     

Occurrence of varved lake sediment sequences in Varmland, west central Sweden: lake characteristics, varve chronology and AMS radiocarbon dating

Varved lake sediments can be used to set multiple environmental proxies within a calendar year time scale. We undertook a systematic survey of lakes in the Province of Värmland, west central Sweden, with the aim of finding continuous varved lake sediment sequences covering the majority of the Holocene. In Fennoscandia, such sediments have previously only been recorded in northern Sweden and in southern and central Finland. By following a selective process and fieldwork we discovered three new varved sites (i.e. Furskogstjärnet, Mötterudstjärnet and Kälksjön). We found that lakes with varved sediments have several common lake morphometry properties and lake catchment characteristics such as maximum water depth, maximum water depth/lake surface area ratio, catchment soil types, altitude and number of inflows. Varve chronologies, supported by AMS-¹⁴C dating and tephrochronology were established for two of the sediment profiles. These varve chronologies are the longest geological records with an annual resolution known to exist in Sweden. In Furskogstjärnet, the AMS- ¹⁴C dates based on terrestrial plant macrofossils at several levels deviate significantly from the varve based time-depth curve. In Motterudstjarnet, a fully reasonable time-depth model based on the ¹⁴C dates gives older ages in the lower part of the sequence compared to the varve chronology. These results highlight that seemingly acceptable AMS radiocarbon dates may be erroneous. They also point to the fact that varved lake sediments are reliable geological archives with respect to chronological control and accuracy. Thus, these archives should be of prime interest for studies of climate and environmental change undertaken with the aim of providing sub-decadal resolution proxy data sets.     

New varve measurements in Västergätland, Sweden

Several new varve measurements have been made at Skövde and Tibro in the middle Swedish end moraine belt to the east of Mount Billingen, Västergötland. Some varve sequences are very long, containing 400–700 varves, but correlations are still difficult to make. This is probably due to stagnation and advances of the inland ice margin, indicated by disturbed varves and by sand or till on the clay. SE of Skövde a series of more than 560 varves is covered by a glaciofluvial delta. This delta must have been formed not far from the ice margin. After a slow ice recession at Tibro - 17 km in 400–600 years - advances are indicated by the stratigraphy in the northern parts of the area.     

A 2000-year record of solar forcing on varved lake sediment in eastern Finland

A high-resolution study was performed on varved sediments from Lake Lehmilampi in eastern Finland. Varve data was collected by digital image analysis using standard 1.8 mm thick samples impregnated in epoxy and X-rayed. Climatic variability is imprinted on varve properties (varve thickness and accumulation of mineral and organic matter) during the last 2000 years. The cumulative counting error of the varve record is estimated as 2.3%. Qualitative comparison of varve parameters and residual Δ¹⁴C constructed from tree-rings revealed close correspondence between the two records, suggesting solar forcing on lake sedimentation. Classical climatic periods of the last millennia, Medieval Climate Anomaly (1060–1280 in the varve record) and Little Ice Age (cooler phases culminating in 1340, 1465, 1545, 1680, 1850 and also in 1930 in the varve record) are clearly evident in the varve record. At present the physical link between solar activity levels and lake sedimentation has not been established.     

The origin of the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy: a review of 19th Century research

This paper summarises the 19th Century research conducted in the Lochaber area and which sought to answer the enigma of the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. This should be seen as an introduction to the main theories that were developed by a number of scientists, including Darwin, Agassiz and Jamieson. They considered the landforms to be a product of either lacustrine, marine or glaciolacustrine processes, the latter of which proposed by Jamieson, became the accepted explanation by the end of the century.     

Century-scale variability in late-summer rainfall events recorded over seven centuries in subannually laminated lacustrine sediments, White Pass, British Columbia

Formation of annually laminated sediments in Summit Lake, White Pass, British Columbia is controlled by runoff generated by snowpack and glacier melt and major rainfall events. The 700-yr varve record is divided into two subannual series (early and late) based on sedimentological criteria and sedimentary structures within each varve. A comparison of recent subannual laminae with nearby meteorological records supports the interpretation they are formed by river discharge events generated by major snow and glacier melt events and large late-summer rainfall events. A significant correlation exists between the late subannual thickness series and the size of the largest rainfall events in late summer. The long record indicates there was an abrupt increase in the thickness and frequency of major rainfall-induced sedimentary events at the end of the seventeenth century. In addition, the frequency of laminae generated by early runoff events also increased. However, early subannual varve thickness component remains statistically the same as the thickness prior to the end of the seventeenth century. This suggests the change in varve thickness at this time is due to increases in major late-summer rainfall frequency rather than increased sediment availability caused by regional Little Ice Age glacier advances.     

Glaciomarine varves and the character of deglaciation, Säveån valley, southwestern Sweden

Glaciomarine varves, in contrast to glaciolacustrine varves, are primarily dependent upon sedimentation from meltwater overflow. They are usually developed in proximal positions and are a more reliable reflection of deglaciation character within a specific area than 'classical' glaciolacustrine varves, which are generally more distal and greater influenced by bottom topography. The close relationship with ice-front processes in the glaciomarine environment is discussed and utilized to suggest correlations between the varve stratigraphy, ice-front positions and climate shifts during the deglaciation of the Savean valley, where two varve localities have been documented. A varve sequence outside this valley shows similar general trends in varve-thickness variation, and comparison between localities may help in extending the lines connecting positions of concurrent ice-marginal deposition. The study of glaciomarine varves provides a more continuous record of changes in the ice-front character than can be obtained from intermittent moraine positions.     

Mechanism of Varve Formation and Paleoenvironmental Research at Lake Bolterskardet, Svalbard, the Arctic

On the basis of observation of thin sections and 137Cs data, laminations in sediment are interpreted to be varves in Bolterskardet Lake (78°06' N, 16°01' E), Svalbard, the Arctic. Varves appear under a petrologic microscope as couplets of dark-silt and light-clay layers. The mechanism of varve formation is surmized as follows: each silt layer is the production of sediment inflow interpreted as mainly derived from snowmelt during summer; each clay layer was deposited in a stillwater environment during an ice-cover period. A light -clay layer provides an important index bed to identify the annual interface. The high accumulation rates, long period of ice cover, and topographically closed basin are probably all critical factors in forming and preserving varves. Varve thickness is known to be controlled mainly by summer temperature. The variation of varve thickness in Lake Bolterskardet can then be used to reconstruct summer temperature. The varve series show that there has been distinct decade-scale variability of summer temperature over the past 150 years. Warm periods occurred in the 1860s, around 1900, the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s, and in the last 20 years. The varved sediments of Lake Bolterskarde preserve an ideal record for high-resolution paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental research in this data-sparse area.     

An 800-year long, radiocarbon-dated varve chronology from south-eastern Sweden

More than 50 varve-thickness diagrams, which were established from glacial varved clays in south-eastern Sweden were correlated with each other to form an 800-year long floating varve chronology. AMS |214|0C measurements on terrestrial macrofossils from the varved clays enabled synchronization of the record with other high-resolution archives. The synchronization indicates that the chronology spans between c. 13 150 and c. 12 350 calendar years BP and covers the later part of the Allerørd and the early part of the Younger Dryas. Calibrated radiocarbon dates, which were obtained on varved clays south of the floating chronology, indicate that the ice recession in south-eastern Sweden may have started during late Bølling. Our results indicate a longer time-span in varve years for the deglaciation than has been previously estimated     

Centennial-scale oscillations in oxygen and carbon isotopes of endogenic calcite from a 15,500 varve year record of the Piànico interglacial

The palaeolake record from Piànico (Southern Alps) comprises a sequence of 15,500 continuous calcite varves formed during peak interglacial conditions around 400 ka ago. The varved nature of these deposits allows precise sub-sampling of five varve year intervals for stable isotope analyses. All samples consist of calcite precipitated in the epilimnion of the lake, with contents of detrital carbonate below 4%. Four significant negative δ¹⁸O oscillations occurred during the upper half of the interglacial. The most prominent of these oscillations has an amplitude of −1.1‰ and lasted 780 varve years. The three other oscillations are shorter (125–195 varve years) and of lower amplitude (0.4–0.9‰). An additional major drop in δ¹⁸O occurs 315 varve years before the end of continuous calcite precipitation in the lake. This shift marks the end of long interglacial conditions and the beginning of harsher climate conditions and glacier advances in the Southern Alps. In contrast, the four δ¹⁸O oscillations within the period of continuous formation of calcite varves reflect natural intra–interglacial climate dynamics.     

The gravel fans of upper Glen Roy,Lochaber, Scotland: their importance for understanding glacial,proglacial and glaciolacustrine dynamics during the Younger Dryas cold period in an Atlantic margin setting

Over the past 200 years significant research effort has gone into explaining the origin of the obvious former shorelines in Glen Roy (the so-called “Parallel Roads”). The large gravel deposit at the mouth of Glen Turret has attracted similar interest, but a solution to its origin and age remains contested: the same applies to the associated gravel fans in upper Glen Roy. This paper presents the results of systematic mapping and instrumental levelling of these features and new evidence from two previously unrecorded gravel fans in the nearby Allt Chonnal valley. Interpretation of altitudinal and lithofacies data indicates that all the fans (including the one at the mouth of Glen Turret) were deposited in a series of ice-dammed lakes during the Loch Lomond Stadial (Younger Dryas). The largest gravel fans were deposited in the shallow lake heads of the 260 m, 325 m and 350 m lakes in upper Glen Roy, infilling these areas to the extent that deposition was in part subaerial. The absence of foreset bedding from the deposits is explained by the relatively shallow depth of lake waters, which inhibited development of classic Gilbert-type deltas and encouraged Hjulström-type fans. The previous assumption that gravel deposition into the 325 m and 350 m lakes was relatively limited is shown to be erroneous. The Allt Chonnal gravel fans, deposited into these lakes, have an estimated combined volume of 6,000,000 m³ deposited in about 200 years. Significant gravel deposition into these former lakes continued at least until glaciers started to retreat in Glen Roy. When glacier retreat began, gravel deposition was reduced by over 85%. This research also concludes that the glacier which deposited the Turret fan emanated from Glen Gloy, supplied not only by ice from the south but also from ice that spilled into Glen Gloy from the adjacent Great Glen. The Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS) ice cap mapped in the Monadhliath Mountains was connected to the west Highland ice cap, which at the time filled the Great Glen. Regional equilibrium line altitude (ELA) estimates, based solely on the Monadhliath LLS ice cap evidence, may therefore be altitudinally too high.     

Long varve series in Finland

Thinly varved 'postglacial' organic sediments are quite common in Finnish lakes, and attempts have been made to locate a site where they could be connected with the varved 'lateglacial' clays in order to he able to count the entire time since the ice retreat within one varved sequence. One promising site is Lake Valkiajärvi near Ruovesi in the Lake Region. The known sedimentary record covers nearly 9,500 years, which means that it starts very close to the time of the deglaciation of the Valkiajärvi area, around 9,600 B.P., or + 600 according to the original Finnish varve chronology (of Sauramo).