Stable oxygen isotope and pollen records from eastern Scotland and a consideration of Late-glacial and early Holocene climate change for Europe

The presence of marl deposits belonging to the Lateglacial period in a former lake basin at Lundin Tower in Fife, Scotland has allowed palaeoenvironmental investigations by means of carbonate δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O, and organic matter δ¹³C, in addition to palynology. The variations that emerge reveal strong similarities between the pollen and isotope records and these are interpreted as reflecting climatic shifts. The classic Late-glacial pattern of Oldest Dryas–Bølling–Older Dryas–Allerød–Younger Dryas may be evident and other climatic oscillations are shown to have occurred not only during the Allerød but also in the Preboreal. The problem of the time discordance between isotopic change and pollen representation is addressed through explanations involving lags in plant colonization. A comparison of the δ¹⁸O records from 43 sites across Europe reveals two different regional patterns, which raises fundamental questions over the nature of Late-glacial palaeoclimates.