Icelandic volcanic ash and the mid- Holocene Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) pollen decline in northern Scotland

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Blackford, Jeffrey J., Edwards, Kevin J., Dugmore, Andrew J., Cook, Gordon T., Buckland, Paul C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1992
• Subjects: Paleontology; Earth-Surface Processes; Ecology; Archeology; Global and Planetary Change; Hekla
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369200200308; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369200200308

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.