Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities
We present major new findings on the stability of Norse landing places on the island of Unst, Shetland using a combination of geomorphology, OSL dating, fetch analysis and sediment transport modelling. Islanders needed reliable access to the sea, and exploited sandy beaches as safe landing places. T...
Published in: | The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/ http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/7/180091.pdf |
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:180091 2023-05-15T17:33:38+02:00 Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities Preston, John Sanderson, David Kinnaird, Timothy Newton, Anthony Nitter, Marianne Coolen, Joris Mehler, Natascha Dugmore, Andrew 2020 text http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/ http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/7/180091.pdf en eng Taylor & Francis http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/7/180091.pdf Preston, J., Sanderson, D. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/3913.html> , Kinnaird, T. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/14196.html>, Newton, A., Nitter, M., Coolen, J., Mehler, N. and Dugmore, A. (2020) Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Journal_of_Island_and_Coastal_Archaeology.html>, 15(2), pp. 153-178. (doi:10.1080/15564894.2018.1555193 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2018.1555193>) Articles PeerReviewed 2020 ftuglasgow https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2018.1555193 2020-08-13T22:09:38Z We present major new findings on the stability of Norse landing places on the island of Unst, Shetland using a combination of geomorphology, OSL dating, fetch analysis and sediment transport modelling. Islanders needed reliable access to the sea, and exploited sandy beaches as safe landing places. The persistence of beaches was important for long-term continuity of settlement and could be threatened by stormy conditions. Sediment modelling undertaken on two embayments on Unst, Lunda Wick and Sandwick, reveals major differences in the ability of sandy beaches to reform in these embayments after the onset of persistent stormy conditions; sandy beaches can endure under these conditions at Sandwick, but not at Lunda Wick. OSL dating of blown sands at Lunda Wick reveals a history of sand blow events pointing to large scale depletion of beach material throughout the Little Ice Age (beginning circa 1250 CE). This correlates with known sand blows at Sandwick, but here the beach could be replenished from the nearshore environment, something that was more problematic at Lunda Wick. These findings agree with the emerging picture of increased environment pressure from blown sands on communities throughout the North Atlantic and identifies different models of related beach persistence and change. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications Lunda ENVELOPE(9.649,9.649,63.611,63.611) The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 15 2 153 178 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftuglasgow |
language |
English |
description |
We present major new findings on the stability of Norse landing places on the island of Unst, Shetland using a combination of geomorphology, OSL dating, fetch analysis and sediment transport modelling. Islanders needed reliable access to the sea, and exploited sandy beaches as safe landing places. The persistence of beaches was important for long-term continuity of settlement and could be threatened by stormy conditions. Sediment modelling undertaken on two embayments on Unst, Lunda Wick and Sandwick, reveals major differences in the ability of sandy beaches to reform in these embayments after the onset of persistent stormy conditions; sandy beaches can endure under these conditions at Sandwick, but not at Lunda Wick. OSL dating of blown sands at Lunda Wick reveals a history of sand blow events pointing to large scale depletion of beach material throughout the Little Ice Age (beginning circa 1250 CE). This correlates with known sand blows at Sandwick, but here the beach could be replenished from the nearshore environment, something that was more problematic at Lunda Wick. These findings agree with the emerging picture of increased environment pressure from blown sands on communities throughout the North Atlantic and identifies different models of related beach persistence and change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Preston, John Sanderson, David Kinnaird, Timothy Newton, Anthony Nitter, Marianne Coolen, Joris Mehler, Natascha Dugmore, Andrew |
spellingShingle |
Preston, John Sanderson, David Kinnaird, Timothy Newton, Anthony Nitter, Marianne Coolen, Joris Mehler, Natascha Dugmore, Andrew Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities |
author_facet |
Preston, John Sanderson, David Kinnaird, Timothy Newton, Anthony Nitter, Marianne Coolen, Joris Mehler, Natascha Dugmore, Andrew |
author_sort |
Preston, John |
title |
Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities |
title_short |
Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities |
title_full |
Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities |
title_fullStr |
Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities |
title_sort |
dynamic beach response to changing storminess of unst, shetland: implications for landing places exploited by norse communities |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/ http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/7/180091.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.649,9.649,63.611,63.611) |
geographic |
Lunda |
geographic_facet |
Lunda |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/180091/7/180091.pdf Preston, J., Sanderson, D. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/3913.html> , Kinnaird, T. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/14196.html>, Newton, A., Nitter, M., Coolen, J., Mehler, N. and Dugmore, A. (2020) Dynamic beach response to changing storminess of Unst, Shetland: implications for landing places exploited by Norse communities. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Journal_of_Island_and_Coastal_Archaeology.html>, 15(2), pp. 153-178. (doi:10.1080/15564894.2018.1555193 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2018.1555193>) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2018.1555193 |
container_title |
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
153 |
op_container_end_page |
178 |
_version_ |
1766132197318721536 |