FLANDRIAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MULL, SCOTLAND

Abstract

SUMMARYFlandrian percentage pollen diagrams are presented from three sites in western and northern Mull, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, and these data are augmented by pollen concentration evidence from one of the sites. In general terms, the pattern of vegetational development is broadly similar to that found in a previous study in the uplands of south‐central Mull. However, differences in detail are apparent in the vegetational history of the northern and western parts of the island, particularly in the representation of Empetrum, Juniperus and Betula pollen in the early Flandrian deposits, and in the frequencies of Alnus and Quercus in the mid‐ and late‐Flandrian pollen records. These pollen‐stratigraphic contrasts between the three sites, and between these profiles and those from the more sheltered south‐central parts of the island can be attributed partly to differences in pollen recruitment processes and partly to variations in degree of exposure to prevailing winds.