Late Holocene erosion in upland Britain: climatic deterioration or human influence?

Abstract

The evidence for enhanced erosion in upland Britain during the Late Holocene is evaluated. Though there is widespread evidence for recent soil erosion on high plateaux, this has not been precisely dated. Radiocarbon dating confirms the occurrence of Late Holocene solifluction on high ground, but at only one site has evidence been found for recent accelerated activity. Several areas, however, have yielded evidence of Late Holocene debris cone accumulation, and parts of the Scottish Highlands experienced a drastic increase in debris flow activity over the past few centuries. Climatic deterioration and vegetation degradation resulting from overgrazing or burning are frequently cited as the causes of enhanced erosion, but cause and effect are often related only by coincidence of timing. In consequence, only circumstantial evidence links erosion with climatic deterioration, though anthropogenic influences have been more firmly established at a few sites. The role of extreme events in initiating phases of upland erosion is uncertain.