The Late Devensian Glaciation of North-East Scotland

Abstract

This chapter is a review of current interpretations of Late Devensian glacial phenomena in north-east Scotland. Features of glacial erosion and deposition, of meltwater erosion and deposition, and of periglacial activity are briefly described before an assessment is made of the probable chronology. It is concluded that many erosional landforms were at least partly created by the Late Devensian ice sheet which appears also to have deposited all of the exposed tills and to have been temperate (wet)-based in places. The distribution and pattern of glacial landforms and deposits, particularly those of meltwater origin, suggest that the entire area of north-east Scotland was covered by the Late Devensian ice sheet. The latter was composed of three distinct ice streams with a triple junction zone located over central Buchan. Deglaciation led to the formation of glacial lakes and associated sediments in parts of Buchan and it is suggested that as the margins of the three ice masses withdrew the area was exposed to severe periglacial conditions for some time before the Lateglacial Interstadial. A return to periglacial conditions over north–east Scotland during the Loch Lomond Readvance was accompanied by the formation of corrie glaciers and possibly small plateau ice caps in the Cairngorm and Grampian mountains.