South Uist Research Articles

Lateglacial pollen sites in the Western Isles of Scotland

Abstract Only one polleniferous site containing Late Devensian Lateglacial deposits has been reported from the Western Isles — that of Loch Lang, South Uist, which contains putative Loch Lomond Stadial age sediments. Evidence is presented here for seven proposed Lateglacial sites from the Western Isles; four from Lewis and three from South Uist. A pollen profile is illustrated from each island and is shown to extend into probable Billing times. The litho‐ and biostratigraphically derived climatic oscillations of B⊘lling‐Older Dry as‐A ller⊘d‐ Younger Dryas‐Holocene seem to be apparent at one site, which also displays particularly strong representation of Empetrum pollen. Although the data constitute the first published evidence for full Lateglacial sequences from the Western Isles, there seems little doubt that the previous total lack of such sites is not indicative of their paucity.

Cille Donnain: a late Norse church in South Uist

On a promontory on the western edge of Loch Kildonan, South Uist, in the Western Isles, are the ruins of a church known as Cille Donnain. The paper argues that this church and some buildings on the nearby Eilean Mor (reached by causeways) constituted an important 12th-century religious and political centre, comparable to Finlaggan in Islay; it is suggested that the site may have been the seat of a bishop. The church lies within an earlier dun-like site, which is also described, with suggestions about earlier loch levels here.

Age of the Corodale Gneisses, South Uist

Synopsis Whole-rock Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb ages of 2770 ± 140 Ma and 2900 ± 100 Ma respectively are presented from a suite of samples from the Corodale Gneiss unit of eastern South Uist, Outer Hebrides. The initial ε Nd value of c. + 2.4 and model μ 1 value of 7.9 are typical of late-Archaean mantle source regions in the Lewisian and are similar to values obtained from other Lewisian mafic-ultramafic complexes. These data confirm that the igneous protoliths to the Corodale Gneisses belong to the earliest crust-forming episode in the Lewisian, and are not correlated with younger mafic intrusive rocks in South Harris. Although the Corodale Gneiss unit has undergone extensive tectonic disruption during formation of the Outer Isles Thrust, there has been little post-Archaean disturbance of large-ion lithophile elements: U and Th have remained immobile in most samples, and there has been limited redistribution of Rb within the Corodale Gneiss unit itself.

A D-region electron density model based on rocket borne wave propagation data

The temporal and spatial coverage by rocket borne radio wave propagation experiments is rather poor, these data, however, are considered the most reliable in the lower ionosphere. Published electron density profiles from Andoya, Kiruna, South Uist, Red Lake, Wallops Island, Thumba and Punta Chilca were fitted to simple functions of solar zenith angle at different latitudes. Where applicable comparisons are made to the corresponding results from IRI.

North atlantic aerosol remote concentrations measured at a hebridean coastal site

Abstract During a study of marine aerosol characteristics at a coastal site on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, early in August 1986, an extended period with untypically low wind speeds (below 7 ms−1) was experienced. Over this period, lasting several days, very low particle concentrations were measured for all observed particle radii from 0.09 to 23.5 μm, and atmospheric visibilities of up to 80 km were noted. Particles larger than about 0.2 μm in radius showed a decline in concentration throughout this episode, suggesting that these data could yield information on particle loss rates, as well as providing a true very low wind speed background aerosol distribution for this region of the North Atlantic. Analysis of these data indicates that the decay of aerosol concentration, for all particle radii greater than 0.25 μm, may be approximated by an exponential function, and is consistent with a simple model of turbulent dry deposition of the aerosol to the ocean surface.

Holocene vegetational and environmental history at Loch Lang, South Uist, Western Isles, Scotland

SUMMARYA Holocene record of pollen, charcoal, magnetic susceptibility and sediment chemistry from South Uist, Western Isles, is described and discussed. The vegetation of eastern South Uist included areas of woodland over as much as half of the available landscape during the early postglacial. This woodland was dominated by Betula and Corylus, but Quercus, Ulmus, Alum glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior were also present. The status of Pinus sylvestris is uncertain. Quercus, Ulmus and A. glutinosa are now extinct as native trees in the Western Isles. During the later half of the Holocene (from about 4000 BP), woodland declined, possibly as a result of the use of hill land as grazing. Blanket peat vegetation, which had begun to spread from about 5500 BP, became the dominant feature of the landscape as the woodland areas decreased. The physical and chemical data from Loch Lang sediments suggest that little erosion of soils took place until about 550 years ago, when there was a marked increase, possibly attributable to increasing grazing pressure.

An unusual Iron Age burial at Hornish Point, South Uist

Ritual, or apparently ritual, burials of Iron Age date are not uncommon in Britain. However, most of those for which records survive were recovered in less than ideal circumstances or from sites which are not securely dated. This example was recovered in recent excavations of a well-dated site, and from an area of Britain for which evidence of Iron Age burial practices is unusually scanty.

A stand of birch by Loch Eynort, South Uist, Outer Hebrides

Summary A stand of birch on South Uist is described. It differs from other stands of wood in the Outer Hebrides by its greater extent, the dominance of birch rather than aspen, and its survival on an exposed site despite grazing pressures.

The status and distribution of Greylag GeeseAnser anserin the Uists, Scotland

A systematic census of the Uist Greylag Goose population was conducted in February and August 1986 to establish the current population size and distribution. The February total count was 1171, with an estimated 1630 geese in the post-breeding population. An estimated 156 pairs bred successfully in 1986. The post-breeding population represented an 11% increase on the estimated 1985 population, after allowing for winter mortality. The population was lower than estimates of 1676–2000 made in 1982 but had doubled since the 1960s. The distribution of the geese is centred on North Uist, not South Uist as is widely reported in recent literature.

Relationships between bathymetry, water quality and diatoms in some Hebridean lochs

SUMMARY 1. Computer methods for mapping and calculating morphometric characteristics are described and applied to seventeen previously unsurveyed South Uist lochs.2. Deposited sea salt is shown to have a major effect on water quality and the effect varies according to distance from the west coast. Calcium concentrations appear to be determined by dissolution of locally abundant shell debris. Sulphate and particularly nitrate concentrations are influenced significantly by catchment sources.3. Surface sediment diatom assemblages from all seventeen sites are analysed using multi‐variate methods (Hill, 1979). Assemblages are shown to be clearly distributed along DECORANA axis 1 and are clustered into five groups by TWINSPAN.4. Correlation analysis of water quality, morphometric characteristics, and DECORANA axes scores indicates that conductivity has the strongest influence on surface sediment diatom assemblage composition whereas morphometric characteristics have no demonstrable effect.

The Askervein Hill project: Overview and background data

The Askervein Hill project was a collaborative study of boundary-layer flow over low hills carried out under the auspices of the International Energy Agency Programme of R & D on Wind Energy Conversion Systems. Two field experiments were conducted during September-October 1982 and 1983 on and around Askervein, a 116 m high hill on the west coast of the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. During the experiments, over 50 towers were deployed and instrumented for wind measurements. The majority were simple 10 m posts bearing cup anemometers but, in the 1983 study, two 50 m towers, a 30 m tower, a 16 m tower, and thirteen 10 m towers were instrumented for 3-component turbulence measurement. The present paper provides an overview of the project as a whole, including details of the instrumentation and a summary of the data obtained. Additional papers in the series, which are to appear in this journal Subject to acceptable peer review. , will consider different aspects of the experimental data and related numerical-model and wind-tunnel studies.

The production and dispersal of marine aerosol

This paper describes an extensive series of aerosol experiments conducted from a coastal site on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Measurements at this site are shown to be reasonably representative of open ocean conditions. Aerosol size distributions (0.08 < radius, r, < 23.5 m̈m) and basic meteorological parameters were measured under both continental and maritime conditions. In all cases wind speed was found to have a dominant effect on aerosol characteristics; the volumetric loading, V(m̈m3 cm−3), increased rapidly with wind speed U(ms−1) according to ln(V) = bU + A, where, for the larger aerosol b ≈ 0.2 sm−1 and A ≈ 4. the size distributions could be principally divided into two ranges at r ≈ 0.5 m̈m, the lower corresponding to long-range aerosol and the higher to particles produced locally, by bubble bursting at the sea surface. Results of the S. Uist experiments are compared with each other and with those of other workers. Other findings include a general but not exclusive insensitivity of aerosol characteristics to the range of relative humidity experienced at S. Uist; a decrease of aerosol concentrations, n, with altitude; and an inverse relationship between n and mixing height.

The production and dispersal of marine aerosol

AbstractThis paper describes an extensive series of aerosol experiments conducted from a coastal site on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Measurements at this site are shown to be reasonably representative of open ocean conditions. Aerosol size distributions (0.08 &lt; radius, r, &lt; 23.5 m̈m) and basic meteorological parameters were measured under both continental and maritime conditions. In all cases wind speed was found to have a dominant effect on aerosol characteristics; the volumetric loading, V(m̈m3 cm−3), increased rapidly with wind speed U(ms−1) according to ln(V) = bU + A, where, for the larger aerosol b ≈ 0.2 sm−1 and A ≈ 4. the size distributions could be principally divided into two ranges at r ≈ 0.5 m̈m, the lower corresponding to long‐range aerosol and the higher to particles produced locally, by bubble bursting at the sea surface. Results of the S. Uist experiments are compared with each other and with those of other workers.Other findings include a general but not exclusive insensitivity of aerosol characteristics to the range of relative humidity experienced at S. Uist; a decrease of aerosol concentrations, n, with altitude; and an inverse relationship between n and mixing height.

Hebridean Folksongs. Vol. 3: Waulking Songs from Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, South Uist, and Benbecula

Hebridean Folksongs. Vol. 3: Waulking Songs from Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, South Uist, and Benbecula

THE RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS IN THE MID-EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, particularly through the earlier efforts of Irish missionary priests like the Vincentian Fathers, Dermot Dugan and Francis White, some districts in the Western Highlands and Islands owed their religious allegiance to Catholicism, a point which the kirk itself confirmed when, in 1704, it commissioned a 'List of Popish Parents and their Children in various parts of Scotland'.1 This report identified the Catholic districts as being three parishes in Ardnamurchan in the presbytery of Lome, the Braes of Lochaber, the parish of Kilmonivaig, Knoydart and Morar, Moidart, Arisaig, the islands of South Uist, Barra, Canna, Rum, Muck, Eigg, Coll and Tiree, and the North-East, and it seems reasonable to assert that the vast majority of these areas, with a few exceptions, maintained that allegiance throughout the half-century immediately following the 'Revolution' of 1689-90, partly as a result of the efforts of the clergy of the Scottish Catholic Mission, which had been formally established in 1653.

Hebridean Folksongs III. Waulking Songs from Vatersay, Barra, South Uist, Eriskay, and Benbecula

Hebridean Folksongs III. Waulking Songs from Vatersay, Barra, South Uist, Eriskay, and Benbecula

Timothy Pont and the first topographic survey of Scotland c.1583‐1596: an informative contemporary manuscript

Abstract A little known Pont manuscript provides evidence of Pont preparing for the publication of his maps. It also provides the only known key to his cartographic symbols, suggests a connection with Camden and adds to the list of extant manuscript maps by Pont with coverage of South Uist and Linlithgow.

Additions to the fungus flora of the Hebrides

Summary Records of fungi occurring in the Hebrides are extended, particularly for Jura and Islay where, respectively, 40 and 47 taxa are recorded for the first time. Twenty taxa are added to the list for Rhum and 89 to that for Colonsay. Additional fungi are also reported for Hirta (St. Kilda) , Bernary, Mingulay, Barra and South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, and Eigg and Canna in the Inner Hebrides.

Wave energy losses in intermediate depths

Recent work on wave power devices has encouraged interest in the processes whereby waves lose energy and change direction in shoaling water, and especially in detailed calculations of their effects. 1,2 Here one of the most comprehensive sets of measurements available is examined, for four sites in depths of 15 to 100 m off South Uist in the Hebrides. The mean directional spectrum is recalculated for each site, and a proper allowance found for refraction which raises the estimates of net energy flux in intermediate depths by up to 10%. Indeed, the pattern of losses between 100 m and 23 m depths fits well with that expected from bottom friction. The estimated friction coefficient is quite high, as might be expected in view of the very rough sea bottom in the area. 3

Distribution of DunlinCalidris alphanests on an area of South Uist machair

A close search for Dunlin nests and broods found a tendency towards clumping, resulting in a density higher than suspected previously. Hence earlier estimates of the machair population size may have been too low