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The Loch Lomond Advance limits and raised marine shorelines in N. W. Argyll have been mapped and surveyed. Radiocarbon dated Lateglacial and Postglacial pollen sites at Salen and Loch Shiel provide the vegetational history and chronology for the area. 14 Loch Lomond Advance glacier termini and associated limits were mapped using the distribution of hummocky and fluted moraine, together with a survey of erratic boulders. 83% of the reconstructed former glaciers had a southerly aspect relating to southerly snow-bearing winds. The average firnline gradient was 7.5m/km increasing in altitude towards the north-east; the average firnline height for the area was 369m. The Main Lateglacial Shoreline, formed during the Loch Lomond Stadial, slopes towards 270 with a gradient of 0.15m/km from 9m in the east to Om in the west of the area. It was formed by freeze-thaw action operating under exceptional conditions, and its formation was influenced by rock type. Two Postglacial shorelines are recognized : the Main Postglacial shoreline that slopes towards 270, from 14m to 8m with a gradient of 0.06m/km, and a lower shoreline at approximately 5m which has no definite gradient. An absolute Lateglacial pollen site at Salen, Ardnamurchan, shows an early pioneer community of Rumex, Salix, Gramineae and Cyperaceae species being replaced by an Empetrum heath during the Lateglacial Interstadial. Subsequent stadial conditions are reflected by open herb communities and the onset of coarse minerogenic sedimentation. This minerogenic influx ceased around 10,000 to 9,700 B.P. with a rapid recolonization of the surrounding area by pioneer herbs, then dwarf shrub and finally deciduous woodland. Middle and Late Postglacial vegetational development is recorded by lacustrine sediments from Loch Shiel where the fossil pollen record shows that a mixed deciduous woodland of Quercus, Alnus, Betula and Corylus was progressively cleared by man. Palaeomagnetic and chemical records were obtained from the site. The Main Postglacial Transgression flooded Loch Shiel resulting in the deposition of shells of the marine bivlave Thyasira flexonosa.

Ascent of magma results in drastic drops of pressure and temperature during eruption. Exsolution or dissolution of water changes the physical and chemical properties of the magma and can promote or inhibit the formation of bubbles, crystals and cracks. The microstructural relations between bubbles, crystals and cracks are important records of processes immediately before and during volcanic eruptions and during deposition of volcanic products. This is an integrated study of analyses, conceptual and numerical models of textural relations, and water distribution patterns of natural and experimentally altered samples. Synchrotron Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and focal plane array detectors open new possibilities for the analysis of the spatial distribution of volatiles in volcanic rocks. New ways of sample preparation, measurements and data analyses helped to create water distribution maps with spatial resolutions that are close to the diffraction limit (~3 μm). In order to constrain eruptive processes and mechanisms of lava emplacement, I describe textural features in volcanic glasses including bubbles, flow bands of crystals or bubbles, spherulites and different generations of cracks. In experiments, bubbles were grown under isobaric conditions, at one or two cooling steps, their textures were described and volume changes tracked. Water distribution patterns in the glass around the textures were described and categorized, and where possible, diffusion modeling was used to infer temperature- and timescales of formation. Rocks that are quenched within short periods of time after bubble growth preserve negative gradients of water toward the bubble margins. These gradients are generally not observed if the sample is kept at high temperatures for extended periods. If, however, a second step of cooling is added, water may be re-dissolved into the surrounding melt, which may lead to the complete resorption of bubbles. A conceptual of water redistribution during bubble resorption or collapse is used to interpret water heterogeneities across linear flow banding. These heterogeneities can be caused by shearing of bubbly magma, leading to collapse, degassing and resorption of water into the melt, creating a bubble free melt. Anhydrous spherulitic crystals grow both above and below the glass transition temperature (Tg) redistributiong water into the surrounding melt. Below Tg, cracks form and are successively hydrated by magmatic water from crystal growth or by meteoric water at temperatures far below Tg. The hydrated perlitic cracks in the samples of this study formed at elevated temperatures and are distinct from cracks formed at ambient temperatures without hydrated margins. This study shows that the heterogeneous distribution of water in volcanic rocks preserves the complex and non-linear degassing and cooling history of eruptive products. The timescales and temperatures discovered here provide new ways to interpret textural observations, water distribution patterns and signals of shallow volcanic unrest.

Orogenic gold deposits occur within metamorphic belts throughout the world and have through time represented the source for over 25% of the world’s gold production. Although orogenic gold deposits are of great economic importance, controversies exist on the subject of fluid and metal sources and there have been few studies of gold´s distribution and mobility outside of large economic deposits. Research made by Pitcairn et al. (2006), on the Mesozoic Otago and Alpine schists of New Zealand, observed systematic depletion of Au and a suite of 6 associated elements with increasing metamorphic grade. This depletion was identical to the suite of elements enriched in the Otago gold deposits and provided strong evidence that orogenic gold deposits form due to metamorphic processes. The mobilization of metals was attributed to the recrystallization of sulfide minerals during prograde metamorphism causing dehydration and release of metal-rich metamorphic fluids.  This thesis is part of a larger project aimed at testing the “Otago model” in a classic metamorphic terrain: The Dalradian metamorphic belt of Scotland. Rocks in the study are from the southern higlands group and the Appin and Argyll group which range in metamorphic grade from chlorite zone greenschist facies to sillimanite zone amphibolite facies. Three main aspects, which supplement earlier research, are addressed in this study: 1) Investigation of the sulfide paragenesis at Loch Lomond and Stonehaven was carried out to map the evolution of sulfides with metamorphic grade and the possible relations to the distribution of gold. Using SEM scanning to quantify the abundance of different sulfide minerals together with previous data on the Glen Esk region, a complex sulfide evolution pattern for the Dalradian Supergroup is identified. The sulfide evolution describes the same changes in texture and chemistry as observed in the Otago Schists but is made complex by the difference in geological evolution for the different regions. 2) Reinvestigation of the higher grade zones of Glen Esk (staurolite to sillimanite) was carried out as samples from the previous study were very weathered. Results from ultralow detection limit methods (HG-AFS and a gold detection method developed by Pitcairn et al. 2006) showed significant systematic depletion of Au and As with metamorphic grade. From chlorite to sillimanite zone average values of Au and As were showed to decrease by 65% and 88% respectively. Furthermore, a suite of 10 major and 12 trace elements were analyzed using ICP methods showing no trends of systematic depletion with increased metamorphic grade.  3) Investigation of Pb-Ag Veining and vein samples from each of the metamorphic index mineral zones in the Glen Esk area was carried out to identify fluid composition and ore mineralogy. Using microthermometry and Raman laser spectroscopy two distinct fluids were identified. The first type is a H2O-CO2-N2-salt fluid of low salinity (0-15 weight percent NaCl equivalent) and medium temperature (150 to 250 °C) locally containing minor amounts of CH4. It is found in the veins from the mineral index zones of Glen Esk and was formed in the ductile regime most likely related to late stage metamorphic devolatilization released during Caledonian uplift of the Dalradian. Pb-Ag veins from the locality of Hardhill host the second fluid type which was formed in the brittle regime  accompanied by brecciation as a high salinity (15 to 20 weight percent NaCl equivalent) low temperature (70-140°C) H2O-salt fluid with calcic composition was precipitated. This fluid bears much resemblance to Carboniferous calcic brines responsible for economic base-metal precipitation with widespread occurrence in southwest Scotland and Northern Ireland. Results of this thesis show many similarities with the Otago study, with a connection between metal mobility and metamorphic grade, providing support for the dehydration model as a viable mechanism for the generation of orogenic gold deposits.

This study investigated bird distributions in relation to local habitat and landscape pattern and the implications which habitat fragmentation may have for woodland birds. There were two sections to the research: an experimental study investigating bird gap crossing behaviour across distances of five to 120m; and an observational study modelling woodland bird distributions in relation to local habitat and landscape scale variables in two study areas (East Loch Lomond and the Central Scotland Forest). In the experimental study it was hypothesised that bird willingness to cross gaps will decrease with increasing gap distance even at home-range scales and that the rate of decline will vary interspecifically in relation to bird morphology. Song thrush mobbing calls played at woodland edges in the West of Scotland were used to attract birds across gaps and results were compared with the response along woodland edges. Data were obtained for four species: chaffinch, coal tit, robin and goldcrest. The decline in response with distance across gaps and along woodland edge was modelled for each species using generalized linear modelling. Maximum gap crossing distances ranged from 46m (goldcrest) to 150m (extrapolated value for the chaffinch). Goldcrests responded more readily through woodlands. There was no difference between woodland edge and gap response for the coal tit. Robins and chaffinches however responded more readily across gaps than through woodland. When different response indices were plotted against bird mass and wing area, results suggested that larger birds with bigger wings responded more readily across gaps than through woodland. It is suggested that this relates to differences in bird manoeuvrability within woodlands and ability to evade a predator in gaps. Fragmentation indices were calculated for an area of the Central Scotland Forest to show how willingness to cross different gap distances influences perception of how fragmented the woodlands are in a region. Results are discussed in the context of the creation of Forest Habitat Networks. The data for the observational section of the work was from bird point counts for 200 sample points at East Loch Lomond in 1998 and 2000 and 267 sample points in the Central Scotland Forest in 1999. In addition a time series of point count data was available for 30 sample points at East Loch Lomond. Additional data was gathered for ten sample points (1998) and two sample points (2000) at East Loch Lomond to investigate effects of observer, time and weather on count data. Generalized linear and generalized additive modelling was carried out on these additional data. Results indicated that biases due to the variation in time and weather conditions between counts existed in the pure count data but that these were eliminated by reducing data to presence and absence form for analysis. Species accumulation curves indicated that two counts per sample point were insufficient to determine species richness. However a sufficiently large proportion of the species was being detected consistently in two counts of ten minutes duration for it to be valid to model them in relation to habitat and landscape variables. Point count data for East Loch Lomond in 1998 (ELL98) and the Central Scotland Forest in 1999 (CSF99) for the wren, treecreeper, garden warbler, robin, blue tit, blackbird, willow warbler, coal tit, goldcrest, great tit, and song thrush were analysed using generalized additive modelling. In addition models were built for the blackcap (CSF99) and the siskin, redstart and wood warbler (ELL98). Where all relationships were identified as linear, models were rebuilt as GLMs. Models were evaluated using the Area Under the Curve (AUC) of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) plots. AUC values ranged from 0.84-0.99 for ELL98 and from 0.76-0.93 for CSF99 indicating high predictive accuracy. Habitat variables accounted for the largest proportion of explained variation in all models and could be interpreted in terms of bird nesting and feeding behaviour. However additional variation was explained by landscape scale and fragmentation related (especially edge) variables. ELL98 models were used to predict bird distributions for Loch Lomond in 2000 (ELL00) and for the CSF99. Likewise the CSF99 models were used to predict distributions for ELL98 and ELL00. Predicted distributions had useful application in many cases within the ELL site between years. Fewer cases of useful application arose for predicting distributions between sites. Results are discussed in the context of the generality of bird environment relationships and reasons for low predictive accuracy when models are applied between sites and years. Models which had useful application for ELL00 were used to predict bird distributions for 2025 and 2050 at East Loch Lomond. Habitat and landscape changes were projected based on the proposed management for the site. Since woodland regeneration rates are difficult to predict, two scenarios were modelled, one assuming a modest amount of regeneration and one assuming no regeneration. Predictions derived from the ELL98 models showed broad-leaved species increasing in distribution while coniferous species declined. This was in keeping with the expected changes in the relative extent of broad-leaved and coniferous habitat. However, predictions from the CSF99 models were often less readily explicable. The value of the modelling approach is discussed and suggestions are made for further study to improve confidence in the predictions.