Palynological and stratigraphic investigations have been conducted on sediment cores for three sites in Lothian Region, Scotland: Balgone House, Broxmouth and Corstorphine. All phases of the Lateglacial period, as far as they are manifested in the Lothians at the sites studied, have been investigated with particular reference to the Younger Dryas, the main Interstadial, or Allerod, and also the evidence for the colder conditions that preceded it which are presumed to represent Older Dryas-type vegetation. Further light has been cast on the development of the Postglacial broad - leaved forests. The Cambridge computer program POLLDATA MKV was used to perform the necessary calculations and controlled a graph plotter to generate pollen diagrams. A series of subroutines is described that translated the calls to the Cambridge graphics subroutine library. This may serve as a model for other installations. Objective numerical zonation methods are applied to the pollen data. These methods are used not only to zone the pollen series but also to aid in the generation of hypotheses regarding vegetation changes. Chemical analyses of the sediments from Balgone House were undertaken. The results obtained are at variance with those from published work and it is proposed that the reason is that the chemical pre-treatment of samples employed locally may be less efficient in leaching the cations from the mineral fraction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:304748 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Alexander, Alan John |
| Contributors | Newey, W. W. : Sissons, J. B. |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/10626 |
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