A Pliocene age and origin for the strandflat of the Western Isles of Scotland: a speculative hypothesis.

Alastair G. Dawson, Sue Dawson, J. Andrew G. Cooper, Alastair Gemmell, Richard Bates

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    18 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A series of very wide (up to 15 km) raised shore platforms in the Scottish Hebrides are identified and described for the first time and are considered part of a high rock platform shoreline in the western isles of Scotland described by W. B. Wright in his classic Geological Magazine paper a century ago as a ‘preglacial’ feature. Subsequent interpretations suggesting that the platforms were produced during the Pleistocene are rejected here in favour of a speculative hypothesis that the features are part of the well-known strandflat that is extensively developed across large areas of the northern hemisphere. It is argued that the Scottish strandflat developed during the Pliocene and was later subjected to extensive Pleistocene glacial erosion such that only a few areas of platform have survived in the Scottish Inner Hebrides (ice-proximal) while they are well-preserved in the Outer Hebrides (ice-distal). Support for a Pliocene hypothesis is provided by the marine oxygen isotope record for this time interval which points to prolonged periods of relative sea level stability as would be required for the production of such wide features. This hypothesis for the formation of a Scottish strandflat not only provides an elegant explanation for the origin and age of the raised rock platform fragments that occur throughout the western isles of Scotland, but it may also have relevance for other coastal areas of the northern hemisphere (e.g. Norway, Greenland, Alaska) where the strandflat is a well-developed feature.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)360-366
    Number of pages7
    JournalGeological Magazine
    Volume150
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Keywords

    • coastal rock paltform
    • sea level change
    • Glacio-isostasy
    • Pleistocene
    • Pliocene
    • eustasy
    • glaciations

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