Lateglacial Interstadial to mid-Holocene stratigraphy and palynology at Pepper Arden Bottoms, North Yorkshire, UK

Investigations at Pepper Arden Bottoms, a lake basin site on the interfluve between the rivers Tees and Swale in northeast England, have recovered lithostratigraphical, pollen and plant macrofossil sequences which have allowed the reconstruction of sedimentary and vegetation history from the Lateglacial Interstadial to the post-Ulmus Decline mid-Holocene. Although the calcareous nature of the sediment and lack of terrestrial plant macrofossils precluded radiocarbon dating of sediments pre-dating the Ulmus Decline, pollen analyses showed sediment accumulation from the middle of the Lateglacial Interstadial, with the lake catchment remaining poorly vegetated until the Holocene, with low values for woody taxa, and grasses and sedges dominant. The late Interstadial cold phase GI-1b is present in the pollen stratigraphy, with a major reduction in Betula frequencies, replaced by Juniperus, and an increase in cold-tolerant herbs, mainly grasses and sedges. Microcharcoal frequencies are consistently substantial throughout the Lateglacial levels, probably indicating a natural fire regime, but are absent from the Holocene, suggesting little Mesolithic or Neolithic activity nearby, which is confirmed by a lack of pollen indicators of disturbance. The Lateglacial (Loch Lomond) Stadial is entirely dominated by Cyperaceae and Poaceae pollen, with very few trees and shrubs. The successive migration of postglacial thermophilous trees is recorded in the Holocene and possible effects of the Preboreal Oscillation and the 8.2 ka BP cold events are recognised. An Ulmus Decline occurs near the top of the profile, after which the assemblage is dominated by Alnus as the lake became terrestrialised and was occupied by fen and then alder carr. The very open Lateglacial vegetation adds this site to a northern group in northeast England with poor Lateglacial woodland development, in contrast to sites to the south, in North Yorkshire, where Lateglacial Betula woodland was much better established.