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Past sea levels provide important constraints on global ice volumes, rates of tectonic motion, ice-sheet sea-level feedbacks, and the migration of species through time. Beneath formerly glaciated regions, the marine limit, the maximum extent of sea-levels after glacial retreat, provides some of the oldest post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) sea-level constraints. However, although the elevations of marine limits are plentiful, they often remain undated. In this study, we provide new age and elevation constraints on the late Pleistocene relative sea-level (RSL) history at 12 sites along the eastern flanks of the former Minch Ice Stream (MnIS) of northwest Scotland. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) was used to date the highest and presumably oldest preserved RSL indicators immediately after ice-sheet retreat. Although slightly older than earlier estimates, our ages confirm the early deglacial age of ~16.2–19.5 ka for the raised shorelines of northwest Scotland with declining marine limits north of the Isle of Skye from 26.2 ± 4.8 m at Ardaneaskan to 12.8 ± 4.8 m elevation at Achiltibuie, the latter of which lies inside the moraines of the Wester Ross Readvance. Our new OSL ages suggest deglaciation of the MnIS may have been slightly earlier than previously thought, although our large error bars highlight the need for additional age constraints. Our new RSL data provide important constraints for Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) models for Scotland and shed light on the behavior of the former MnIS, thought to be susceptible to marine ice-sheet instability.
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This content will become publicly available on August 1, 2026
Was Scotland covered by an ice sheet during Marine Isotope Stage 4? Insights from the pre‐Last Glacial Maximum marine terraces of northwest Scotland
ABSTRACT Raised shorelines provide important constraints on past sea levels, glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), and rates and directions of vertical crustal motion. Although most raised shorelines across NW Scotland relate to post‐Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) glacial‐isostatic rebound, many undated shorelines lie above the marine limit established from isolation basins. Here, we present new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for a raised marine terrace at an elevation of 28 m in Slaggan Bay of NW Scotland. Four OSL ages suggest the feature is pre‐LGM, likely Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. Global mean sea levels (GMSL) during MIS 3 are thought to have been ~40–60 m below present across most of the globe. We use a pair of GIA models to determine what ice sheet and sea‐level scenarios might provide an explanation for these anomalously high sea levels during MIS 3. Our results suggest that in the absence of tectonic activity, such high MIS 3 shorelines across NW Scotland require a MIS 4 ice sheet in Scotland, with postglacial rebound of the crustal depression following its demise during MIS 3 responsible for the elevated shoreline features at that time.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2147750
- PAR ID:
- 10628788
- Publisher / Repository:
- John Wiley & Sons
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Quaternary Science
- Volume:
- 40
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0267-8179
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1097 to 1105
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Scotland Marine isotope stage 3 sea level glacial isostatic adjustment pre-Last Glacial Maximum ice sheet
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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