Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review Article
  • Published:

The Loch Lomond Stadial in the British Isles

Nature volume 280, pages 199–203 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

During the last very cold period in the British Isles, which occurred more than 10,000 radiocarbon years ago, glaciers developed in many mountain areas, permafrost was extensive, frost break-up of rocks was severe (its effects including a pronounced coastal platform and cliff), downslope movement of debris was greatly accelerated, many rivers spread coarse debris over low ground, the vegetation was transformed and the fauna was greatly affected.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sissons, J. B. & Walker, M. J. C. Nature 249, 822–824 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ruddiman, W. F., Sancetta, C. D. & McIntyre, A. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 280, 119–142 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Watts, W. A. Quat. Newslett. 27, 5 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Davies, G. L. H. & Stephens, N. The Geomorphology of the British Isles: Ireland (Methuen, London, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Seddon, B. J. Glaciol. 3, 94–99 (1957).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Unwin, J. D. Cambria 2, 20–33 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lewis, C. A. Brycheiniog 14, 97–120 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ellis-Gruffydd, I. D. Cambria 4, 46–55 (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Manley, G. Liverp. Manch. geol. J. 2, 188–215 (1959).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Sissons, J. B. Nature 278, 518–521 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ballantyne, C. K. & Wain-Hobson, T. Scott. J. Geol. (in the press).

  12. Gray, J. M. & Brooks, C. L. Scott. J. Geol. 8, 95–103 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Sissons, J. B. Scott. geogr. Mag. 88, 168–181 (1972).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Sissons, J. B. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 62, 95–114 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Sissons, J. B. Scott. J. Geol. 13, 23–36 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Sissons, J. B. in Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment (eds Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J.) 45–59 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Sissons, J. B. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 2, 224–242 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Sissons, J. B. Scott. J. Geol. (in the press).

  19. Sissons, J. B. Scott. geogr. Mag. (in the press).

  20. Sissons, J. B. & Grant, A. J. H. Scott. J. Geol. 8, 85–93 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Smith, D. E., Thompson, K. S. R. & Kemp, D. D. Boreas 7, 97–107 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. McCann, S. B. Scott. J. Geol. 2, 84–95 (1966).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Gray, J. M. Proc. Geol. Ass. 86, 227–238 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Jamieson, T. F. Quart, J. geol. Soc. 19, 235–259 (1863).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Sissons, J. B. Boreas 7, 229–244 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Sissons, J. B. J. geol. Soc. Lond. (in the press).

  27. Dawson, A. G. Scott. J. Geol. 13, 37–41 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Sissons, J. B. Scott. geogr. Mag. 92, 182–190 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Watson, E. Biul. Peryglac. 18, 95–113 (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Potts, A. S. Geogr. Ann. A 53, 39–51 (1971).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. Radiocarbon 1, 63–75 (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Harkness, D. D. & Wilson, H. W. Radiocarbon 16, 238–251 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Dickson, J. H., Jardine, W. G. & Price, R. J. Nature 262, 43–44 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. Bishop, W. W. & Coope, G. R. in Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment (eds Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J.) 61–88 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  35. Taylor, A. Trans. Edinb. geol. Soc. 5, 44–48 (1888).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Cadell, H. M. Trans. Edinb. geol. Soc. 6, 287–296 (1893).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Kerney, M. P. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 246, 203–254 (1963).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Kerney, M. P., Brown, E. H. & Chandler, T. J. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 248, 135–204 (1964).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Tooley, M. J. The Isle of Man, Lancashire Coast and Lake District, X INQUA Cong. Excursion Guide (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  40. Matthews, B. Nature 227, 1234–1236 (1970).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. Gaunt, G. D., Jarvis, R. A. & Matthews, B. Proc. Yorks. geol. Soc. 38, 281–284 (1971).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Shotton, F. W. & Williams, R. E. G. Radiocarbon 15, 451–468 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Evans, J. G. Proc. Geol. Ass. 77, 347–364 (1966).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Watson, E. Geol. J. 7, 381–392 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  45. Handa, S. & Moore, P. D. New Phytol. 77, 205–225 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Watson, E. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 280, 183–198 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Mitchell, G. F. Proc. R. Irish Acad. B 73, 269–282 (1973).

    Google Scholar 

  48. Sparks, B. W., Williams, R. B. G. & Bell, F. G. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 327, 329–343 (1972).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  49. Sissons, J. B. Scott. J. Geol. 10, 311–337 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Sissons, J. B. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 48, 19–50 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Rowlands, P. H. & Shotton, F. W. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 127, 599–622 (1971).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Rose, J., Turner, C., Coope, G. R. & Bryan, M. D. in Timescales in Geomorphology (eds Cullingford, R. A., Davidson, D. A. & Lewin, J.) (Wiley, New York, in the press).

  53. Birks, H. J. B. The Past and Present Vegetation of the Isle of Skye: a Palaeoecological Study (Cambridge University Press, 1973).

    Google Scholar 

  54. Suggate, R. P. & West, R. G. Proc. R. Soc. B 150, 263–283 (1959).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  55. Pennington, W., Haworth, E. Y., Bonny, A. P. & Lishman, J. P. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 264, 191–294 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Pennington, W. in Palaeolimnology of Lake Biwa and the Japanese Pleistocene (ed. Horie, S.) 536–569 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  57. Pennington, W. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 280, 247–271 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Haworth, E. Y. New Phytol. 77, 227–256 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Harmsworth, R. V. Ecol. Mon. 38, 223–241 (1968).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Coope, G. R., Morgan, A. & Osborne, P. J. Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 10, 87–101 (1971).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Osborne, P. J. Proc. Croydon nat. Hist. Sci. Soc. 14, 162–175 (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  62. Coope, G. R. in Ice Ages: Ancient and Modern (eds Wright, A. E. & Moseley, F.) 153–168 (Liverpool, 1975).

    Google Scholar 

  63. Coope, G. R. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 280, 313–340 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Osborne, P. J. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 263, 327–367 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Allison, J., Godwin, H. & Warren, S. H. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 236, 169–240 (1952).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Stuart, A. J. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 280, 295–312 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Binns, P. E., Harland, R. & Hughes, M. J. Nature 248, 751–754 (1974).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  68. Peacock, J. D. Bull. geol. Surv. Gt. Br. 48, 55–67 (1974).

    Google Scholar 

  69. Gray, J. M. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 61, 81–99 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Sissons, J. B. Boreas 3, 41–48 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Gray, J. M. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 3, 151–164 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Eden, R. A., Carter, A. V. F. & McKeown, M. C. Mar. Geol. 7, 235–251 (1969).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  73. Sissons, J. B. Scott. geogr. Mag. 92, 17–29 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  74. Rhind, D. W. Trans. nat. Hist. Soc. Northumb. 4, 159–164 (1972).

    Google Scholar 

  75. Godwin, H. & Willis, E. H. Radiocarbon 6, 116–137 (1964).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. Kidson, C. & Heyworth, A. Proc. Usher Soc. 2, 565–584 (1973).

    Google Scholar 

  77. Stillman, C. J. Sci. Proc. R. Dubl. Soc. A 3, 125–127 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  78. Clarke, R. H. Quart. J. geol. Soc. 125, 277–318 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Shotton, F. W., Williams, R. E. G. & Johnson, A. S. Radiocarbon 16, 285–303 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  80. Shephard-Thorn, E. R. & Wymer, J. J. South-East England and the Thames Valley, X INQUA Cong. Excursion Guide (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  81. Kidson, C. & Heyworth, A. Nature 273, 748–750 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  82. Brown, A. P. New Phytol. 78, 525–531 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  83. Evans, D. J. & Thompson, M. S. Proc. Geol. Ass. 90, 1–14 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  84. Dobson, M. R., Evans, W. E. & James, K. H. Mar. Geol. 11, 27–69 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  85. Cooper, L. H. N. Nature 161, 280 (1948).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  86. Kelland, N. C. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 131, 7–17 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  87. Sissons, J. B. & Sutherland, D. G. J. Glaciol 17, 325–346 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  88. Vernekar, A. D. Meteorol. Man. 12 (1971).

  89. Walker, M. J. C. Pollen Spores 17, 67–92 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  90. Walker, M. J. C. J. Biogeogr. 2, 265–284 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  91. Pennington, W. in Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment (eds Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J.) 119–141 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  92. Lowe, J. J. & Walker, M. J. C. in Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment (eds Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J.) 101–118 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  93. Lowe, J. J. Pollen Spores 20, 367–397 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  94. Birks, H. H. & Mathewes, R. W. New Phytol. 80, 455–484 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  95. Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J. in Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment (eds Gray, J. M. & Lowe, J. J.) 163–181 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  96. Mitchell, G. F. Q. Jl geol. Soc. 121, 359–381 (1965).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  97. Sissons, J. B. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 39, 19–29 (1966).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  98. Sissons, J. B. Scott. J. Geol. 3, 375–381 (1967).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  99. Peacock, J. D. Nature phys. Sci. 230, 43–45 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  100. Huddart, D. South-East Ireland, X INQUA Cong. Excursion Guide (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  101. Pennington, W. Boreas 4, 157–171 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  102. Manley, G. Geogr. Ann. 31, 179–193 (1949).

    Google Scholar 

  103. Pennington, W. in Geology of the Lake District (ed. Moseley, F.) 207–225 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  104. Coope, G. R. & Brophy, J. A. Boreas 1, 97–142 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  105. Lowe, J. J. & Walker, M. J. C. Nature 264, 632–633 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  106. Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. J. Biogeogr. 4, 333–351 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  107. Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. J. Biogeogr. (in the press).

  108. Walker, M. J. C. & Lowe, J. J. in Timescales in Geomorphology (eds Cullingford, R. A., Davidson, D. A. & Lewin, J.) (Wiley, New York, in the press).

  109. Sutherland, D. G. Quat. Newslett. 27, 11–12 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  110. Walker, D. New Phytol. 54, 222–254 (1955).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, High School Yards, Edinburgh, UK

    J. B. Sissons

Authors
  1. J. B. Sissons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sissons, J. The Loch Lomond Stadial in the British Isles. Nature 280, 199–203 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/280199a0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/280199a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing