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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2002; v. 203; p. 349-365;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2002.203.01.18
© 2002 Geological Society of London

Millennial and sub-millennial-scale variability in sediment colour from the Barra Fan, NW Scotland: implications for British ice sheet dynamics

Lindsay J. Wilson & William E. N. Austin

School of Geography and Geosciences, Irvine Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL, UK wena{at}st-andrews.ac.uk

Sediment colour, together with other proxy data, provides a novel, rapid and non-destructive tool in the investigation of glacier-influenced sedimentation on the Barra Fan, NW Scotland. Lightness (L*) and reflectance (400–700 nm) measurements at this site provide a quantitative estimate of changes in calcium carbonate and clay content. Interstadials are carbonate-rich/clay-poor (higher L* and reflectivity), whereas stadials are carbonate-poor/clay-rich (lower L* and reflectivity). Detailed sedimentological investigations suggest that the last British Ice Sheet (BIS) extended to the outer continental shelfbreak shortly after 30 ka BP. This climatic response of the BIS to global cooling at the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 – 2 transition marks a significant increase in sediment delivery to the Barra Fan. Prior to 30 ka BP, strong Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) cyclicity dominates the record. After 30 ka BP, shorter periodicities prevailed as the BIS reached its maximum extent. Glacier dynamics plays a significant role in the delivery of ice-rafted debris (IRD) across this margin, highlighting the inherent difficulties of correlating millennial-scale IRD events when the IRD is derived from different ice sheets. An event stratigraphy based upon carbonate-rich interstadials provides a more robust means of amphi-Atlantic correlation during this interval.