INWASHED POLLEN SPECTRA AT LOCH FADA, ISLE OF SKYE

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Abstract
Summary: Pollen and macrofossil analyses of contiguous 1 cm samples have been made through a band of terrestrial bryophyte remains interstratified in Late‐Weichselian limnic silts. Various forms of pollen deterioration were distinguished and scored for the different sediment types. The fossil assemblage in the moss band suggests derivation by inwashing from a montane moss‐dominated spring. This is supported by comparison with a modern pollen spectrum from such a community in Scotland. Pollen in the bryophyte band is largely corroded, due to aerial oxidation and microbial attack, while pollen in the silts is broken and degraded, resulting from mechanical damage. The silts also contain pre‐Quaternary microfossils, largely of Jurassic origin. Two forms of redeposited microfossils are distinguished: secondary types redeposited from erosion of older strata, and inwashed types redeposited from contemporary materials.

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