Post-glacial tree-lines of the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland: Some modifications based on radiocarbon dating

Summary

Radiocarbon dates for tree stumps at five sites in the Cairngorm peats are presented. The extent to which this new evidence modifies a recent paper on Post-glacial tree-line positions (Pears 1968) is then discussed. The dates show that the basal layer of pine stumps varies in age from site to site. This would seem to indicate that in a high mountain area the broad Post-glacial climatic changes discernible in lowland districts do not operate uniformly. It is suggested that they are so modified by the topographical factor (presumably through its influence on the hydrology of the local peat site) that a very variable pattern may occur at sites in close proximity, thus giving rise to an equally variable fossil pattern in the peat. This is a tentative suggestion and further dating is planned to test the conclusions. Despite these difficulties in interpretation, the tree-line levels presented in the previous paper appear to be substantially correct.