The Loch Lomond Stadial Glaciation in Assynt: a reappraisal

Previous work in NW Scotland proposed independent valley and corrie glaciers in Assynt during the Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS). However, recent BGS mapping has identified moraine sequences in Glen Beag, Glen Cassley, and north of Ben More Asssynt suggesting that the last glaciers extended several kilometres beyond the previously identified limits – forming a ~100 km2 mountain icefield. 10Be exposure ages from boulders in Glen Cassley indicate that these moraines were deposited during the LLS. Elsewhere in Assynt, moraines relating to an earlier mountain glaciation, probably c. 15 ka BP, are also preserved. This new evidence suggests that ice cover at LLS maximum was thicker and considerably more extensive than previously reported. This has important implications for glacier dynamics, sea-level modelling and palaeoclimate in Scotland.