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Three clearly defined abrupt cooling events (ACEs) can be observed within Greenland Interstadial (GI)‐1 in the Greenland ice‐core records. However, the spatial variation in amplitude and timing of these ACEs is poorly understood due to the paucity of well‐dated records with quantified temperature reconstructions. This study presents high‐resolution chironomid‐inferred July air temperature (TJul) and oxygen isotope (δ18O) records from Crudale Meadow (Orkney Isles, UK). Three centennial‐scale ACEs punctuate the Windermere Interstadial at Crudale Meadow. The largest ACE shows an amplitude of 5.4 °C and a 1% isotopic decline and is centred on ~14.0 ka BP, consistent with the timing of the GI‐1d event in the Greenland stratigraphy. The two other observed ACEs are of smaller magnitude and are centred on ~13.6 ka BP and ~13.2 ka BP, with these smaller magnitude events tentatively correlated with the GI‐1cii and GI‐1b events, respectively, but lack sufficient chronological constraint to fully assess their timing. When comparing the Crudale Meadow record with other locations in the British Isles a strong relationship can be observed between the magnitude of TJul cooling and latitude, with a reduced signal in more southerly locations, indicating that oceanic forcing may be a key driver of the ACEs.

Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a neoplasm that most commonly occurs on sun-damaged skin of the head and neck in elderly patients and that usually exhibits indolent clinical behavior with complete excision. The granular cell variant of AFX demonstrates overlapping histopathologic features with dermal non-neural granular cell tumor (NNGCT), which typically arises on the extremities of young to middle aged adults with rare reports of regional metastasis. A subset of NNGCT harbors ALK rearrangements and expresses ALK by immunohistochemistry. Here, we present 2 cases of granular cell AFX occurring on the scalp of males aged 73 and 87 with ALK expression by immunohistochemistry and no evidence of an ALK rearrangement on fluorescence in situ hybridization, representing a diagnostic pitfall for NNGCT.

The former Patagonian Ice Sheet (PIS) expanded and contracted multiple times during the Quaternary, preserving a well-defined geomorphological and sedimentological record of ice extent and dynamics. Influenced by both regional (e.g. Southern Westerly Winds) and interhemispheric climate forcing mechanisms, reconstructions of PIS extent and dynamics through time may yield unique insights into Southern Hemisphere (palaeo-)climate and (palaeo-)glacier dynamics.An increasing number of palaeoglaciological reconstructions in Patagonia have highlighted spatial asynchrony in the timing of local glacial maxima and deglaciation. This offset in the timing of ice advance/retreat implies that dynamic controls, such as topography or calving mechanisms, played a part in regulating the structure and pace of deglaciation. Assessing the role of these mechanisms is complicated by a general lack of glacial landsystems work in Patagonia, particularly north of the Northern Patagonian Icefield (46 – 47.5 °S).Here we aim to understand the timing, structure, and style of deglaciation in the Rio Cisnes valley, an eastern outlet glacier of the former Patagonian Ice Sheet. We combine glacial geomorphological mapping, field sedimentology, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry, and a new chronology based on cosmogenic nuclide surface-exposure age dating. These data informed a refined deglacial ice and palaeolake reconstruction. The new 10Be exposure ages constrain the timing of palaeolake level drop to ~16 ka, which indicates that icefield outlet glaciers were retreating back from their zone of confluence in the Cisnes valley into their respective valleys by this time, leaving the main Cisnes valley ice free.

The Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (LGIT) is a period of climatic complexity where millennial-scale climatic reorganization led to changes in ecosystems. Alongside millennial-scale changes, centennial-scale climatic events have been observed within records from Greenland and continental Europe. The effects of these abrupt events on landscapes and environments are difficult to discern at present. This, in part, relates to low temporal resolutions attained by many studies and the sensitivity of palaeoenvironmental proxies to abrupt change. We present a high-resolution palynological and charcoal study of Quoyloo Meadow, Orkney and use the Principal Curve statistical method to assist in revealing biostratigraphic change. The LGIT vegetation succession on Orkney is presented as open grassland and Empetrum heath during the Windermere Interstadial and early Holocene, and open grassland with Artemisia during the Loch Lomond Stadial. However, a further three phases of ecological change, characterized by expansions of open ground flora, are dated to 14.05–13.63, 10.94–10.8 and 10.2 cal ka BP. The timing of these changes is constrained by cryptotephra of known age. The paper concludes by comparing Quoyloo Meadow with Crudale Meadow, Orkney, and suggests that both Windermere Interstadial records are incomplete and that fire is an important landscape control during the early Holocene. Supplementary material: All raw data associated with this publication: raw pollen counts, charcoal data, Principal Curve and Rate of Change outputs and the age-model output are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4725269 Thematic collection: This article is part of the ‘Early Career Research’ available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/SJG-early-career-research

This paper provides a record and analysis of a site in east-midland England, at which organic and soil material are found between two Middle Pleistocene tills. This is the first discovery of its kind in the area, and demonstrates unequivocally that the region was glaciated on two separate occasions, something that has long been inferred and articulated, but not actually demonstrated. The landforms, sediments and soils are studied with respect to their geomorphological, lithological, pedological, palaeobotanical and structural properties. The organic and soil material along with soil structures indicate, sequentially, a periglacial climate, a long period of warm temperate weathering and a cool temperate climate. Evaluation of this evidence in terms of existing published work identifies a number of problems with existing models and suggests that the most likely model for the glacial history of this part of midland England is an early Middle Pleistocene glaciation which is represented only by trace erratics, a Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 age glaciation which moved across the area from the NW and deposited a chalk-free till, and an MIS 8 age glaciation that transported and deposited an upper chalky till from the NE.

The influence of the North Atlantic on the margins of Europe means the region is particularly sensitive to changes in the ocean–atmospheric system. During the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (16–8 cal ka bp) this system was repeatedly disrupted, leading to a series of abrupt and short-lived shifts in climate. Despite much research, the number and magnitude of these ‘centennial-scale’ events is not well understood. To address this, we expand upon investigations at Quoyloo Meadow, Orkney, Scotland, one of the best chronologically constrained palaeoclimate records in northern Britain. By coupling stable isotope and chironomid fossil analyses with existing data, this study identifies multiple phases of centennial-scale disturbance at: c. 14.0, 11.1, 10.8, 10.5, 10.45 and 10.3 cal ka bp, with the events at 14.0 and 10.3 exhibiting a particularly pronounced cold-climate signature. During the Holocene, the strongest response to climate forcing was at c. 10.3–10.0 cal ka bp, expressed as a two-stage drop in mean July temperatures, a shift in pollen spectra indicative of ‘less-stable’ climatic regimes, and a depletion in δ18O values. We interpret this as the first reliably dated incidence of the ‘10.3-ka event’ in the British Isles and consider the wider impact of this climatic reversal in other Holocene records.

It has long been assumed that the last glacier expansion in the Scottish Highlands, the Loch Lomond Readvance (LLR), resulted from a cold reversal that was broadly coeval with the ‘Younger Dryas’ episode. This view has recently been challenged, with the suggestion that glacier ice had disappeared from Rannoch Moor, one of the main ice accumulation centres in the SW Scottish Highlands, by as early as 12.5 ka, i.e. within the first half of the ‘Younger Dryas’. Here we present new radiocarbon, tephrostratigraphical and pollen-stratigraphical evidence from one of the key sites on Rannoch Moor, the results of an experiment designed to test this hypothesis. Our results not only contradict that concept, but are fully compatible with other evidence from the SW Scottish Highlands that suggests that the LLR glaciers in this area continued to expand until towards the end of the ‘Younger Dryas’ period, and may have persisted in some places after the onset of the Holocene. We consider the possible reasons for this marked divergence in chronology, a matter that is crucial to resolve because the precise timing of the demise of the LLR glaciers has important palaeoclimatic and other implications. In the wider context, we also draw attention to problems with the general use of the term ‘Younger Dryas’ and why we regard the Greenland stratotype unit and term ‘Greenland Stadial 1’ (GS-1) a more secure stratigraphic comparator.

Distally dispersed tephra layers have become an important tool in the investigation of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records across the globe. They offer possibilities for the synchronisation and improved chronological control in those records to which they can be traced and hence contribute to an improved understanding of the pattern and timing of environmental and archaeological change during periods of rapid climatic adjustment. However, their use as robust isochronous markers for synchronising records is frequently compromised by uncertainties relating to stratigraphical context, precise chronology and chemical composition. Here we collate and review the tephrostratigraphical information dating to the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT; c. 16-8 ka BP) in the British Isles based on published and unpublished records obtained from 54 sites. Based on details of their stratigraphic position, chronology and chemical composition, we propose that 26 individual eruption events may be represented in this collective record which spans the LGIT. The great majority of these eruptives can be traced in origin to Iceland, but we also report on the recent discoveries of ultra-distal tephra from the North American Cascades range, including for the first time the Mount St Helens J Tephra at a site in southern Ireland. These particular ultra-distal discoveries have resulted from a reinterpretation of older data, demonstrating the potential importance of ‘unknown’ analyses in older tephra datasets. The outcome of this review is a comprehensive but provisional tephrostratigraphic framework for the LGIT in the British Isles, which helps to focus future research on parts of the scheme that are in need of further development or testing. The results, therefore, make an important contribution to the wider European tephrostratigraphic framework, while adding new discoveries of transcontinental isochronous tephra markers.

High-resolution sedimentary archives, such as glaciolacustrine varve sequences formed in proglacial lakes, can enable detailed reconstructions of past glacier dynamics, assess regional to global climate (a)synchronicity and disentangle oceanic and atmospheric climatic forcing mechanisms. Specifically, glaciolacustrine varved sequences can be utilised to investigate, at an annual resolution, the rates and/or duration of change during deglaciation of a former glacial basin, significantly refining models of ice-sheet deglaciation. Additionally, the identification of tephra layers deposited within varved sequences offer the potential to provide isochronous marker layers, enabling high-precision correlations between sites and palaeoenvironmental archives, and an independent means of generating an absolute age for the varve chronology.We present new varve data obtained from sediment sections in Chile Chico (-46.53oS, -71.73oW) in the Lago General Carrera (Chile)/Buenos Aires (Argentina) basin in central Patagonia. Here, an ice-contact, proglacial lake formed during the recession of an ice lobe of the former Patagonian Ice Sheet from its local Last Glacial Maximum position (18,778 ± 615 to 18,086 ± 2141). Sequences of laminated glaciolacustrine sediment accumulated in the palaeolake and have subsequently been exposed following lake drainage. We report on the detailed macro- and micro-facies of the Chile Chico sediments as well as an updated tephrostratigraphy for the region. In particular we (1) develop a process model for the formation of melt season and non-melt season components that suggest a varved origin; (2) present a ~3.5 kyr varve thickness record for Chile Chico that post-dates (1Bendle, J.M., Palmer, A.P., Thorndycraft, V.R., Matthews, I. P. (2019) Phased Patagonian Ice Sheet response to Southern Hemisphere atmospheric and oceanic warming between 18 and 17 ka. Sci Rep 9, 4133

The Windermere Interstadial (GI-1; c. 14.7-12.9 kyr ago), a relatively warm period at the end of the last glaciation, provides an excellent opportunity to study past abrupt cooling events (ACEs). These events, commonly known as GI-1d and GI-1b, are clearly expressed in the Greenland ice cores and offer some of our best analogues for future events caused by anthropogenic warming. Such ACEs have variable expression in terms of their magnitude across Europe and the North Atlantic region which is likely to reflect the forcing factors which drive them. However, relatively few, spatially uneven, quantitative temperature reconstructions of ACEs exist for NW Europe. Between-site differences in sampling resolution applied and calibration datasets used makes inter-comparisons problematic. We applied chironomid and oxygen-isotope analysis at a high temporal resolution (~decadal) to a number of Windermere Interstadial lake sequences from spatially diverse locations across the British Isles. This dual proxy approach allows for quantitative reconstructions of past climate change and provides insight into seasonal temperature change as well as hydrological regime shifts. Several chironomid calibration datasets were tested to ascertain which provided the most reliable reconstruction. Even across a relatively restricted area such as the British Isles, clear spatial patterns can be observed in ACE strength. GI-1d exhibits greatest magnitude in the North of the region whilst GI-1b is most strongly expressed in the South. The results highlight the pivotal location of the British Isles in further refining our understanding of the forcing mechanism driving ACEs.

The former Patagonian Ice Sheet (PIS, 38 – 56°S) was one of the largest ice masses to develop in the Southern Hemisphere. Its formation was uniquely influenced by the Southern Westerly Winds (SWWs) colliding with the Andean Cordillera, generating a marked West-East precipitation gradient. Variability in the strength and position of the SWWs is thought to have played a significant role in ice sheet dynamics. In particular, understanding of the timing of palaeo-glacier fluctuations is required to elucidate the role of these regional climate drivers on ice retreat. However, in order to fully understand the structure and pace of deglacial ice fluctuations, detailed glacial geomorphological reconstructions must be completed.During deglaciation, as the PIS retreated from local Last Glacial Maxima positions, large proglacial lakes formed east of the austral Andes, ice-dammed by the Andean Cordillera. In central-Patagonia (44 – 46°S) during the final stages of deglaciation, these ice-dammed lakes drained to the west, through the Andean Cordillera, opening new drainage corridors towards the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the floors of these valleys are now exposed subaerially, preserving a complex suite of glacial and glaciolacustrine landform assemblages. Moreover, as most of the region is now ice-free, excluding smaller mountain ice caps such as Queulat (44.4°S, ~2000 m a.s.l) more recent Holocene geomorphology has also been exposed. These landforms possess the potential to yield new insights into the style and manner of regional ice retreat, during the transition from large terrestrial ice-lobes, to smaller mountain glaciers and ice caps.We mapped seven terrestrial palaeo-ice lobes of the PIS: the Río Pico (~44.2°S), Río Cisnes (~44.6°S), Lago Plata-Fontana (~44.8°S), Río El Toqui (~45°S), Lago Coyt/Río Ñirehuao (~45.3°S), Simpson/Paso Coyhaique (~45.5°S) and Balmaceda (~46°S) lobes. Mapping was then extended west, into the Andean Cordillera. Landforms were mapped using ESRI™ DigitalGlobe World (1-2 m) and Sentinel-2 (10 m) imagery, verified with field surveys. These new data build on previous work in the area. To date, over 60,000 ice-marginal, ice-contact, subglacial, glaciolacustrine and glaciofluvial landforms have been mapped across a ~70,000km2 area of the Andean Cordillera and adjacent valleys. When combined with robust geochronological reconstructions, these data possess the potential to inform on the role of the SWWs, versus local topography, and ice-marginal processes in regulating the structure and rate of regional deglaciation.

The landscape around Glen Roy and Glen Spean is dominated by the effects of glacial processes that operated during the Quaternary. The area has been widely studied over the last two hundred years. It was one of the first locations in Britain where the role of glaciation was recognised and remains an important focus of research today. Glen Roy and Glen Spean lie adjacent to the main ice accumulation areas in the Western Grampian Highlands, and geomorphic evidence for processes that operated during the Loch Lomond Stade (~12.9–11.7 ka) is especially well preserved. Particular highlights are the shorelines (‘Parallel Roads’) and associated landforms of the famous glacilacustrine systems that existed for 518 years between 12,135 and 11,618 cal a BP. The remarkable assemblage of geomorphic features includes terminal and lateral moraine complexes, kames, eskers, kame terraces, kettle holes, shorelines of glacial lakes, subaerial and subaqueous fans, deltas and a cluster of rock-slope failures that were activated before, during and after the glacilacustrine systems. After the demise of the ice-dammed lakes there is evidence for the evolution to fluvial drainage systems of the present day. The geomorphological importance of the area is highlighted by its recognition as a flagship locality within Lochaber Geopark.

This paper explores the disjuncture between consumers’ expressed preferences for ecologically benign packaging and their subsequent purchase decisions. We investigate consumers’ attitudes towards compostable bio-based food packaging, in contrast to fossil-based plastic packaging, framing our study within analysis of implicit attitudes. We address a gap in knowledge about the moderating effects of consumers’ reported health consciousness on the relationship between implicit health associations with compostable packaging and subsequent purchase intentions. Specifically, across four studies employing Implicit Associations Tests (IATs), we analyse the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes, relating packaging associations with consumers’ behavioural intentions. Our findings confirm positive implicit (and explicit) perceptions of compostable bio-based packaging (vs. fossil-based plastic) regardless of the healthiness of the food contained. This is reflected in consumers’ purchase intentions. We build on this to incorporate the effects of consumers’ self-reported health consciousness. We find that low health-conscious consumers are more likely to be guided in their compostable packaging decisions by their unconscious and automatic health-packaging associations, than consumers with high health consciousness. We contribute to policy discussion about effective ways of reducing fossil-based plastic packaging use and note that environmental claims for non-plastic alternatives aimed at consumers with low-health consciousness should make appeals based on health benefits, tapping into implicit attitudes to evoke automatic responses.

The travel and tourism sector was hit more rapidly and deeply by COVID-19 than most other sectors. Recovery to pre-COVID-19 activity levels is likely to be prolonged, and questions are raised whether enforced change in consumer behaviour will have long-term effects. The travel and tourism sector has a history of reinventing itself, and previous predictions of decline following crises have often been short-lived. This chapter reviews historical precedents and theories of consumer behaviour to explore whether recovery will be different this time round, especially given the possible habit breaking effects of online substitutes, and political expediency of reducing causes of climate change.

We present PATICE, a GIS database of Patagonian glacial geomorphology and recalibrated chronological data. PATICE includes 58,823 landforms and 1,669 geochronological ages, and extends from 38°S to 55°S in southern South America. We use these data to generate new empirical reconstructions of the Patagonian Ice Sheet (PIS) and subsequent ice masses and ice-dammed palaeolakes at 35 ka, 30 ka, 25 ka, 20 ka, 15 ka, 13 ka (synchronous with the Antarctic Cold Reversal), 10 ka, 5 ka, 0.2 ka and 2011 AD. At 35 ka, the PIS covered of 492.6 x103 km2, had a sea level equivalent of ~1,496 mm, was 350 km wide and 2090 km long, and was grounded on the Pacific continental shelf edge. Outlet glacier lobes remained topographically confined and the largest generated the suites of subglacial streamlined bedforms characteristic of ice streams. The PIS reached its maximum extent by 33 – 28 ka from 38°S to 48°S, and earlier, around 47 ka from 48°S southwards. Net retreat from maximum positions began by 25 ka, with ice-marginal stabilisation then at 21 – 18 ka, which was then followed by rapid, irreversible deglaciation. By 15 ka, the PIS had separated into disparate ice masses, draining into large ice-dammed lakes along the eastern margin, which strongly influenced rates of recession. Glacial readvances or stabilisations occurred at least at 14 – 13 ka, 11 ka, 6 – 5 ka, 2 – 1 ka, and 0.5 – 0.2 ka. We suggest that 20th century glacial recession (% a-1) is occurring faster than at any time documented during the Holocene.

The drivers of latitudinal variations in glacier advance/retreat in Patagonia remain a fundamental question in palaeo-glacier studies. Broader climatic influences that underpin large-scale glacial fluctuations are mediated by topographic, calving, and process-related controls. A key step in understanding the relative importance of these factors in localised glacier response is a thorough investigation of geomorphological evolution.In southern South America, large ice-lobes associated with the eastern flanks of the former Patagonian Ice Sheet terminated in the stepparian foothills. The geomorphological records accompanying these palaeo-glaciers represent an invaluable tool for reconstructing past glacier fluctuations. In the Pico and Cisnes valleys (44-45oS), ice-lobes underwent multiple advances, likely since the onset of the Great Patagonian Glaciation (~1.1 Myrs ago). The first account of Pico glacial geomorphology and the recognition of palaeo-lake existence was made by Caldenius (1932). Since then, only limited geomorphological investigations of the valley have been undertaken. Here we present a high-resolution geomorphological map of the Pico-Cisnes valleys based on mapping from satellite imagery at a 1:5000 scale, supported by ground-truthing in the field. Newly mapped ice limits, glaciolacustrine and glaciofluvial landforms are presented and include moraines, palaeo-shorelines, ice-contact fans, crag and tails, glacially-scoured bedrock, outwash plains and meltwater channels. These landforms provide new insights into landscape evolution essential in understanding the complex glacial/glaciolacustrine processes of the Cisnes and Pico valleys. Moreover, such data will underpin new geochronological frameworks, and allow fresh insights into the spatial and temporal response of these central Patagonian palaeo-glaciers to the onset of deglaciation.

The lacustrine record of Lake Diss Mere, Norfolk (UK) is 15 m long, and shows 4.2 m of finely-laminated sediments, which are present between 9 and 13 m of core depth. The microfacies analysis identified three major seasonal patterns of deposition (microfacies 1 – 3), which corroborate the annual nature of sedimentation throughout the whole interval. The sediments are diatomaceous organic and carbonate varves with an average thickness of 0.45 mm. Microfacies 1 consists of a pale layer made of authigenic calcite crystals and diatom frustules, and a dark layer composed of a planktonic diatoms and filaments of organic matter. Microfacies 2 is similar to microfacies 1 but includes a mono-specific diatom bloom layer preceding the calcite layer. Microfacies 3 are varves with an occasional very thin calcite layer and mono-specific diatom blooms in spring and autumn.A total of 8252 varves were counted with an error of up to 27 varves. To tie the resulting floating varve chronology to the IntCal 2013 radiocarbon timescale, we used a Bayesian Deposition model (P_Sequence with outlier detection) on all available chronological data. The data included seven radiocarbon dates, six tephra layers with known radiocarbon ages, and the relative varve counts between dated points. The resulting age uncertainties are decadal in scale (95% confidence) and allow detailed comparisons to other high-resolution Holocene varved lake and ice-core records on absolute timescales. The potential for this record as a palaeoclimate archive for the British Isles is enhanced by the Glen Garry1(2172 ± 107 cal a BP) and OMH-1852(2667 ± 38 cal a BP) volcanic eruptions which lie amongst 3 further late-Holocene cryptotephra layers at ca 2400 cal a BP, 2540 cal a BP, and 3870 cal a BP, and a mid-Holocene cryptotephra layers at ca 6420 cal a BP. Initial investigations and geochemical characterisation suggest Icelandic eruption centres for these cryptotephra layers which are known to be present in sites in the British Isles and elsewhere in Europe.1 Barber, K., Langdon, P., Blundell, A. Dating the Glen Garry tephra: a widespread late-Holocene marker horizon in the peatlands of northern Britain. The Holocene, 18: 31-43. 2008.2 Plunkett, G.M., Pilcher, J.R., McCormac, F.G., Hall, V.A. New dates for first millennium BC tephra isochrones in Ireland. The Holocene, 14: 780-786. 2004

Oxygen-isotope ratios can be measured on a range of materials (e.g. ostracods, bulk carbonates, diatom silica) and this, alongside their sensitivity to changes in temperature and precipitation has resulted in oxygen-isotope analyses becoming a well-established tool for investigating palaeoclimatic change. We use δ18O of calcite from ostracod shells to reconstruct palaeotemperature and palaeo-precipitation variability during an early Holocene abrupt climatic event in Crudale Meadow, SW Orkney Mainland, Scotland, UK. The research ultimately aims to further our understanding of the driving mechanisms of palaeoclimatic change during the early Holocene by producing a high-resolution palaeoclimate record from Crudale Meadow and comparing this to the existing data of NW Europe. Crudale Meadow is an ideal study site for this research. Spatially, it completes a transect of published early Holocene δ18O records that span Western Ireland1, NW England2 and into Scandinavia3. It has a ~3m thick early Holocene carbonate sequence which offers a multi-decadal or multi-centennial scale study resolution and its proximity to the N. Atlantic makes it highly likely to have been influenced by any climatic changes in the region. A previous study4 presented a bulk carbonate δ18O record for Crudale Meadow but the skeletal chronology limits its usefulness for comparing with regional trends. Here, we present an improved chronology using tephra and pollen stratigraphy, in addition to the ostracod-derived δ18O record. The studied sequence is anchored by the previously identified Saksunarvatn visible tephra layer dated to 10,210 ± 70 cal. years BP5.Ostracods are micro-crustaceans with low-Mg calcite shells which take on the isotopic signal of the water body they are in, at the time of shell calcification. In this study, we use winter calcifying Candona spp. for isotopic analysis. These were abundant and well preserved throughout the sequence. Members of this genus have a well-characterised vital offset6 so the δ18O curve can be reliably corrected for vital effects. Moreover, the species analysed are probable winter calcifers, thus reducing the impact of isotopic enrichment through lake water evaporation during summer months. The high-resolution study allows us to identify structure within the identified isotopic excursion and suggest palaeotemperature estimates from the ostracod- and chironomid-inferred temperatures.The new data presents a clear climatic event with internal structure, which with the current chronology, we hypothesise to be the 9.3ka event. The 9.3ka event has fewer detailed records in comparison to other early Holocene abrupt climatic events (e.g. 8.2ka). Consequently, to identify a structured isotopic signal of the 9.3ka event in NW Europe is an important contribution to our early Holocene records. It emphasises the need for high-resolution δ18O studies during the early Holocene across NW Europe in order to be able to fully identify subtle abrupt climatic events. References: 1Holmes, J.H. et al. (2016) QSR, p.341-349; 2Marshall, J.D. et al. (2007) Geology, 35, p.639–642; 3Hammarlund, D. et al. (2002) The Holocene, 12, p.339–351; 4Whittington, G. et al. (2015) QSR, 122, p.112–130; 5Timms, R.G.O. et al. (2018) Quat. Geochron. 46, p.28–44; 6Holmes, J.H & Chivas, A. (2002) AGU Geophysical Monograph, p.118-204.

Cultural festivals typically celebrate and reinforce a cultural identity, while becoming embedded in tourism experiences. They have sought to establish their sustainability through legacies of enduring involvement with the cultures and communities they serve. Although studies have examined the effects of attendance on festival impacts and legacy, we contribute further understanding by investigating the effects of visitors’ level of behavioural engagement during a festival on subsequent cultural and social post-festival legacies. Basing our conceptual development on van Doorn et al.’s Customer Engagement Behaviour framework and Service-Dominant-Logic, we incorporate behavioural engagement, emotions, festival loyalty, and post-festival cultural and social involvement intentions. Hypotheses are tested in two studies with data from 1335 visitors covering consecutive years of a national cultural festival, using cluster and mediation analyses. Findings highlight the importance of engagement and joyful emotions on festival legacy benefits. We validate an “engagement ladder” comprising four distinct clusters – “Disengaged”, “Observers”, “Learners”, and “Doers”. The most engaged clusters – “Learners” and “Doers” – have significantly higher association with legacy impacts, manifested through post-festival cultural and community involvement intentions. Our results have implications for sponsors and organisers of cultural festivals whose sustainability may be justified by encouraging visitor engagement rather than merely promoting attendance.

Former glaciolacustrine systems are an important archive of palaeoglaciological, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic change. The annually laminated (varved) sediments that, under certain conditions, accumulate in former glacial lakes, offer a rare opportunity to reconstruct such changes (e.g. glacier advance and retreat cycles, glacier ablation trends, permafrost melt, nival events) at annual or even sub-annual temporal resolution. Data of this kind are desirable for their ability to guide and test numerical model simulations of glacier dynamics and palaeoclimatic change that occur over rapid time intervals, with implications for predicting future glacier response to climatic change, or the effects of weather and climate events on lake sedimentation. The most valuable records preserved in glaciolacustrine systems are continuous varved sequences formed in the distal parts of glacial lakes, where microscale lamination structures can accumulate relatively undisturbed. Technological advances, in the last few decades, have enabled improved characterisation of glaciolacustrine varve microfacies and the precise measurement of varve thickness at the micrometre scale. However, unlike in cognate fields (e.g. soil science), protocols for the robust and consistent description and interpretation of glaciolacustrine varve sediments are lacking. To fill this gap, and to provide a resource for future studies of glaciolacustrine varved sediments, this paper reviews the processes of sedimentation in glacial lake basins, and presents the defining microfacies characteristics of glacial varves using a descriptive protocol that uses consistent examination of grain size, sorting, structure, nature of contacts, development of plasmic fabrics and features such as dropgrains and intraclasts within individual laminations. These lamination types are then combined into lamination sets, whose structures can be interpreted as glaciolacustrine varves. Within this framework, we define five principal assemblages of glaciolacustrine varve microfacies which, if clearly identified in palaeoglaciolacustrine settings, enable more detailed palaeoenvironmental interpretations to be made. Finally, we discuss the utility and complexities of reconstructing the evolution of former glacial lake systems using varve microfacies and thickness datasets.

Our understanding of the timing and phasing of abrupt climatic oscillations during the Last Glacial to Interglacial Transition (c. 16-8 ka) in terrestrial sequences is limited by a lack of high-resolution, sensitive proxy records with precise chronological data. Lacustrine carbonate records provide an excellent opportunity to address this issue with frequently high depositional rates, and the ability to extract biological and chemical proxy data related to palaeoclimate variations. However, these archives are also some of the most difficult to date due to associated problems with radiocarbon sample contamination. We present the tephrochronological findings from Crudale Meadow, Orkney, one of the most northerly former marl lakes in the British Isles. Thirteen intervals containing tephra are chemically characterised, of which six may be correlated to known eruptions. The results provide a tephrochronological framework from which it is possible to refine the age estimates of less securely dated cryptotephras, and also provide a basis from which to frame ongoing climate reconstructions using state-of-the-art proxy methods. The results presented here demonstrate that Crudale Meadow is a key record in the development of a regional tephrostratigraphic framework, and an important site in developing a refined network of well-dated high-resolution palaeoclimatic records across northern Europe.

This contribution directly relates to the paper published by Wheeler in 1978 entitled ‘Why were there no fish remains at Star Carr?’. Star Carr is arguably the richest, most studied and re-interpreted Mesolithic site in Europe but the lack of fish remains has continued to vex scholars. Judging from other materials, the preservation conditions at the site in the late 1940s/early 1950s should have been good enough to permit the survival of fish remains, and particularly dentaries of the northern pike ( Esox lucius L., 1758) as found on other European sites of this age. The lack of evidence has therefore been attributed to a paucity of fish in the lake. However, new research has provided multiple lines of evidence, which not only demonstrate the presence of fish, but also provide evidence for the species present, data on how and where fish were being processed on site, and interpretations for the fishing methods that might have been used. This study demonstrates that an integrated approach using a range of methods at landscape, site and microscopic scales of analysis can elucidate such questions. In addition, it demonstrates that in future studies, even in cases where physical remains are lacking, forensic techniques hold significant potential.

Glaciolacustrine varves offer the potential to construct continuous, annually-resolved chronologies for ice-sheet deglaciation, and improved understanding of glacier retreat dynamics. This paper investigates laminated glaciolacustrine sediments deposited around the waning margins of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, following the local Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Detailed macro- and microfacies analyses confirm an annual (varve) structure within these sediments. The correlation of annual layers (varves) across five sites in eastern Lago Buenos Aires yields a 994 ± 36 varve-year (vyr) chronology and thickness record. The floating chronology has been anchored to the calendar-year timescale through identification of the Ho tephra (17,378 ± 118 cal a BP) in the varve sequences. Using a Bayesian age model to integrate the new varve chronology with published moraine ages, the onset of deglaciation at 46.5°S is dated to 18,086 ± 214 cal a BP. New age estimates for deglacial events are combined with high-resolution analysis of varve thickness trends, and new lithostratigraphic data on ice-margin position(s), to reconstruct ice-margin retreat rates for the earliest ca. 1000 years of ice-sheet demise. Glacier retreat rates were moderate (5.3–10.3 m yr−1) until 17,322 ± 115 cal a BP, but subsequently accelerated (15.4–18.0 m yr−1). Sustained influxes of ice-rafted debris (IRD) after 17,145 ± 122 cal a BP suggest retreat rates were enhanced by calving after ice contracted into deeper lake waters. Ice persisted in eastern Lago Buenos Aires until at least 16,934 ± 116 cal a BP, after which the glacier started to retreat towards the Patagonian mountains.

This paper presents a glacial geomorphological map of landforms produced by the Lago General Carrera–Buenos Aires and Lago Cochrane–Pueyrredón ice lobes of the former Patagonian Ice Sheet. Over 35,000 landforms were digitized into a Geographical Information System from high-resolution (

Macro- and crypto-tephra layers deposited in European climate archives during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT ca. 16–8 ka) have become increasingly important as a means to robustly correlate palaeoclimate records, and to test the spatial and temporal synchronicity of climatic transitions. However, correlations between climate archives are currently limited by the number of tephra-linkages that can be made. This disparity in the observed distributions of tephras may lie with methodological limitations relating to the resolution of cryptotephra refinement within palaeoclimate records. Here we present new data from Quoyloo Meadow, Orkney Mainland, Scotland, where nine tephra horizons and ten chemically distinct tephra populations have been identified and correlated to known eruptions during the LGIT. Three of the tephras; the Hasseldalen, Hovsdalur and the Fosen are characterised and placed into a reliable tephrostratigraphy for the first time in the British Isles. The detection of new tephra layers in this case is thought to reflect modifications to the sampling approach applied here. The resulting tephrostratigraphy is used to produce an age model with centennial-scale precision, providing new age estimates for three poorly dated tephras. The chronology rivals the output of more traditionally dated radiocarbon chronologies, and illustrates the potential for tephra to develop robust age-depth models for carbonate sequences.

Glen Roy, Lochaber is a key UK site for understanding Late Devensian environmental change, as it contains an annually-resolved glaciolacustrine varve record. This paper develops our understanding of varve sedimentation within Glen Roy through the examination of a new varve sequence located in a more proximal position on the Allt Bhraic Achaidh Fan, one of a series of major fans within the valley. This new varve record consists of c . 203 annual layers, much fewer years than at other sites in the Lochaber area probably due to five significant hiatuses within the record. Varve sediment characteristics and thickness are comparable to, but not statistically correlated with, other varve series that were used to construct a consolidated varve record for the area, the Lochaber Master Varve Chronology. Sedimentological characteristics, analysed by thin section micromorphology, suggest that varve thickness changes within the basin are controlled mainly by distance from the valley sides rather than the position of the ice margin during the Loch Lomond Readvance, as previously proposed.

This paper introduces a special issue devoted to the sequence of events in and around Glen Roy during the Loch Lomond or Younger Dryas Stadial, the short but important cold period dated to between ∼12,900 and 11,700 years ago, during which glaciers last expanded to occupy the Scottish Highlands, and during the subsequent transition to warmer conditions at the start of the Holocene. The Glen Roy area is internationally famous for the ‘Parallel Roads’, pre-eminent examples of ice-dammed lake shorelines which were formed during the stadial. What makes these shorelines unique, however, is their role as distinctive time markers, allowing the order of formation of landforms and sediments to be construed with unprecedented detail. Varved lake sediments preserved within Glen Roy and nearby Loch Laggan provide a precise timescale – the Lochaber Master Varve Chronology (LMVC) – for establishing the rates and timing of some of the events. This introductory paper first sets the geological context for those new to this topic, with a digest of key advances in understanding made between the nineteenth century and the publication of the LMVC in 2010. It then summarises the evidence and ideas that have emerged from new research investigations reported in this special issue for the first time, and which shine new light on the subject. Two final sections synthesise the new data and consider future prospects for further refinement of the precise sequence and timing of events. A major conclusion to emerge from this new body of work is that the ice-dammed lakes, and the glaciers that impounded them, persisted in the area until around 11,700 to perhaps 11,600 years ago. This conflicts with recently promoted suggestions that the last glaciers in Scotland were already in a state of considerable decline by ∼12,500 years ago.

The extent, basal conditions and retreat history of a Loch Lomond Stadial glacier are reconstructed based on detailed geomorphological and sedimentological assessment. We present new evidence from the vicinity of Coire Ardair that supports the former existence of a warm-based, locally-fed valley glacier, with probable cold-based ice on the surrounding plateau. This is broadly consistent with modelled creep-dominated flow in the upper catchment and sliding-dominated flow throughout much of the valley. A dense suite of moraines, primarily formed in ice-marginal environments, records a multi-phase recessional history: (1) active and oscillatory retreat; (2) a prolonged ice stillstand; (3) partial ice stagnation with occasional minor readvances; (4) increased oscillatory retreat with a substantial readvance event; and (5) rapid and uninterrupted retreat. We propose that a Coire Ardair glacier responded to sub-centennial scale climate fluctuations, possibly associated with the periodic delivery of warmer air masses to the region, rather than to a single, prominent shift in climate.

New lithostratigraphical, pollen-stratigraphical and tephrostratigraphical data are presented for a sediment sequence at Turret Bank, a site that lies close to the confluence of the River Turret with the River Roy in Lochaber, the western Scottish Highlands. The site is also adjacent to the inner margin of a major gravel fan, the Glen Turret Fan, the age of which has been debated and has a crucial bearing on the overall sequence of events in Glen Roy, especially concerning the maximum limit of Loch Lomond Readvance (Younger Dryas) ice. Several lines of evidence point to the sediment sequence at Turret Bank having been wholly deposited during the Loch Lomond Stadial-early Holocene transition: (i) the pollen sequence is typical for this transitional period; (ii) varved deposits preserved in the sequence bear a strong resemblance to mid-Stadial varves in a regional master varve scheme for Glen Roy and vicinity (the Lochaber Master Varve Chronology); and (iii) an early Holocene tephra - the Askja-S Tephra - is preserved within the sequence. Some limitations with the new data are considered, but it is concluded that the coherent integration of lithostratigraphic, geomorphological, pollen-stratigraphical and tephrostratigraphical data point to the likelihood that Loch Lomond Readvance ice extended to the inner margin of the Glen Turret Fan, and that the fan was probably constructed by glacial meltwaters at this time. (C) 2017 The Geologists' Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A sedimentological investigation of new sections of Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS) age deposits is presented from Caol Lairig valley, located adjacent to Glen Roy, Lochaber, Scottish Highlands. The ice lobes in Caol Lairig and Glen Roy blocked local fluvial drainage systems forming lakes that cut shorelines, the ‘Parallel Roads of Glen Roy’ ( Agassiz, 1840 ; Jamieson, 1863, 1892). Within Caol Lairig sediment sequences of proximal, distal and deltaic glaciolacustrine sediments and a subglacial till are reported. The till was deposited during ice advance into the valley and the different glaciolacustrine facies formed in the gap between the head of Caol Lairig and the receding ice margin. When the sediments are related to the shoreline and glacial geomorphological evidence, phases of ice advance and ice retreat and the concomitant changes in lake levels are identified. Initially ice retreat in Glen Roy and Caol Lairig was synchronous but after the fall to 325 m the ice in Glen Roy retreated more quickly than in Caol Lairig. Differences in the ice thickness and the lake water depth in Glen Roy and Caol Lairig may have lead to preferential calving of the Glen Roy ice margin hastening ice retreat.

The onset of deglaciation in the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes has been attributed to the southward transmission of climate anomalies in response to slow-down of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS-1; 18–14.6 ka). However, inferences on the response of former ice sheets to sub-millennial palaeoclimate shifts are limited by a shortage of high-resolution terrestrial archives. Here we use a ~1000-year duration, annually-resolved lake sediment record to investigate the deglacial retreat dynamics of the Lago General Carrera–Buenos Aires ice lobe (46.5°S) of the former Patagonian Ice Sheet. We attribute the onset of glacier retreat at 18.0 ± 0.14 cal ka BP to abrupt southward migration of the Southern Westerly Winds that enhanced solar radiation receipt (and ablation) at the ice sheet surface. We infer that accelerated retreat from 17.77 ± 0.13 cal ka BP represents a lagged Southern Hemisphere response to gradual ocean-atmosphere warming associated with the centennial-scale transmission of Northern Hemisphere climate anomalies through the oceanic bipolar seesaw. By 17.38 ± 0.12 cal ka BP, the glacier margin had receded into a deepening proglacial lake, instigating sustained calving losses and more rapid ice recession.

International audience; Marketing managers use anticipation as a marketing tool, particularly for new or improved products, services or experiences. Academic interest in consumer anticipation has focused on its outcomes, especially effects on the forthcoming substantive consumption. However, inadequate attention has been given to consumer anticipation as a complex process per se. A systematic review of the literature arrives at a conceptual definition which sees consumer anticipation as a mental process by which consumers consider the physical, experiential, social, emotional or behavioural consumption outcomes that are expected to accrue to the self from a yet to be realised consumption decision or experience. Antecedents of consumer anticipation, its underlying mental processes and consequences are identified and discussed. Frameworks for operationalising consumer anticipation in practical contexts are discussed.

Modelling experiments of drainage events from proglacial lakes of the Río Baker catchment (central Patagonia, 46–48 ⁰S) indicate that Atlantic-Pacific drainage reversals may have caused freshwater forcing of regional climate. However, much of the region remains unmapped in detail and available geochronological data is equivocal, leading to multiple published palaeolake evolution models. We evaluate these models through new geomorphological mapping from the Baker valley; cosmogenic dating of moraine boulders that demonstrates an Antarctic Cold Reversal ice readvance that blocked drainage through the Río Baker; an altitudinal-based review of published geochronology; and regional analysis of shoreline glacio-isostasy and palaeolake levels. We use these datasets to present a new regional palaeolake evolution model underpinned by Bayesian age modelling. We demonstrate that 10 km of freshwater was released to the Pacific over at least 6 drainage events from before 15.3–15.0 cal yr BP to the early Holocene. The final stages of lake drainage involved catastrophic flooding along the Baker valley, evidenced by high magnitude flood landforms such as boulder bars, likely caused by failure of large valley floor moraine dams. We place these drainage events in the context of Late Quaternary meltwater pathways associated with advance/retreat of the Patagonian Ice Sheet and early human occupation across the region. Although broad patterns of ice retreat and lake formation may be similar across Patagonia, driven by Southern Hemisphere palaeoclimate, regional topographic settings likely resulted in spatial and temporal heterogeneity of Atlantic-Pacific drainage reorganisation across southernmost South America., VT would like to thank the Natural Resources Defence Counciland Royal Holloway University of London Research Strategy Fund(RHUL-RSF) for funding initialfield visits that led to this research. Cosmogenic dating (BD and VT) was supported by RHUL-RSF funding and the British Society for Geomorphology, with analysis done at the NERC-Cosmogenic Isotope Analysis Facility.

The Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (ca 16–8 ka BP) in north-west Europe is an important period of climatic change where millennial-scale climatic evolution led to environmental reorganisation. Imprinted upon these long-term changes are a series of short-lived, centennial-scale events that appear to be spatially and temporally complex across Europe. The complexity of environmental change in response to these climatic events is poorly understood because of a paucity of paired investigations that provide evidence of both driver and response variables. We present a high-resolution palynological, charcoal and stable isotopic record alongside chironomid-inferred temperature data from Tirinie, south-east Grampian Highlands, Scotland. The record is stratigraphically and chronologically constrained using tephra and radiocarbon dating. The isotopic and chironomid data reveal centennial-scale climatic deteriorations at ca 14.0; 13.2 and 11.4 cal ka BP. In response to these cooling events, vegetation became more open, fire frequency increased and landscape erosion was common. The reconstruction of both climate and environment reveals asynchrony in the phasing of annual and summer temperature variability, vegetation change and fire for each climatic event. Whilst responses appear strongest following the convergence of annual and summer temperature variability across all events, the ca 13.2 ka BP event reveals a two-stage environmental and fire response to climatic change, and the ca 11.4 ka BP event exhibits environmental change in the absence of summer temperature variability. The data further suggests that fire is an integral component of abrupt climatic change in this part of north-west Europe.

European paleoenvironmental records through the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT; ca 16-8 cal ka BP) record a series of climatic events occurring over decadal to multi-centennial timescales. Changes in components of the climatic system other than temperature (e.g. hydrology) through the LGIT are relatively poorly understood however, and further records of hydroclimatic changes are required in order to develop a more complete understanding on the phasing of environmental and anthropogenic responses in Europe to abrupt climate change. Here, we present a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental record (macroscale and microscale sedimentology, macrofossils, and carbonate stable isotopes) from a palaeolake sequence in the Vale of Pickering (VoP), NE England, which enables the reconstruction of hydroclimatic changes constrained by a radiocarbon-based chronology. Relative lake-level changes in the VoP occurred in close association (although not necessarily in phase) to threshold shifts across abrupt climate change transitions, most notably lowering during cooling intervals of the LGIT (∼GI-1d, ∼GI-1b, and ∼GS-1). This reflects more arid hydroclimates associated with these cooling episodes in the British Isles. Comparisons to hydrological records elsewhere in Europe show a latitudinal bifurcation, with Northern Europe (50–60°N) becoming more arid (humid), and Southern Europe (40–50°N) becoming more humid (arid) in response to these cooling (warming) intervals. We attribute these bifurcating signals to the relative positions of the Atlantic storm tracks, sea-ice margin, and North Atlantic Polar Front (NAPF) during the climatic events of the LGIT.

We present a revised varve chronology for the duration of ice-dammed lakes that formed in the Lochaber district, Scotland, during the Loch Lomond (‘Younger Dryas’) Stadial. We analysed new varved sequences and combined them with existing varve records to develop the Lochaber Master Varve Chronology 2019 (LMVC19), published here for the first time. It spans an interval of 518 ± 18 vyrs and is considered more secure than its predecessors because: (i) it is anchored by a more robust record of the Vedde Ash, which is dated to 12,043 ± 43 cal yr BP; and (ii) it provides revised estimates of the timings of key regional palaeoclimatic shifts that are fully compatible with those inferred from independently-dated, non-varved records obtained from neighbouring sites. The new results indicate that the Lochaber ice-dammed lakes existed between ∼12,135 and 11,618 ± 61 cal yr BP, but the pattern of glacier advance that led to lake formation was more complex than previously assumed, with some ice fronts reaching their maximal positions 300 years before others. Initiation of ice retreat at ∼11,800 cal yr BP appears to have coincided with a rise of ∼2 °C in mean July temperatures inferred from chironomid data obtained from the Abernethy Forest site in the eastern Highlands. This local climatic shift is thought to have been a delayed response (by up to 335 years) to a mid-Stadial northward migration of the North Atlantic Polar Front, the delay probably due to the influence of the SW Highland icefield. Subsequent retreat that led to the formation of ice stagnation features throughout large parts of the area was initiated by a further rise in summer air temperature of ∼3 °C at the start of the Early Holocene. Final drainage of the lake system occurred ∼190 years after the initiation of ice retreat, while it took a further 200 years for the ice to vacate the Rannoch plateau, a nearby upland glacial source.

Purpose This paper aims to reflect on the paper “Service failure and loyalty: an exploratory empirical study of airline customers” published 18 years ago. It positions it in the evolving literature on relationship marketing and suggests directions for further research and developments in the area. Design/methodology/approach A review of key contributions of the paper to the study of relationship marketing and the effects of service failures on relationships identifies emerging strands of research. Findings The concept of a “relationship lifecycle” is now widely used in marketing for identifying customer segments. Different points in the lifecycle are associated with differing sets of relationship expectations and levels of tolerance to service failure. Customer relationship management has tended to morph into customer experience management where principles of relationship lifecycles have been applied to mapping customer “journeys” through a service process. Practical implications The original study informed practices of managing relationship expectations and handling failed expectations, depending on a customer’s length of relationship with a company. Although relationship marketing was originally conceived as an integrator of marketing cues, its emphasis on cognitive evaluations may have been too limiting and customer experience management has since introduced additional affective dimensions. Originality/value The original paper had been widely cited and generated discussion and important further research. It has value as part of the emerging landscape of services marketing research. This retrospective analysis locates this historical development with reference to currently popular issues of customer experience management.

Understanding the resilience of early societies to climate change is an essential part of exploring the environmental sensitivity of human populations. There is significant interest in the role of abrupt climate events as a driver of early Holocene human activity, but there are very few well-dated records directly compared with local climate archives. Here, we present evidence from the internationally important Mesolithic site of Star Carr showing occupation during the early Holocene, which is directly compared with a high-resolution palaeoclimate record from neighbouring lake beds. We show that—once established—there was intensive human activity at the site for several hundred years when the community was subject to multiple, severe, abrupt climate events that impacted air temperatures, the landscape and the ecosystem of the region. However, these results show that occupation and activity at the site persisted regardless of the environmental stresses experienced by this society. The Star Carr population displayed a high level of resilience to climate change, suggesting that postglacial populations were not necessarily held hostage to the flickering switch of climate change. Instead, we show that local, intrinsic changes in the wetland environment were more significant in determining human activity than the large-scale abrupt early Holocene climate events. A high-resolution local palaeoclimatic archive is correlated to the early Holocene human behavioural record at the British Mesolithic site of Star Carr. Despite environmental stresses at this time, intensive human activity persisted over centuries, suggesting resilience to climate change.

Visible and non-visible (cryptotephra) volcanic ash layers are increasingly being used to underpin the chronology and high-precision correlation of sequences dating to the last glacial–interglacial transition (LGIT). As the number of sediment records analysed for tephra content rises, and methodological developments permit the detection, extraction and chemical analysis of increasingly scantily represented glass shard concentrations, greater complexity in shard count profiles is revealed. Here we present new evidence from sites in Scotland, and review published evidence from sites elsewhere in NW Europe, that indicate complexity in the eruptive history of Katla volcano during the mid-Younger Dryas and Early Holocene. We propose evidence for a previously-overlooked tephra isochron, here named the Abernethy Tephra, which is consistently found to lie close to the Younger Dryas/Holocene transition. It has a major-element chemical composition indistinguishable from that of the Vedde Ash, which was erupted from the Katla volcano at 12,121 ± 114 cal a BP. The new data suggest that Katla may have erupted again between 11,720–11,230 cal a BP and the subsequent ash fall increases the potential to assess environmental response to Holocene warming across north and west Europe.

Despite the prevalence of thin section analysis in studies of Quaternary sediments, there are limitations associated with the production of thin sections (sediment modification) and the inherently 2D view that a thin section affords. Non-destructive and rapid scanning technologies such as X-ray computed microtomography (μCT) enable material samples to be visualised and analysed in 3D. In a Quaternary context, however, such techniques are in their infancy. This paper assesses the optimum approach to μCT analysis of Quaternary sediments, applying the method on Lateglacial glaciolacustrine varves from Glen Roy, Scotland. Scan datasets are examined at each stage of the thin section process and comparisons are made between 2D μCT images and thin sections for the recognition of 2D sediment features, with further appraisal of 3D models to identify 3D sediment structures. Comparable sediment features are observed in 2D μCT images and thin sections, however, the μCT imaging resolution determines the precision of microfacies descriptions. Additional 3D structures are distinguished from volumetric models that are otherwise impossible to identify in thin section slides. These 3D structures can locally alter sediment properties (e.g. layer thickness) as seen in 2D thin sections and/or digital images, although such variation cannot be detected with these media. It has been demonstrated that clear benefits exist in understanding the 3D structure of Quaternary sediments, both prior to thin-sectioning to avoid complicating (e.g. deformation) structures, and after thin-sectioning to establish the complex 3D context of 2D datasets. It is recommended that μCT and thin section techniques are applied in parallel in future studies, which will profit from the integration of ‘true’ 3D data. It is also advised that samples are scanned soon after field sampling, due to the significant modification of in situ sediment structures that can occur during thin section processing.

The basal topography and sediments recording the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT) from Palaeolake Flixton, North Yorkshire have been reinvestigated by a detailed auger and borehole survey. The data presented here, from the area to the north of Flixton Island and the River Hertford, suggests the basal topography of Palaeolake Flixton is irregular with deep and areally small basins interspersed within a gravel surface ca. 21 m OD. At its shallowest the gravel surface is ca. 2 m below current land surface and the deeper, steep-sided basins are up to 9 m in depth. Examination of the sediment sequences indicates the deeper basins accumulate sediments from the Dimlington Stadial (DS), Windermere Interstadial (WI), Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS) and the Holocene, whilst the shallower sequences only record the Holocene. The configuration of the deposits in the basins suggest that lake levels declined during the WI from 24 to 23 m OD and then fell further during the LLS to ca. 20.90 m OD. The lake water levels then rose slowly during the Holocene to a height of between 23 and 24 m OD. These fluctuations in lake water level at the transition from the LLS to Holocene perhaps indicate that the configuration of the water body during the resettlement of the area in the Mesolithic was different to previous reconstructions, with lower water levels and a greater area of land exposed for habitation. This highlights the potential for additional preservation of archaeological assemblages in the area of the former lake. Moreover the complex basal stratigraphy suggests that a systematic analyses of the Palaeolake Flixton sedimentary archive is required to resolve high-resolution palaeoclimate data from this lake sequence.