Pre-Late Devensian high-arctic marine deposits in SW Scotland

Synopsis We present new interpretations of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data and marine fossils collected from three sites on the Rhins of Galloway which, contrary to recent proposals, suggest that the landforms and deposits of the region do not represent evidence for a readvance during the Lateglacial Period. Rather we suggest that the higharctic fauna found in the region are representative of an earlier, colder part of a Middle Devensian ice-free interval. The predominantly streamlined topography, and distinct lack of identifiable discrete moraine limits argues for only minor, local glacial advances, in combination with widespread rapid retreat across the peninsula at the end of the Lateglacial.