Lawson, IT, Church, MJ, Edwards, KJ et al. (2 more authors) (2007) Peat initiation in the Faroe Islands: climate change, pedogenesis, or human impact? Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,, 98 (1). 15 - 28. ISSN 1755-6910
Abstract
As an isolated island group lying off the NW European mainland which was uninhabited until the mid-first millennium AD, the Faroes offer a unique opportunity to study natural processes of Holocene ecosystem development in a region where anthropogenic activity is usually a complicating factor. In this paper new radiocarbon dates and pollen-analytical data from the island of Sandoy, in the centre of the Faroes archipelago, are presented. Together with existing pollen and plant macrofossil records, these data allow a reconstruction of patterns of Holocene vegetational and edaphic change. Basal peat dates indicate that large areas of blanket mire were established long before the first human settlement, demonstrating conclusively that human impact is not necessary for the development of such ecosystems. The timing of the initiation of the blanket peats varies markedly, both across the Faroes as a whole and at a landscape scale, with dates distributed evenly over 9000 years. This suggests that, in the Faroes at least, pedogenesis was more important than climatic change in determining the timing of the spread of blanket peat systems
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2007, The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Reproduced with permission from the publisher. |
Keywords: | Climate; people; Faroe Islands; peat initiation |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Jan 2014 13:35 |
Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2014 19:55 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1017/S1755691007000035 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Royal Society of Edinburgh |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1755691007000035 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:77443 |