Palaeoenvironmental application of magnetic measurements from inter-drumlin hollow lake sediments near Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland |
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| Authors: | KENNETH R HIRONS ROY THOMPSON |
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| Institution: | Department of Geography, the University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom;Department of Geophysics, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3J2, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | Measurements of palaeomagnetic horizontal remanent intensity, saturation isothermal remanence, coercivity of remanence, high field remanence and magnetic susceptibility, have been made on lateglacial and postglacial sediments from two small, inter-drumlin hollow lakes from central Northern Ireland. These magnetic measurements have been compared with pollen and chemical analyses from the same profiles and with complementary mineral magnetic data from local soils. Representative sediment samples have also been divided into a range of particle size fractions and each fraction has been subjected to magnetic investigation. Five distinctive stratigraphic horizons have been identified on the basis of the magnetic mineralogy. Two horizons relate to phases of pronounced erosion. One of these is connected with solifluction processes in the lateglacial and the other to an intensive period of farming activity which started in Medieval times. Two horizons are associated with periods of very high iron and manganese deposition and are possibly related to the precipitation of magnetic minerals within the lake. Hydrological changes during periods of local anthropogenic activity appear to produce magnetic mineral assemblages indicative of stream bed/bank substrate sources. The particle size data also support the suggestion that downcore changes in the mineral magnetic record are mainly caused by changes in the sediment source rather than particle size or sedimentological effects. |
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