The Loch Lomond Readvance in southern Skye and some palaeoclimatic implications

Abstract

The former existence of 13 glaciers is inferred, comprising 9 in the Cuillins and 4 in the Eastern Red Hills. For each glacier when at its maximal extent the area, volume and equilibrium firn line are determined, and the probable relative importance of direct insolation in the mass balances of the various glaciers is calculated. Glaciers that flowed S and SSW from the radiating corries of the Cuillins were larger and had much lower equilibrium firn lines than those that flowed N and NE, even though direct insolation was of sufficient importance to affect the distribution and size of end moraines. It is inferred that the principal snow-bearing winds were from the south, snowfall being much higher in the S Cuillins than in the NE. For the 8 external corries of the Cuillins there is a very high correlation between corrie volume and glacier volume, suggesting that the relevant climatic parameters had approximately the same relative values during the Loch Lomond Stadial as during numerous earlier periods of limited glaciation.