PALEOCLIMATIC INFERENCES FROM FORMER GLACIERS IN SCOTLAND AND THE LAKE DISTRICT

Firn line altitudes of Loch Lomond Advance glaciers in Scotland and the Lake District imply that snowfall was associated mainly with south to southeasterly air streams preceding fronts. Precipitation was high in the south-west Grampians and very low in the north-west Cairngorms and Speyside. The junction of polar and relatively warm ocean waters at the latitude of south-west Ireland was associated with many depressions following more southerly tracks than at present. It is suggested that during ice-sheet growth the zone of maximum snowfall moved southwards over the British Isles. © 1979 Nature Publishing Group.