A high-resolution record of mire development and climatic change spanning the Late-glacial-Holocene boundary at Church Moss, Davenham (Cheshire, England)

Excavations of deposits filling a dosed basin within glacial drift at Church Moss, Davenham, near Northwich (Cheshire, England) revealed a sequence of Late-glacial and Early Holocene sediments. Analyses of pollen and plant and invertebrate macrofossils were undertaken, together with loss-on-ignition analyses and a programme of AMS radiocarbon dating, to provide a record of changing biostratigraphy and climatic and ecological regimes. The infilling of features identified as frost-cracks in the till flooring the basin gave remains that reflected conditions of extreme cold towards the end of the Devensian. The pollen record from a 3.5 m sequence of peat towards the deepest part of the basin, supported by radiocarbon dates, shows that organic deposition was initiated during the Late-glacial Interstadial and continued into the early part of the Holocene. There was some evidence for a cool episode during the interstadial, with amelioration prior to the rapid onset of the tundra conditions of the Loch Lomond Stadial. Following the stadial, amelioration was rapid. There was evidence from both central and marginal sequences for a mosaic of fen dominated by sedges and often also mosses, with short-lived small pools through much of the succession. Change to terrestrial conditions proceeded intermittently, probably as a result of subsidence caused by solution of underlying salt-bearing strata. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.