Late‐glacial and Post‐glacial Deposits at Malham, Yorkshire

Summary Post‐glacial marl in Malham Tarn and marl and peat in Tarn Moss overlie Late‐glacial clays. Pollen analysis suggests that juniper scrub occupied the limestone upland during the Late‐glacial period. In the Post‐glacial period this was supplanted by hazel scrub (possibly with pine) and subsequently oak and elm may have been present. Forest destruction apparently began in the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age but was accelerated during the Iron Age, Norse and Monastic periods. There is no clear evidence to suggest that widespread soil erosion accompanied deforestation and the limestone pavements would seem to have lacked a covering of mineral soil since the Last Glaciations.