Lateglacial marine erosion and a jökulhlaup deposit in the Beauly Firth

Synopsis Closely-spaced boreholes and auger holes for a small area of carseland at the head of the Beauly Firth show a thin but widespread gravel layer between the lateglacial marine deposits and the Flandrian deposits. The gravel layer and adjacent fossil cliff are attributed to marine erosion during the Loch Lomond Stadial. Further down the Beauly Firth, at Inverness, a gravel deposit in a similar stratigraphic position covers at least 7 km 2 and has a maximum recorded thickness of 39 m. It is suggested that this large gravel deposit was laid down by the initial jökulhlaup from the Spean-Roy ice-dammed lake.