EVIDENCE FOR HOLOCENE RELATIVE SEA-LEVEL CHANGES AND THE STOREGGA TSUNAMI DISCLOSED IN MARINE DEPOSITS IN THE FIRTH OF FORTH, SCOTLAND, UK

A number of exposures up to 7m high along the banks of the Cocklemill Burn in Fife on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, Scotland, UK, together with supplementary boreholes disclose a record of relative sea-level change in the area for the early to late Holocene, based upon detailed sedimentological, macrofossil, radiocarbon and luminescence dating evidence.Underlying limnic peat accumulated on a surface of sand during the early Holocene before being replaced by marine sands which contain a record of sedimentation into the late Holocene. The marine sands contain a coarse sand, gravel and shell hash layer catastrophically deposited and attributed to the early Holocene Stroegga tsunami, the only evidence of this nature for this tsunami so far reported. The relative sea-level changes and tsunami are considered in their regional context.