Schmidt Hammer exposure-age dating of glacial landforms in the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland

This study investigates the response of glaciers in the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland, during the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (LGIT). A Schmidt Hammer was used to document the deglacial history of the area using an established terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating (TCND) based age-calibration curve. Two glacial landforms delimiting the extent of former glaciers in Glen Avon and Coire t-Sneachda were confirmed to be of Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial age, however, no significant difference in mean exposure-age between these sites was found. The use of the age-calibration curve indicated that parts of the study area were deglaciated before ~15 ka. Despite sources of uncertainty when using this approach, this study highlights the value of the Schmidt Hammer for effectively deriving preliminary exposure ages of glacial landforms in the Cairngorm Mountains. The careful generation of preliminary exposure-ages across other sites in the study area using this method is warranted, especially where the timing and sequence of deglaciation is less well understood.