HOLOCENE RELATIVE SEA-LEVEL CHANGES AND COASTAL VEGETATION HISTORY ATKENTRA-MOSS, ARGYLL, NORTHWEST SCOTLAND

A late-Holocene fall in relative sea level in northwest Scotland, from ca. 1.3 mm yr(-1) to ca. 1.0 mm yr(-1), is interpreted from lithostra tigraphic, biostratigraphic, chronostratigraphic and numerical analyse s of fossil tidal marsh and acidic peat bog communities elevated by is ostatic uplift. Pollen, diatom and stratigraphic data from contemporar y depositional environments are used to define the indicative range (/-0.2 m) and reference water level (mean high water of spring tides or highest astronomical tide) of thirteen dated sea-level index points. No Holocene intertidal sediments are recorded above +7.7 m OD and all sea-level index points are younger than ca. 4 kyr B.P. In parts of Ken tra Moss, beyond the limit of Holocene intertidal elastic sedimentatio n, raised bog communities were established by at least 8.3 kyr B.P. Th ese age and altitude parameters differ from those interpolated for the ''Main Postglacial Shoreline'', but support a regional model in which isostatic uplift continues at present in the Kentra Moss area.