STRATIGRAPHY AND POLLEN ANALYSIS OF THE RAISED BEACH DEPOSITS AT BALLYHALBERT, GO. DOWN, NORTHERN IRELAND

Abstract

The development and stratigraphy of the raised beach shingle ridge at Ballyhalbert, on the east coast of the Strangford Peninsula, are described. A pollen diagram from the peat layer buried beneath the beach gravels shows that the lowest of the gravels was deposited towards the close of the Boreal period, namely sub‐zone VIc. The discussion emphasizes that the precise date of the maximum of the marine transgression in Ireland cannot be obtained from present Irish data. However, it is reasonable to accept tentatively that in Ireland, as in England, the maximum arrived during the Atlantic period. Copyright © 1960, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved