Lateglacial Fused Glass Monoliths I & II

Monolith II

Lateglacial Monoliths I and II are free-standing, fused glass representations of cores of sediment from the Lateglacial (14.7-11,7 ka) and Early Holocene of Scotland. I wanted these pieces to be attractive and balanced pieces of artwork, while maintaining accuracy to the current science.  

The pieces before firing. 

I made two pieces: Monolith I represents the sedimentary sequence at Loch an Eilein (the site I took cores for on a field trip to the Scottish Highlands and later described for my M.Sc dissertation) and Monolith II which represents a more general Scottish Lateglacial sequence. 

The symbols and representation.

Firstly, the colour of the glass broadly correlates to a typical Scottish Lateglacial sequence including minerogenic pale grey strata (e.g., abrupt cold events during the Windermere Interstadial) and black peat (early Holocene), in addition to changes in the colour and transparency of glass: 

• Transparent glass ovals cover powdered muscovite and biotite mica from Glen Roy, representing minerogenic pebble input in the Dimlington Stadial and Loch Lomond Stadial. 
• Brown glass rods are fragmented and put in layers to show 'moss' bands: strata rich in bryophyte remains. These are found in the basal stadial sediments.
• Powdered Icelandic pumice is placed in layers, representing layers of cryptotephra in the sediment record. I chose to represent only two tephra layers that are widely distributed: the Borrobol Tephra and the Vedde Ash.
• Small fragments of black glass represent charcoal in the late Loch Lomond Stadial. 
• Pale grey glass and black rods were cut to resemble birch bark: specifically tree birch (Betula pendula/pubescens). These were placed in the Early Holocene peats and in Monolith II in the Windermere Stadial.
• Blue rods are fragmented and put into layers to represent blue vivianite precipitate: a mineral precipitated in the Loch Lomond Stadial of  Loch an Eilein.

An annotated photo of Monolith II with the tephras (left) and chronologies (right) from Greenland (GI/GS) and the British Isles. Scale: 10cm width.

While photos of the monoliths embedded in peat were taken in situ at Drumburgh Moss, the pieces also have wooden stands that set the work upright through a friction fit slot. 

The monoliths in their wooden stands for display. 

In the future I want to do an improved Lateglacial monolith as well as potentially a series of 'classic' Lateglacial and Quaternary sites- perhaps a varved record such as Diss Mere. However, the next monolith will be the late Holocene raised intertidal deposits that I have been working on from Allonby on the outer Solway. 

While certainly a niche piece of artwork, they will be for sale soon: feel free to message or email to express interest.