Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-23T07:03:54.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lower pleistocene dinoflagellate cyst, foraminiferal and pollen assemblages in four boreholes in the Southern North Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

T.D.J. Cameron ,
A.P. Bonny ,
D.M. Gregory  and
R. Harland
T.D.J. Cameron
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG
A.P. Bonny
Affiliation:
81 Abbey Road, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8NG
D.M. Gregory
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG
R. Harland
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Neogene and Lower Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Southern North Sea has been investigated in four I.G.S. boreholes between East Anglia and the Netherlands. The foraminifera of the Red Crag Formation in Borehole 81/51 are closely similar to Upper Pliocene assemblages in Holland. The overlying succession is clearly punctuated by unconformities in seismic profiles, separating four early Pleistocene formations in the boreholes, and indicating intervals of significant stratigraphic hiatus offshore. The Westkapelle Ground and Smith's Knoll Formations correlate with Thurnian and Antian Stage deposits in East Anglia. Pollen spectra in the Winterton Shoal and Yarmouth Roads Formations are similar to Baventian and Bramertonian assemblages in Britain. The autochthonous marine and allochthonous terrestrial microfauna and flora provide conflicting evidence of early Pleistocene palaeoclimate. The dinoflagellate cysts and foraminifera indicate that each formation was deposited in a warm temperate neritic environment. The pollen record, containing evidence of fluctuation between boreal and mixed coniferous–deciduous regional forest cover, suggests alternation between cool and warm temperate palaeoclimate.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 121 , Issue 2 , March 1984 , pp. 85 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cameron, T. D. J., Laban, C. & Schüttenhelm, R. T. E. 1984. Flemish Bight: Sheet 52° N 02° E. Institute of Geological Sciences and Rijks Geologische Dienst 1:250000 Series: Quaternary Geology.Google Scholar
Curry, D., Adams, C. G., Boulter, M. C., Dilley, F. C., Eames, F. E., Funnell, B. M. & Wells, M. K. 1978. A correlation of Tertiary rocks in the British Isles. Geological Society of London, Special Report No. 12, 72 pp.Google Scholar
de Meuter, F. J. & Laga, P. G. 1976. Lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy based on benthonic foraminifera of the Neogene deposits of northern Belgium. Bulletin de la Société Belge de Géologie 85, 133–52.Google Scholar
Doppert, J. W. Chr. 1980. Lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of marine Neogene deposits in the Netherlands. Mededelingen Rijks Geologische Dienst 32, 255–312.Google Scholar
Emilia, D. A. & Heinrichs, D. F. 1972. Palaeomagnetic events in the Brunhes and Matuyama epochs identified from magnetic profiles reduced to the pole. Marine Geophysical Researches 1, 436–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Funnell, B. M. 1961. The Palaeogene and early Pleistocene of Norfolk. Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society 19, 340–56.Google Scholar
Funnell, B. M., Norton, P. E. P. & West, R. G. 1979. The Crag at Bramerton, near Norwich, Norfolk. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 287, 489–534.Google Scholar
Funnell, B. M. & West, R. G. 1977. Preglacial Pleistocene deposits of East Anglia. In British Quaternary Studies. Recent Advances (ed. Shotton, F. W.), pp. 247–65. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Gregory, D. & Harland, R. 1978. The late Quaternary climatostratigraphy of I.G.S. Borehole SLN 75/33 and its application to the palaeoceanography of the northcentral North Sea. Scottish Journal of Geology 14, 147–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harland, R. 1983. Distribution maps of recent dinoflagellate cysts in bottom sediments from the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. Palaeontology 26, 321–87.Google Scholar
Heusser, L. 1978. Spores and pollen in the marine realm. In Introduction to Marine Micropalaeontology (ed.Haq, B. U. and Boersma, A.), pp. 327–39. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Jones, D. K. C. 1980. The Tertiary evolution of south-east England with particular reference to the Weald. In The Shaping of Southern England (ed. Jones, D. K. C.), pp. 13–47. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
McDougall, I. 1979. The present status of the geomagnetic polarity time scale. In The Earth, its Origin, Structure and Evolution (ed. McElhinny, M. W.), pp. 543–66. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, G. F., Penny, L. F., Shotton, F. W. & West, R. G. 1973. A correlation of Quaternary deposits in the British Isles. Geological Society of London Special Report No. 4, 99 pp.Google Scholar
Oakley, K. P. 1949. The Plio-Pleistocene boundary. (Proceedings of the International Geological Congress, 18th session, 1948: Section H.) Geological Magazine 86, 18–21.Google Scholar
Opdyke, N. D. 1972. Paleomagnetism of deep-sea cores. Review of Geophysics and Space Physics 10, 213–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, P. C. & Harland, R. 1977. Studies of Quaternary dinoflagellate cysts from the North Atlantic. Contributions Series American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists No. 5A, 155–75.Google Scholar
Traverse, A. & Ginsberg, R. N. 1966. Palynology of the surface sediments of Great Bahama Bank, as related to water movement and sedimentation. Marine Geology 4, 417–59.Google Scholar
Turner, C. & West, R. G. 1968. The subdivision and zonation of interglacial periods. Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart 19, 93–101.Google Scholar
van Montfrans, H. M. 1971. Palaeomagnetic dating in the North Sea Basin. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 11, 266–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Staalduinen, C. J., van Adrichem Boogaert, H. A., Bless, M. J. M., Doppert, J. W. Chr., Harsveldt, H. M., van Montfrans, H. M., Oele, E., Wermuth, R. A. & Zagwijn, W. H. 1979. The geology of the Netherlands. Mededelingen Rijks Geologische Dienst 31, 9–49.Google Scholar
van Voorthuysen, J. H., Toering, K. & Zagwijn, W. H. 1972. The Plio-Pleistocene boundary in the North Sea Basin: revision of its position in the marine beds. Geologie en Mijnbouw 51, 627–39.Google Scholar
Wall, D. & Dale, B. 1968. Early Pleistocene dinoflagellates from the Royal Society Borehole at Ludham, Norfolk. New Phytologist 67, 315–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, R. G. 1961. Vegetational history of the Early Pleistocene of the Royal Society Borehole at Ludham, Norfolk. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 155, 437–53.Google Scholar
West, R. G. 1980. Pleistocene forest history in East Anglia. New Phytologist 85, 571–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, R. G., Funnell, B. M. & Norton, P. E. P. 1980. An Early Pleistocene cold marine episode in the North Sea: pollen and faunal assemblages at Covehithe, Suffolk, England. Boreas 9, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zagwijn, W. H. 1963. Pollen-analytic investigations in the Tiglian of the Netherlands. Mededelingen van die Geologische Stichting (New Series) 16, 49–71.Google Scholar
Zagwijn, W. H. 1974. The palaeogeographic evolution of the Netherlands during the Quaternary. Geologie en Mijnbouw 53, 369–85.Google Scholar
Zagwijn, W. H. 1975. Variations in climate as shown by pollen analysis, especially in the Lower Pleistocene of Europe. In Ice Ages: Ancient and Modern (ed. Wright, A. E. & Moseley, F.), pp. 137–52, Geological Journal Special Issue 6.Google Scholar
Zagwijn, W. H. & Veenstra, H. J. 1966. A pollen-analytical study of cores from the Outer Silver Pit, North Sea. Marine Geology 4, 539–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar