Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-01T18:53:18.132Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Revised Pre-Devensian glacial stratigraphy in Norfolk, England, based on mapping and till provenance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2016

R.J.O. Hamblin ,
B.S.P. Moorlock ,
J. Rose ,
J.R. Lee ,
J.B. Riding ,
S.J. Booth  and
S.M. Pawley
R.J.O. Hamblin*
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, U.K.
B.S.P. Moorlock*
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, U.K.
J.R. Lee*
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, U.K.
J.B. Riding
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, U.K.
S.J. Booth
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, U.K.
*
2 Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX U.K. Corresponding author Dr. R.J.O. Hamblin; email: rjoh@bgs.ac.uk
2 Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX U.K. Corresponding author Dr. R.J.O. Hamblin; email: rjoh@bgs.ac.uk
2 Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX U.K. Corresponding author Dr. R.J.O. Hamblin; email: rjoh@bgs.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Mapping combined with till provenance studies have resulted in a re-appraisal of the pre-Devensian glacial stratigraphy of Norfolk, England. The traditional model invoked two formations, a North Sea Drift Formation (NSDF) overlain by a Lowestoft Formation, formed by co-existing ice-sheets originating in Scandinavia and Northern Britain respectively. The NSDF included three diamictons, the First, Second and Third Cromer tills. The Briton’s Lane Sands and Gravels were considered to overlie the Lowestoft Formation. However, our work has shown this stratigraphy to be untenable, and we propose a model of several glaciations instead of co-existing ice-sheets. In our revised stratigraphy, the oldest formation, the Happisburgh Formation (including the Happisburgh or First Cromer Till) includes massive, sandy tills derived from northern Britain. The overlying Lowestoft Formation, including the Second Cromer (Walcott) Till is confirmed as derived from the west, introducing much Jurassic material as well as Chalk. The Sheringham Cliffs Formation includes both brown sandy tills (the Third Cromer Till) and ‘marly drift’, in a variety of tectonic relationships, and derived from the north and NNW. Finally the Briton’s Lane Formation is the only formation to include Scandinavian erratics. Dating of the four formations is at varying levels of confidence, with the Lowestoft Formation most confidently confirmed as MIS 12. The Happisburgh Formation is believed to represent an earlier glaciation, and MIS 16 is proposed. The Sheringham Cliffs Formation is tentatively believed to date from MIS 10, and the Briton’s Lane Formation is assigned to MIS 6.

Keywords

EnglandNorfolkPleistoceneglacigenics
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 84 , Special Issue 2: Upper Cenozoic stratigraphy of the southern North Sea and Baltic basins , July 2005 , pp. 77 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2005

References

Arthurton, R.S., Booth, S.J., Morigi, A.N., Abbott, M.A.W. & Wood, C.J., 1994. Geology of the country around Great Yarmouth. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 162 (England and Wales).Google Scholar
Ashton, N.. Cook, J., Lewis, S.G. & Rose, J. (eds). 1992. High Lodge: excavations by G.de G., Sieveking and J., Cook, 1988. British Museum (London): 192 pp.Google Scholar
Banham, P.H., 1968. A preliminary note on the Pleistocene stratigraphy of north-east Norfolk. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 79: 281–285.Google Scholar
Banham, P.H., 1975. Glaciotectonic structures: a general discussion with particular reference to the contorted drift of Norfolk. In: Wright, A.A., & Moseley, F. (eds): Ice Ages, Ancient and Modern. Geological Journal Special Issue No 6. Seel House Press (Liverpool): 69–94.Google Scholar
Banham, P.H., 1988. Polyphase glaciotectonic deformation in the Contorted Drift of Norfolk. In: Croot, D.G. (ed.): Glaciotectonics; Forms and Processes. Balkema (Rotterdam): 27–32.Google Scholar
Banham, P.H., Gibbard, P.L., Lunkka, J.P., Parfitt, S.A., Preece, R.C. & Turner, C., 2001. A critical assessment of ‘A new glacial stratigraphy for Eastern England’. Quaternary Newsletter 93: 5–14.Google Scholar
Boulton, G.S., Cox, F., Hart, J. & Thornton, M., 1984. The glacial geology of Norfolk. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Norfolk 34: 103–122.Google Scholar
Bowen, D.Q., Lewis, S.G., Maddy, D., Gibbard, P.L., Preece, R.C., Campbell, S., Thomas, G.S.P., Sutherland, D.G., McCabe, A.M., Cameron, T.D.J. & Holmes, R.A., 1999. A revised correlation of Quaternary deposits in the British Isles. Geological Society Special Report No. 23.Google Scholar
Bridgland, D.R., 1994. Quaternary of the Thames. Chapman and Hall (London): 441 pp.Google Scholar
Candy, I., 2002. Formation of a rhizogenic calerete during a glacial stage (Oxygen Isotope Stage 12): its palaeoenvironmental stratigraphie significance. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 113: 259–270.Google Scholar
Catt,J.A., , 1991. Late Devensian glacial deposits and glaciations in eastern England and the adjoining offshore region. In: Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P.L. & Rose, J. (Eds): Glacial deposits in Britain and Ireland. Balkema (Rotterdam): 61–68.Google Scholar
Ehlers, J., & Gibbard, P.L., 1991. Anglian glacial deposits in Britain and the adjoining offshore regions. In: Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P.L. & Rose, J. (eds): Glacial deposits in Great Britain and Ireland. Balkema (Rotterdam): 17–21.Google Scholar
Ehlers, J., Meyer, K.-D. & Stephan, H.-J., 1984. The pre-Weichselian glaciations of North-West Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews 3: 1–40.Google Scholar
Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P.L. & Whiteman, C.A., 1991. The glacial deposits of northwestern Norfolk. In: Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P.L. & Rose, J. (Eds): Glacial deposits in Great Britain and Ireland. Balkema (Rotterdam): 223–232.Google Scholar
Funneil, B.M., 1995. Global sea-level and the (pen-)insularity of late Cenozoic Britain. In: Preece, R.C. (ed.): Island Britain: a Quaternary perspective. Geological Society Special Publication No 96: 3–13.Google Scholar
Gale, S.J. Hoare, P.G., 1986. Blakeney Ridge sands and gravels. In: West, R. & Whiteman, C.A. (ed.): The Nar Valley and north Norfolk: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (Cambridge): 94–95.Google Scholar
Gale, S.J. & Hoare, P.G., 1991. Quaternary sediments: Petrographie methods for the study of unlithified rocks. Wiley (Chichester).Google Scholar
Gibbard, P.L., 1977. Pleistocene history of the Vale of St Albans. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B280: 445–483.Google Scholar
Gibbard, P.L. & Peglar, S.M., 1989. Palynology of the fossiliferous deposits at Witham on the Hill, Lincolnshire. In: Keen, D.H. (ed.): The Pleistocene of the West Midlands: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (Cambridge): 131–133.Google Scholar
Gibbard, P.L., West, R.G., Andrew, R. & Petitt, M., 1991. Tottenhill, Norfolk. In: Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Bridgland, D.R. (eds): Central East Anglia and the Fen Basin: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (London): 131–143.Google Scholar
Gibbard, P.L., West, R.G., Andrew, R. & Petitt, M., 1992. The margins of a Middle Pleistocene ice advance at Tottenhill, Norfolk, England. Geological Magazine 129: 59–76.Google Scholar
Gray, J.M., 1997. The origin of the Blakeney Esker, Norfolk. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 108: 177–182.Google Scholar
Grün, R. & Schwarcz, H.P., 2000. Revised open-system U-series/ESR age calculations for teeth from Stratum С at the Hoxnian Interglacial type locality, England. Quaternary Science Reviews 19: 1151–1154.Google Scholar
Hamblin, R.J.O., 2000. A new glacial stratigraphy for East Anglia. Mercian Geologist 15: 59–62.Google Scholar
Hamblin, R.J.O., 2001. Geological notes and local details for 1 : 10 000 sheet TG 03 SE (Briston). British Geological Survey Technical Report WA/00/34. (unpublished)Google Scholar
Hamblin, R.J.O., Moorlock, B.S.P. & Rose, J., 2000. A new glacial stratigraphy for Eastern England. Quaternary Newsletter 92: 35–43.Google Scholar
Hamblin, R.J.O., Moorlock, B.S.P., Rose, J., Lee, J.R., Riding, J.B., Booth, S.J. & Pawley, S.M., 2003. Revised Glacial Stratigraphy in Norfolk. Conference abstract: Integrated Land-Sea Stratigraphy, Utrecht.Google Scholar
Hart, J.K. & Boulton, G.S., 1991. The glacial drifts of northeastern Norfolk. In: Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P.L. & Rose, J. (eds): Glacial deposits in Britain and Ireland. Balkema (Rotterdam): 233–243.Google Scholar
Helmke, J.P., Bauch, H.A. & Erlenkauser, H., 2003. Development of glacial and interglacial conditions in the Nordic seas between 1.5 and 0.35 Ma. Quaternary Science Reviews 22: 1717–1728.Google Scholar
Hopson, P.M. & Bridge, D.McC, 1987. Middle Pleistocene stratigraphy in the lower Waveney Valley, East Anglia. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 98: 171–185.Google Scholar
Keen, D.H., 1999. The chronology of Middle Pleistocene (‘Wolstonian’) events in the English Midlands. In: Andrews, P. & Banham, P. (Eds): Late Cenozoic environments and hominid evolution: a tribute to Bill Bishop. Geological Society (London): 159–168.Google Scholar
Lee,, J.R., 2001. Genesis and palaeogeographical significance of the Cortón Diamicton (basal member of the North Sea Drift Formation), East Anglia, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 112: 29–43.Google Scholar
Lee, J.R., 2003. Early and Middle Pleistocene Lithostratigraphy and Palaeo- environments in northern East Anglia. Unpublished PhD thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London.Google Scholar
Lee, J.R., Rose, J., Riding, J.B., Moorlock, B.S.P. & Hamblin, R.3.O., 2002. Testing the case for a Middle Pleistocene Scandinavian glaciation in Eastern England: evidence for a Scottish ice source for the tills within the Cortón Formation of East Anglia. Boreas 31: 345–355.Google Scholar
Lee, J.R., Rose, J., Hamblin, R.J.O. & Moorlock, B.S.P., 2004a. Dating the earliest lowland glaciation of eastern England: a pre-MIS 12 early Middle Pleistocene Happisburgh Formation glaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews 23: 1551–1566.Google Scholar
Lee, J.R., Booth, S.J., Hamblin, R.J.O., Jarrow, A.M., Kessler, H., Moorlock, B.S.P., Morigi, A.H., Palmer, A., Pawley, S.J., Riding, J.B. & Rose, J. 2004b. A new stratigraphy for the glacial deposits around Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, North Walsham and Cromer, East Anglia, UK. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Norfolk 53: 3–60.Google Scholar
Lewis, S.G. & Rose, J., 1991. Tottenhill, Norfolk. In: Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Bridgland, D.R. (eds): Central East Anglia and the Fen Basin: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (London): 145–148.Google Scholar
Lunkka, J.P., 1994. Sedimentation and lithostratigraphy of the North Sea Drift and Lowestoft Till Formations in the coastal cliffs of northeast Norfolk, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 9: 209–234.Google Scholar
Moorlock, B.S.P., Booth, S., Fish, P., Hamblin, R.J.O., Kessler, H., Riding, J., Rose, J. & Whiteman, C.A., 2000a. A revised glacial stratigraphy of Norfolk. In: Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. (Eds): The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (London): 53–54.Google Scholar
Moorlock, B.S.P., Booth, S., Fish, P., Hamblin, R.J.O., Kessler, H., Riding, J., Rose, J. & Whiteman, C.A., 2000b. Briton’s Lane Gravel Pit, Beeston Regis (TG 168 415). In: Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. (eds): The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (London): 115–117.Google Scholar
Moorlock, B.S.P., Hamblin, R.J.O., Rose, J. & Lee, J.R., 2001. The occurrence of rhomb-porphyry within diamictons in north-east Norfolk. Quaternary Newsletter 95: 49–50.Google Scholar
Moorlock, B.S.P., Hamblin, R.J.O., Booth, S.J., Kessler, H., Woods, M.A. & Hobbs, P.R.N., 2002. Geology of the Cromer district - a brief explanation of the geological map. Sheet explanation of the British Geological Survey. 1 : 50 000 Sheet 131 Cromer (England and Wales).Google Scholar
Pawley, S.M., Rose, J., Lee, J.R., Moorlock, B.S.P. & Hamblin, R.J.O., 2004. Early and Middle Pleistocene sedimentology and lithostratigraphy of Weybourne, northeast Norfolk, England. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 115: 25–42.Google Scholar
Perrin, R.M.S., Davies, H. & Fysh, M.D., 1973. Lithology of the Chalky Boulder Clay. Nature 245: 101–104.Google Scholar
Perrin, R.M.S., Rose, J. & Davies, H., 1979. The distribution, variation and origins of pre-Devensian tills in eastern England. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B287: 535–570.Google Scholar
Preece, R.C. & Parfitt, S.A., 2000. The Cromer Forest-bed Formation: new thoughts on an old problem. In: Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. (eds): The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (London): 1–27.Google Scholar
Reid, C., 1882. The geology of the country around Cromer (explanation of Sheet 68E). Memoirs of the Geological Survey, England and Wales. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (London).Google Scholar
Rice, R.J., 1968. The Quaternary deposits of central Leicestershire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A262: 459–509.Google Scholar
Rice, R.J., 1981. The Pleistocene deposits of the area around Croft in south Leicestershire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B293: 385–418.Google Scholar
Riding, J.B. 1999. The palynology of eight samples from the tills of the North Norfolk coast. British Geological Survey Technical Report, WH/99/98R. 15 pp. (unpublished).Google Scholar
Riding, J.B., 2001. The palynology of three till samples from North Norfolk. British Geological Survey Internal Report, IR/01/77. 13 pp. (unpublished).Google Scholar
Riding, J.B., 2002a. A palynological investigation of till samples from the Cromer-North Walsham area, North Norfolk. British Geological Survey Internal Report, IR/02/154. 17 pp. (unpublished).Google Scholar
Riding, J.B., 2002b. A palynological study of a chalk-rich diamicton from Abbey Farm, near Hanworth, North Norfolk. British Geological Survey Internal Report, IR/02/174. 4 pp. (unpublished).Google Scholar
Rose, J., 1989. Stadial type sections in the British Quaternary. In: Rose, J. & Schluchter, C. (eds): Quaternary Type Sections: Imagination or Reality? Balkema (Rotterdam): 45–67.Google Scholar
Rose, J., 1994. Major river systems of central and southern Britain during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. Terra Nova 6: 435–443.Google Scholar
Rose, J., Lee, J.R., Moorlock, B.S.P. & Hamblin, R.J.O., 1999. The origin of the Norwich Brickearth: micromorphological evidence for pedological alteration of sandy Anglian till in northeast Norfolk. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 110: 1–8.Google Scholar
Rose, J., Candy, I. & Lee, J.R., 2000. Leet Hill (TM 384 926): pre-glacial and glaciofluvial river deposits - with possible evidence for a major glaciation prior to the deposition of the Lowestoft Till. In: Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. (eds): The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (London): 207–217.Google Scholar
Rowe, P.J., Richards, O.A., Atkinson, T.C., Bottrell, S.H. & Cliff, R.A., 1997. Geochemistry and radiometrie dating of a Middle Pleistocene peat. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 61: 4201–4211.Google Scholar
Rowe, P.J., Atkinson, T.C. & Turner, C., 1999. U-series dating of Hoxnian interglacial deposits at Marks Tey, Essex, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 14: 693–702.Google Scholar
Shackleton, N.J. & Turner, C., 1967. Correlation between marine and terrestrial Pleistocene successions. Nature 216: 1079–1082.Google Scholar
Sumbler, M.G., 1995. The terraces of the rivers Thame and Thames and their bearing on the chronology of glaciation in central and eastern England. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 106: 93–106.Google Scholar
Sumbler, M.G., 2001. The Moretón Drift: a further clue to glacial chronology in central England. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 112: 13–27.Google Scholar
Vandenberghe, J., 2000. A global perspective of European chronostratigraphy for the past 650 ka. Quaternary Science Reviews 19: 1701–1707.Google Scholar
Vandenberghe, J., Roebroeks, W. & Van Kolfschoten, T. (eds), 1993. Maastricht-Belvédère: stratigraphy, palaeoenvironment and archaeology of the Middle and Late Pleistocene deposits; Part ii. Mededelingen Rijks Geologische Dienst 47: 91 pp.Google Scholar