Glaciation and the Stones of Stonehenge

Kellaway, G. A.

doi:10.1038/233030a0

Cited by 45 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Palmer (, p. 358) argued that there is no evidence of glaciation in the Bristol area. However, Hawkins and Kellaway () concluded the opposite and presented evidence for glaciation of the Bristol district, a situation further advocated by Kellaway (). This was then disputed by Kidson and Haynes () who pointed out that the Burtle beds were estuarine sediments containing Quaternary microfauna from both the current and the last interglacial (i.e.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New insights into the Quaternary evolution of the Bristol Channel, UK

Gibbard

Hughes

Rolfe

2017

J Quaternary Science

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A synthesis of new publically available borehole and bathymetric data, combined with a wealth of other existing disparate data sources, reveals new insights into the Quaternary history of the Bristol Channel area. Sediment boreholes throughout the Bristol Channel confirm the area was glaciated in the Pleistocene. Till is present below marine deposits and, in some areas, is visible morphologically as submerged moraines. In the central and eastern Bristol Channel the submerged valley course of the palaeo‐Severn is very clear in new high‐resolution bathymetric surveys. This former river course and associated tributaries cross‐cut through glacial sediments in the Bristol Channel. At least three phases of glaciation are recorded in the Bristol Channel, one related to the southern limits of a Late Devensian Substage (∼Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2) Welsh Ice Cap which reached into Swansea Bay, an earlier Devensian (MIS 4–3) glaciation associated with Irish Sea ice, and another older glaciation that is associated with ice that filled the entire outer and central Bristol Channel. The age of the older Bristol Channel glaciation is still open, although it pre‐dates the Devensian (Late Pleistocene) and must date to the Middle Pleistocene. It is therefore evident that Pleistocene glacial and fluvial activity, combined with subsequent post‐glacial sea transgression, directly account for current morphometries of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary, and the current geography of the SW British Isles.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the Ipswichian). Thus, they are not related to glacial processes, as had been suggested by Kellaway (). The nature of the glacial record in the Bristol area has since remained unclear and the evidence for ice reaching this area is patchy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights into the Quaternary evolution of the Bristol Channel, UK

Gibbard

Hughes

Rolfe

2017

J Quaternary Science

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“…The dashed line represents ice limits which are controversial; solid line represents more certain ice limits. The information shown is compiled from Charlesworth (1957, p. 750), Wright (1937, p. 61), Dunning et al (1978, p. 31) and Kellaway (1971, Figure 2) and compare Thorpe et al (1991). (Other interpretations place the southern limit further north [but still enclosing the find locations of the studied erratics]; Sparks & West, 1972;Boulton et al, 1977;Bowen et al, 1986).…”

Section: Thermentioning

confidence: 96%

Geochemical provenancing of igneous glacial erratics from Southern Britain, and implications for prehistoric stone implement distributions

Williams-Thorpe¹,

Aldiss²,

Rigby³

et al. 1999

Geoarchaeology

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Sixteen basic and intermediate composition igneous glacial erratics from Anglian (pre‐423,000 years) deposits in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, southern Britain, were selected for chemical and petrographic analysis in order to determine their original source outcrops. Major and trace element compositions suggest that seven samples (plus two uncertain) originated in the Lower Carboniferous volcanics of the Scottish Midland Valley (SMV), four came from the Upper Carboniferous quartz dolerite association which crops out in Scotland, northern England (Whin Sill) and extends to Norway, and one came from the northern England Cleveland Dyke. One sample of altered dolerite is ambiguous but has some similarity to the Old Red Sandstone (Devonian) age lavas of the SMV, and one meta‐basalt sample may be from southwest Scotland or Scandinavia. These results identify specific outcrops which provided glacial erratics within currently accepted ice trails in the United Kingdom, and provide the first supporting evidence based on geochemistry, rather than petrography, for these ice movements. The distribution and provenance of glacial erratics are of importance in archaeological studies, because erratics provided a potential source of raw material for stone implement production. There is a marked geographical correlation between the distribution of prehistoric stone implements of quartz dolerite in the United Kingdom, and directions of ice movements from quartz dolerite outcrops within Britain. This correlation lends support to the hypothesis that prehistoric man made extensive use of glacial erratics for implement manufacture, as an alternative to quarrying at outcrops and subsequent long‐distance trade. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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“…Kellaway, (1971) recorded a fissure deposit at Holwell, [ST 728 450] containing Middle Chalk debris, whilst the presence of flint derived from the Chalk Group at Tadhill suggests a former Upper Cretaceous cover. Field work carried out during this study frequently encountered lumps of chalk up to 10 cm in size in field brash across the Eastern Mendips, although this is probably a consequence of agricultural land improvement.…”

Section: Implications For the Cretaceous Overstep Of The Wessex Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

New evidence of the Cretaceous overstep of the Mendip Hills, Somerset, UK

Farrant

Vranch²,

Ensom³

et al. 2014

Proceedings of the Geologists' Association

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The Mendip Hills, located on the north-western margin of the Wessex Basin, clearly show the onlap of Upper Triassic to Middle Jurassic sediments onto folded Palaeozoic strata. Recent field mapping on the crest of the Beacon Hill pericline at Tadhill, near Frome, augmented by a suite of shallow boreholes, proved up to 6.2 m of glauconitic grey and green silty sand. These glauconitic sands rest unconformably on Silurian volcanic rocks and Devonian sandstone. Lithological and palaeontological analyses of these glauconitic sands indicate that they are part of the Lower Cretaceous Upper Greensand Formation. This provides the first evidence for the Albian transgression across the Mendip Hills. The implications for the Cretaceous overstep on the margins of the Wessex Basin, and the analogies with the Upper Greensand succession in Devon are discussed.

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Glaciation and the Stones of Stonehenge

Cited by 45 publications

References 9 publications

New insights into the Quaternary evolution of the Bristol Channel, UK

New insights into the Quaternary evolution of the Bristol Channel, UK

Geochemical provenancing of igneous glacial erratics from Southern Britain, and implications for prehistoric stone implement distributions

New evidence of the Cretaceous overstep of the Mendip Hills, Somerset, UK

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