Late Middle Pleistocene ice‐marginal sedimentation in East Anglia, England

Abstract

Investigation of isolated landforms on the eastern margin of the East Anglian Fenland at Feltwell and Methwold Hythe, Norfolk has demonstrated that they represent glacifluvial delta‐fan and related sediments. Section logging, borehole records and previous descriptions together indicate that the deposits were laid down as an ice‐marginal delta complex and feeder channel into a proglacial lake. The internal structure and form of the delta and related feeder channel have also been determined using ground‐penetrating radar. The sequence indicates deposition at the ice front, together with minor ice‐front movements, a substantial discharge event and repeated solutional collapse of the underlying bedrock. Postdepositional solifluction and cryoturbation also occurred. The glaciomarginal landform complexes form part of a line of delta‐fan and associated accumulations (the ‘Skertchly Line’) deposited at the margin of an ice lobe that entered the Fenland. Here the ice dammed westward‐aligned rivers to form a lake, here called Lake Paterson. These observations reinforce earlier descriptions of a late Middle Pleistocene glaciation of the Fenland termed the ‘Tottenhill glaciation’. Previous research concluded that the glaciation occurred at c. 160 ka, that is, during the late Wolstonian (= late Saalian) Stage (Drenthe Substage, early Marine Isotope Stage 6), a correlation supported by evidence from the North Sea floor. The implications of these conclusions are discussed.

The use of uplift modelling in the reconstruction of drainage development and landscape evolution in the repeatedly glaciated Trent catchment, English Midlands, UK

“…9). However, it should be noted that this assessment of the extent of MIS 8 glaciation in this region is at odds with other recent interpretations (e.g., Gibbard et al, 2012;Hijma et al, 2012;Langford, 2012); provided a summary and rebuttal of these arguments. Figure 9 here: Palaeogeography of East Anglia during the Wragby glaciation Furthermore, White et al (2010) envisaged the ice lobe recognized in the Peterborough area by Langford (2004) as a southward continuation of that which crossed the Lower Witham valley and emplaced the Wragby Till in the latter area.…”

“…4(e)). Other workers (e.g., Gibbard et al, 2012Gibbard et al, , 2013Hijma et al, 2012) have proposed that much of the English Midlands, including large parts of the Trent catchment, were glaciated during MIS 6. However, the youngest glacigenic deposits in the interior of this catchment are overlain by cold-climate fluvial deposits now assigned to MIS 8 and by temperate-climate deposits securely dated to MIS 7 (see Fig.…”

Fluvial archives as a framework for the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: patterns of British artefact distribution and potential chronological implications

“…Hardaker (2012) has recently reviewed the archaeology from this site. Attribution to the pre--Anglian Bytham fluvial system has, however, been questioned by Gibbard et al (2009Gibbard et al ( , 2012, who have advocated a late Middle Pleistocene glacial origin, in something of a reversion to the Solomon interpretation. As noted above, this has been thoroughly refuted by Bridgland et al (in press) on stratigraphical and palaeo--geographical grounds, but it is also worth noting that the fit of the Warren Hill artefact types with the pre--Anglian clusters might well be regarded as additional ammunition against this controversial interpretation.…”

“…1), the geological content of which has been interpreted as a raft of Cromerian--Complex interglacial sediment within the local Anglian till (Ashton et al 1992). This is one of a number of sites controversially reinterpreted as the product of a late Middle Pleistocene glaciation that reached the Fen Basin and produced a complex of glacio--deltaic outwash gravels (Gibbard et al 2009(Gibbard et al , 2012. Although the inclusion of several Bytham Sand and Gravel localities within this glacial complex, including the prolific Palaeolithic site at Warren Hill, can be roundly rejected (Bridgland et al in press; see below), High Lodge is considerably more enigmatic.…”

Middle and Late Pleistocene environmental history of the Marsworth area, south-central England

“…No glacial limits for MIS 10 and 6 have been suggested in the area. Jones and Keen (1993) hypothesised that what is now generally regarded as the Anglian limit in the Vale of Aylesbury dates from MIS 6, but the nearest reasonable evidence for an MIS 6 limit is around the margins of the Fenland Basin, c. 100 km NE of Marsworth (Gibbard et al, 1992(Gibbard et al, , 2009(Gibbard et al, , 2012.…”