The Middle Pleistocene glacial evolution of northern East Anglia, UK: a dynamic tectonostratigraphic–parasequence approach

Abstract

The Middle Pleistocene glacial history of northern East Anglia is a controversial topic with differing opinions surrounding chronology, provenance and the relative stratigraphic framework. Reconciling the stratigraphic framework of the region is an essential first step to developing onshore-offshore geological models and a robust eventdriven chronological framework. Within this study a dynamic tectonostratigraphic-parasequence methodology is applied to deposits traditionally attributed to the Anglian Glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage 12). This approach offers an insight into ice-bed coupling during glaciation and how evolving boundary conditions influenced glacier dynamics. Six major tectonostratigraphic-parasequence assemblages (A1-A6) are recognized in northern East Anglia and correlate with successive advances into the region of North Sea or Pennine lobes of the British Ice Sheet. Individual tectonostratigraphic-parasequence assemblages are bound at their base by a sedimentary contact or, more commonly, a glacitectonic zone. The geometry and structural characteristics of these glacitectonic zones reflect temporal and spatial variations in ice-bed coupling (traction), a function of substrate rheology and, in turn, variations in lithology, porewater availability and thermo-mechanical properties. The role of permafrost may also be significant, promoting proglacial/ice-marginal thrust stacking in front of advancing ice and enhanced ice-bed decoupling during subsequent overriding and subglacial till accretion. #

How understanding past landscapes might inform present‐day site investigations: a case study from Dogger Bank, southern central North Sea

“…; Bakker and van der Meer ; Vaughan‐Hirsch and Phillips ; Lee et al . , ; Pedersen and Boldreel ). The complexity of the structural and sedimentary architecture of the DBF within the foundation zone of the proposed offshore wind farm has profound implications for the siting and design of the turbine foundations.…”

“…; Burke et al . ; Bakker and van der Meer ; Vaughan‐Hirsch and Phillips ; Lee et al . , ; Pedersen and Boldreel ).…”

Structural architecture and glacitectonic evolution of the Mud Buttes cupola hill complex, southern Alberta, Canada

“…The 44 compatibility between orogenic and glacial settings has invariably led to the application of a 45 thin-skinned thrust model being applied to deformed glacigenic sequences, wherein 46 deformation leads to the stacking of detached, thrust-bound slices of sediment and/or 47 bedrock above a prominent basal décollement or sole thrust (e.g. Rotnicki, 1976 Lee et al, 2013Lee et al, , 2016. 51…”

Examining the geometry, age and genesis of buried Quaternary valley systems in the Midland Valley of Scotland, UK

“…; Westaway , ; Lee et al . ). No pre‐Quaternary saporolites or sediments have been found in the Midland Valley of Scotland (Cameron & Stephenson ; M. Browne pers.…”

“…Studies into the burial history of the Carboniferous rocks that are currently at the ground surface suggest that they only came close to the surface in the Neogene; prior to this they were buried up to 2.5 km deep (Vincent et al 2010). Therefore, the age of the broad topographic expression of central and southern Scotland is likely to be of Late Miocene age, corresponding to a wide spread unconformity that extends across much of Britain, the North Sea and Fennoscandia (Clausen & Huuse 1999;Westaway 2010Westaway , 2017Lee et al 2017). No pre-Quaternary saporolites or sediments have been found in the Midland Valleyof Scotland (Cameron & Stephenson 1985;M.…”