14. East Anglia and Essex

Abstract

Summary In this Section of the review discussion will be mainly concerned with fitting into the suggested time-scale those portions of the Eats Anglian succession that have an important bearing on the stratigraphy of other parts of England. It is convenient to begin with the younger beds. The Hunstanton Till is assigned to the Weichselian because of the freshness of the associated land-forms; a variety of gravels (fluviatile and marine) can be placed in this stage through radiocarbon dating, direct correlation, or relation to the Ipswichian (Eemian). But the numerous problems of the East Anglian Weichselian seem to be mostly of a local nature. The Ipswichian warm-climate deposits are securely correlated with the Eemian by their pollen diagrams. Their age is ioo to 7 ~ t.y., half-cycle 3 w. The Gipping glaciation is older, and since it is post-Hoxnian (Holsteinian) it must belong to some part of the Saale, either Drenthe or Warthe. The Drenthe glaciation (of 5 c) was the only terrestrial glaciation known to have invaded the Netherlands and the eastward prolongation of the general line of the Drenthe ice-front would bring it to Essex, whereas the Warthe ice-front was IOO to 2oo km farther north. Such a geographical correlation seems to have some merit in connexion with the later glaciations, but must have less force with earlier ice-sheets developed when topographical conditions were less like those of the present time. This prima facie evidence for the correlation of the Gipping is strongly upheld by the gradual uninterrupted passage