Late Cenozoic uplift history of the Peak District, central England, inferred from dated cave deposits and integrated with regional drainage development: A review and synthesis

Abstract

The White Peak upland in the Peak District region of central England extends over an area of >100 km2, locally exceeding 400 m above sea-level, formed in extensively karstified limestone of Early Carboniferous age. Historically regarded as palaeo-karst, following the availability of U-series dates since the 1980s, it has become apparent that the superimposed cave levels in this region formed during the succession of Pleistocene interglacials, their differences in height reflecting downcutting by the River Derwent and its tributaries, in response to regional uplift. However, quantitative interpretation is complicated because of effects of glaciation, most importantly glacial diversion of rivers in adjoining lowland regions, making the determination of uplift from fluvial incision particularly difficult. The Derwent terrace dataset is also complicated by lithologically-controlled knickpoints, which can remain localized or propagate upstream depending on individual details. Cave, fluvial, and glacial datasets for this region are integrated to quantify the uplift history, establishing the Quaternary uplift history of a wide region of Britain. Uplift of >100 m since the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution, and by ~300–400 m since the Miocene, is thus inferred. These amounts exceed the uplift deduced over corresponding timescales in surrounding regions, indicating that the Quaternary uplift has slightly accentuated the overall domal form of this Carboniferous limestone inlier. The analysis supports the previous assignment of the Wragby Glaciation in the surrounding lowland regions to MIS 8 and constrains the most recent glaciation within the Peak District, represented by the Bakewell Till, also to MIS 8. Overall, this work provides an important case study demonstrating integrated use of multi-disciplinary datasets to quantify Late Cenozoic landscape development.