Late Quaternary palaeontology, sedimentology and geochemistry of a vibrocore from the Witch Ground Basin, central North Sea

Abstract

Results are detailed from analytical procedures carried out on a single closely sampled 5.7 m long vibrocore from the Witch Ground Basin, central North Sea. Information about the environmental conditions during the deposition of the Witch Ground Formation, of late Weichselian to Holocene age, was obtained by combining the various palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical results. This has suggested that a complete glaciomarine to marine sequence from before 13,000 to after 10,000 B.P. is present in the central North Sea. An ash layer equated with the Vedde Ash of western Norway has been identified for the first time in the UK sector.