The Quaternary history of the subtidal central Wash, eastern England

Abstract

The history of Quaternary sedimentation in the subtidal Wash is described using high-resolution seismic profiles. The Pleistocene sequence is divided into three depositional units, comprising Anglian till overlain by possible Late Devensian subglacial scour fill and lacustrine sediments. These latter sediments may provide further evidence for a lake in the Wash impounded by ice along the Lincolnshire–Norfolk coast. The Holocene sequence is divided into six depositional units, each truncated by the one above. Estuarine sediment resting on a marine flooding surface forms the earliest unit. This sediment was partially eroded by migration of the shoreface as the marine flooding progressed landward. The following four units comprise sand and gravel banks deposited on the erosion surface. Bank deposition was followed by an episode of tidal scour caused either by increased tidal current velocities following reclamation of the Fenland or by breakdown of postulated former offshore barriers. The youngest and most extensive Holocene unit rests on the scoured surface and comprises several types of deposit. These are: large sand banks around the periphery of the subtidal area with sediment extending seawards into two NE–SW aligned troughs; low sand banks on a central ridge dividing the troughs and partially covering the sediments in the troughs; thick gravels towards the mouth of the Wash; muddy sediments forming drapes over the sand in the centre of the Wash. The data provide information on the variety of processes related to the advance and retreat of Pleistocene ice sheets in eastern England and the subsequent Holocene marine flooding of the Wash–Fenland embayment. The Holocene sequence reveals periods of widespread sedimentation separated by periods of both local and regional erosion, with possible implications for climatic and hydrodynamic change. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.