Flandrian Stage Research Articles

Drainage evolution in south and east England during the Pleistocene

ABSTRACTTwo major river systems operated in southern and eastern England throughout the Pleistocene: the river Thames and the Solent river. Both rivers are axial streams of comparable size draining major basinal structures comprising similar Tertiary and Mesozoic rocks. Although the modem Thames flows broadly W‐E in the London Basin, upstream of Reading it flows from the north to drain the south Midlands. It was diverted to its present course through London by glaciation in the Anglian (Elsterian) before which it flowed across East Anglia into the southem North Sea. The Solent river no longer exists since most of its course was drowned by eustatic sea‐level rise during the Flandrian Stage (Holocene). Previously, it flowed eastwards across SE Dorset and S Hampshire as an extension of the modem river Frome in the Hampshire Basin. During periods of low sea‐level (cold stages) it was a tributary of the ‘Channel River’. Fluvial aggradations provide evidence of the former courses of these substantial rivers and their tributaries. The facies and sedimentary structures indicate that the bulk of the deposits in both systems accumulated in braided river environments under periglacial climates. Fossiliferous sediments provide biostratigraphical frameworks. During temperate periods the rivers adopted singlethread courses. Evolution of both rivers reflect their responses to climatic change, local geological structure and long‐term tectonic activity. Both rivers are undoubtedly of considerable antiquity, their records potentially extend from the Early Pleistocene or Late Pliocene, but they may have originated in the early Tertiary.

Pleistocene evolution of the Solent River of southern England

The Solent River no longer exists since most of its course was drowned by eustatic sea level rise during the Flandrian Stage (Holocene). Previously, it flowed eastwards across southeast Dorset and south Hampshire as an extension of the River Frome. As such, it formed the axial major stream of the Hampshire Basin. A sequence of fluvial aggradations, ranging in height from 125 m O.D. to below sea level, provide evidence of the former courses of this substantial river and its tributaries. Detailed study of the deposits, supported by analysis of clast lithological assemblages provide the basis for the recognition of a series of lithostratigraphical units throughout the area. The facies and sedimentary structures indicate that the bulk of the deposits accumulated in a braided river environment under periglacial climates. Late Pleistocene fossiliferous sediments of Ipswichian and Flandrian age provide a biostratigraphical framework. The results demonstrate that the Solent River was a substantial system, comparable in size to the present Thames, and was a tributary of the ‘Channel River’ during periods of low sea level (cold stages). Evolution of the river reflects its response to climatic change, local geological structure and long term tectonic activity. Although datable deposits limit determination of the age of the Solent River sequence, it is undoubtedly of considerable antiquity and potentially extends back to the Early Pleistocene. Discussion of the sequence includes placing the events within their regional context.

FLANDRIAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MULL, SCOTLAND

SUMMARYPollen percentage and pollen concentration data are described from an infilled basin within a Loch Lomond Stadial end moraine at Gribun on the west coast of the Isle of Mull, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. The pollen profile, which is over 13 m deep, spans most of the Flandrian stage and constitutes one of the most detailed records of post–glacial vegetational change for any area in northern Britain. Nine local pollen assemblage zones and five pollen concentration zones are identified in the pollen diagrams, and these can be correlated with biozones recognized in other profiles on Mull. In general, the data from Gribun confirm the spatial and temporal patterns of Flandrian vegetational developments that have been suggested by these earlier studies. However, the high level of biostratigraphic resolution within the Gribun profile places these palaeobotanical and associated reconstructions on a more secure footing, and it is therefore proposed that Gribun be considered as the type site for the Flandrian stage in this area of western Scotland.

Cenozoic pedogenesis and landform development in south-east England

Summary Soils are useful stratigraphically because they mark land surfaces of significant duration. They also provide valuable palaeo-environmental evidence complementary to that obtained from sedimentary successions. In south-east England both buried and unburied soils are broadly divided on field morphology and petrographic characteristics into those formed during the Flandrian Stage and others (palaeo-argillic soils) dating from the Cromerian and later interglacial stages. Even where the latter are derived from pre-Quaternary deposits, as on the Chalk dipslope, their profile characteristics and stratigraphic relationships to remnants of early Quaternary marine deposits suggest development during the Quaternary rather than in the Tertiary. Although most major landscape features were probably inherited from the late Tertiary, the entire land surface of south-east England suffered significant Quaternary erosion, and there are no definite relics of Tertiary pedogenesis.

Pollen Diagrams from Holderness, North Humberside

Two pollen diagrams from Holderness, North Humberside, covering the Late Devensian substage and the Flandrian stage, are presented. Radiocarbon dating of the Late Devensian sediments at one site allowed the tentative estimation of pollen influx figures. The inferred vegetational history of the Late Devensian in Holderness appears to fit into place along a gradient of increasing oceanicity from east to west across northern Europe and a northsouth temperature gradient through eastern England. For the Flandrian stage regional pollen assemblage zones were constructed for Holderness. The vegetational history of the region was established through a comparison of the pollen profiles of the two distinctly different sites, one a valley mere and the other a kettle hole.

Sea-Level Changes in North-West England during the Flandrian Stage.

This book establishes sea-level movements in a limited geographical area, and proposes a new, much needed methodology for sea-level studies in humid, cool temperate latitudes. In surveying existing techniques and discussing the form and results of detailed stratigraphical and pollen analytical investigations the author not only provides a well-substantiated record of marine inundations but also uses a multi-disciplinary approach to devise methods for the study of sea-level movements. Geographers; geologists; botanists; those interested in coastal planning and conservation.

Book reviews : Tooley, M. Y. 1978: Sea-level changes in north-west England during the Flandrian Stage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. xvi + 232 pp. £12.00

Book reviews : Tooley, M. Y. 1978: Sea-level changes in north-west England during the Flandrian Stage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. xvi + 232 pp. £12.00

Sea-Level Changes: North-West England during the Flandrian Stage

Sea-Level Changes: North-West England during the Flandrian Stage

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes. Geographical Essays. D. W. Meinig (Ed.). Cities of Peasants. The Political Economy of Third World Urbanization. Bryan Roberts. European Settlement and Development in North America: Essays on Geographical Change in Honour and Memory of Andrew Hill Clark. James R. Gibson (Ed.). Boundary Layer Climates. T. R. Oke. A Political Geography of Africa. E. A. Boateng. Images of the Ohio Valley; A Historical Geography of Travel, 1740–1860. John A. Jukle. Patterns of Disease and Hunger: A Study in Medical Geography. Andrew Learmonth. …And the Desert Shall Rejoice: Conflict, Growth, and Justice in Arid Environments. Arthur Maass and Raymond L. Anderson. Water Management in the Yellow River Basin of China. Charles Greer. Sea-Level Changes: North-West England During the Flandrian Stage. M. J. Tooley.

Sea‐level changes. North West England during the flandrian stage, M. J. Tooley, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1978. No. of paces: 232 Price £12.00

Sea‐level changes. North West England during the flandrian stage, M. J. Tooley, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1978. No. of paces: 232 Price £12.00

Foraminiferal assemblages as flandrian palaeo-environmental indicators

The sediments deposited during the Flandrian Stage in Swansea Bay, South Wales, have been sampled by offshore gravity coring and drilling, and by drilling in the intertidal and supratidal zones. Sedimentological and microfaunal analyses have revealed that the late Devensian boulder-clay surface was progressively transgressed over the period 10,000–2,500 years B.P., and that a sequence of environments from the supralittoral marsh through high mudflats, low mudflats, littoral and sublittoral sandflats developed; each palaeoenvironment is characterised by its own, distinctive foraminiferal assemblage, with indigenous and allochthonous components.

Flandrian sea‐level changes in west Lancashire and their implications for the ‘Hillhouse Coastline’

AbstractA relative sea‐level curve for the Flandrian Stage has been drawn, based on twenty‐three index points from west Lancashire and three from north Cheshire. Twenty‐two of the points derive from a restricted area flanking the River Ribble, and one from Morecambe Bay. Evidence for sea‐level changes comes from detailed stratigraphic and pollen analyses on material selected for radiocarbon assays. Eleven periods of marine transgression are recognised in northwest England, and these are compared with periods of marine transgression elsewhere in northwest Europe. The evidence for the ‘Hillhouse Coastline’ is considered in relation to the periods of marine transgression established in northwest England.