Pleistocene Environments in the British Isles

361 Pages·1993·15.9 MB·English

by  R. L. Jones, D. H. Keen (auth.)

Pleistocene
Environments
in the British Isles
Pleistocene
Environments
in the British Isles
R. L. Jones
and
D. H. Keen
Senior Lecturers in Geography, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
IDnl
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.v.
First edition 1993
© 1993 R. L. Jonesand D. H. Kecn
Originally publishcd by Chapman & Hali in 1993
Typeset in 10/12 Times by Execl Typeseucrs Comp.my. Hong Kong
ISBN 978-0-412-44190-5 ISBN 978-94-011-1520-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-1520-9
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Contents
ListofFigures x
ListofTables xiii
Acknowledgements xiv
Preface xv
1 Background 1
1.1 Basicconcepts 1
1.2 The natureoftheevidence 5
1.3 Typesofevidence 5
1.3.1 Sediments 6
1.3.1.1 Sedimentationincoldclimates 6
1.3.1.2 Sedimentationin temperateclimates 10
1.3.2 Soils 12
1.3.3 Geomorphology 14
1.3.4 Biologicalevidence 15
1.3.4.1 Pollenandspores 16
1.3.4.2 Diatoms 18
1.3.4.3 Plantmacrofossils 18
1.3.4.4 Vertebrates 18
1.3.4.5 Mollusca 19
1.3.4.6 Insects 21
1.3.4.7 Ostracoda 22
1.3.4.8 Foraminifera 22
1.4 Dating 23
1.4.1 Geochronometricagedeterminations 23
1.4.1.1 Laminations 23
1.4.1.2 Treerings 23
1.4.1.3 Lichens 24
1.4.1.4 Radiocarbon 24
1.4.1.5 Thermoluminescence 24
1.4.1.6 Uraniumseries 24
1.4.1.7 Potassium-argon 25
1.4.2 Relativeagedetermination 25
1.4.2.1 Amino-aciddiagenesis 25
1.4.2.2 Tephrochronology 26
1.4.2.3 Palaeomagnetism 26
1.4.2.4 Floraandfauna 27
VI Contents
1.4.2.5 Artifacts 28
1.5 Thenatureoftheevidenceand the meansofdivisionofthe Pleistoceneof
the British Isles 28
1.6 Conclusion 30
2 PreludetothePleistocene 31
2.1 Mioceneenvironments 31
2.2 Plioceneenvironments 33
2.3 ThePliocene-Pleistoceneboundary 38
2.4 Summary 39
3 TheLowerPleistocenebeforethePre-Pastonian 40
3.1 ProblemsofevaluationandcorrelationofLowerPleistocenedeposits 40
3.2 Thestagesand theirenvironments 42
3.2.1 ThePre-Ludhamian 43
3.2.2 TheLudhamianTemperateStage 44
3.2.3 TheThurnian ColdStage 46
3.2.4 TheAntianTemperateStage 46
3.2.5 TheBaventianColdStage 47
3.2.6 TheBramertonianTemperateStage 49
3.3 Gravelsand LowerPleistoceneenvironments 52
3.4 Theoffshoresequence 54
3.5 Correlation andconclusion 54
4 TheCromerForest-bedFormationandassociateddeposits 55
4.1 The stages and their environments 55
4.1.1 The Pre-Pastonian Cold Stage 55
4.1.2 The Pastonian Temperate Stage 58
4.1.3 The Beestonian Cold Stage 59
4.1.4 The Cromerian Temperate Stage 63
4.1.4.1 Flora and vegetation 64
4.1.4.2 Non-marine Mollusca 65
4.1.4.3 Marine Mollusca 66
4.1.4.4 Vertebrates 66
4.1.4.5 Other fossils 68
4.1.4.6 The presence of man 68
4.1.4.7 Pedogenesis 69
4.1.4.8 The offshore sequence and sea-levels 70
4.2 Summary and conclusions 70
5 The Anglian Cold Stage 73
5.1 East Anglia 73
5.2 The Vale of S1. Albans and the Thames Valley 77
5.3 The Midlands of England 79
5.4 Wales, and England south of the Lower Severn and Thames valleys 80
5.5 Northern England and Scotland 81
5.6 Ireland 82
Contents vii
5.7 The offshore sequence 82
5.8 Correlation, age and archaeology 82
6 The Hoxnian Temperate Stage 84
6.1 Flora and vegetation 84
6.2 Non-marine Mollusca 89
6.3 Marine Mollusca 91
6.4 Vertebrates 91
6.5 Other fossils 92
6.6 The presence of man 93
6.7 Pedogenesis 95
6.8 The offshore sequence and sea-levels 95
6.9 Correlation, age and duration 96
6.10 Conclusion 97
7 Post-Hoxnian and pre-Ipswichian events 98
7.1 The Wolstonian Cold Stage 98
7.1.1 The Midlands of England 98
7.1.2 Lincolnshire, East Anglia and the Thames Valley 102
7.1.3 Northern England and Scotland 105
7.1.4 Wales, Englandsouthofthe LowerSevern andThamesvalleys, andJersey 106
7.1.5 Ireland and the Isle of Man 107
7.1.6 The offshore sequence and sea-levels 108
7.2 Additional temperate episodes and intervening cold intervals 109
7.2.1 Re-evaluated sites 109
7.2.2 New sites 115
7.3 Towards a revised succession 119
7.4 Correlation with mainland Europe 121
7.5 Conclusion 122
8 The Ipswichian Temperate Stage 123
8.1 Flora and vegetation 123
8.2 Non-marine Mollusca 130
8.3 Marine Mollusca 132
8.4 Vertebrates 132
8.5 Insects 135
8.6 Other fossils 135
8.7 The presence of man 136
8.8 Pedogenesis 136
8.9 Rivers and sea-levels 137
8.10 The offshore sequence 140
8.11 Correlation, age and duration 140
8.12 Conclusion 142
9 The Devensian Cold Stage 143
9.1 The Early Devensian 145
9.1.1 The Cheshire-Lancashire lowlands 145
viii Contents
9.1.2 The Midlands of England 147
9.1.3 Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, the Peak District, northern Dukeries and
East Anglia 148
9.1.4 The Thames Valley 152
9.1.5 Wales 152
9.1.6 England south of the Lower Severn and Thames valleys 153
9.1.7 Jersey 155
9.1.8 Scotland 156
9.1.9 Ireland and the Isle of Man 156
9.1.10 The offshore sequence and sea-levels 159
9.1.11 Age and correlation 159
9.2 The Middle Devensian 162
9.2.1 The Midlands of England 162
9.2.2 Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, the northern Dukeries and East Anglia 165
9.2.3 The Thames Valley 167
9.2.4 Wales, and England south of the Lower Severn and Thames valleys 168
9.2.5 Jersey 169
9.2.6 Scotland 169
9.2.7 Ireland 170
9.2.8 The offshore sequence and sea-levels 170
9.2.9 Age and correlation 171
9.3 The Late Devensian 171
9.3.1 The Midlands of England, Cheshire-Lancashire lowlands and
northern Borders of Wales 174
9.3.2 North-eastern England and East Anglia 178
9.3.3 North-western England 186
9.3.4 The Thames Valley 189
9.3.5 Wales, and England south of the Lower Severn and Thames valleys 190
9.3.6 Scotland 195
9.3.7 Irelandandthe IsleofMan 199
9.3.8 Theoffshoresequenceandsea-levels 203
9.3.9 Ageandcorrelation 206
9.4 Conclusion 207
10 TheFlandrianTemperateStage 208
10.1 Thepresenceofman 210
10.1.1 LaterUpperPalaeolithicandMesolithic 210
10.1.2 Neolithic 213
10.1.3 TheBronzeAge 214
10.1.4 TheIron Age 215
10.1.5 Historictime 217
10.2 Floraandvegetation 218
10.2.1 EastAnglia 218
10.2.2 TheMidlandsofEngland 221
10.2.3 Wales 222
10.2.4 EnglandsouthoftheLowerSevernandThamesvalleys 223
10.2.5 TheScillyIsles, Channel IslandsandIsleofWight 224
Contents IX
10.2.6 Northern England 225
10.2.7 Scotland 228
10.2.8 Ireland 229
10.2.9 SpatialandtemporalvariationsinFlandrianvegetation 230
10.3 Non-marineMollusca 231
10.3.1 Terrestrialwoodlandandgrasslandassemblages 231
10.3.2 Freshwaterandmarshassemblages 233
10.3.3 Introducedspecies 235
10.4 MarineMollusca 236
10.5 Vertebrates 236
10.6 Insects 240
10.7 Otherfossils 245
10.7.1 Diatoms 245
10.7.2 Ostracoda 248
10.7.3 Foraminifera 248
10.7.4 Treerings 248
10.8 Non-biologicaldata 250
10.8.1 Magnetism 250
10.8.2 Chemical analysis 252
10.9 Soilandpeatformation anderosion 253
10.9.1 Soil 253
10.9.2 Peat 255
10.10 Rivers 257
10.11 Sea-levelsandcrustalmovements 258
10.11.1 North-easternEngland, EastAngliaandtheThamesEstuary 260
10.11.2 ThesouthcoastofEngland, andJersey 261
10.11.3 TheBristolChannel,westernandnorthern Walescoasts 263
10.11.4 North-westernEngland 263
10.11.5 Scotland 263
10.11.6 Ireland 268
10.11.7 Overviewofcrustalmovements 269
10.12 Theoffshoresequence 270
10.13 Climate 270
11 Epilogue 275
References 277
Index 333
List of Figures
1.1 Chronostratigraphicrangesofthesedimentaryfacies representedin the
Pleistocenedepositsofthe UKsectoroftheNorthSea 3
1.2 Pleistoceneclimaticsignalsandchronologies 4
1.3 Till 6
1.4 Head 7
1.5 Fluvioglacialsediment 8
1.6 Loess 9
1.7 Coversands 10
1.8 Ice-wedgecasts 11
1.9 Blanketpeat 12
1.10 Speleothems 13
1.11 Raised-beach material 14
1.12 Raisedshoreline 15
1.13 Organicmud 16
1.14 Palaeosols 17
1.15 CorrelationofD-alloisoleucine/L-isoleucinenon-marineeventsin the
BritishIsleswithodd-numberedoxygenisotopestages 26
2.1 Neogene materialsand localities 32
2.2 PliocenetoearlyMiddlePleistocenesequencesintheNetherlands, East
Angliaandthesouthern NorthSea 34
3.1 TheCragBasinandLowerPleistocenesites 41
3.2 Pollendiagramfrom theLudham borehole 44
3.3 Baventianicemarginsandice-movementdirections 48
3.4 Pollendiagramfrom Bramerton 49
3.5 PleistoceneevolutionoftheThamessystempriortothe AnglianGlaciation 50
3.6 TheThamesterracesequence 51
4.1 Cromerianandrelatedsites 56
4.2 Pollendiagramofthe Pastonian 57
4.3 Beestonianice marginsand ice-movementdirections 60
4.4 PollendiagramoftheCromerian 64
4.5 Climatecurveandchronostratigraphyfor the MiddlePleistoceneofthe
Netherlands 65
5.1 Anglianlocalitiesandglaciallimit 74
5.2 Palaeogeographicalreconstructionofthe Elsterian/AnglianStageatthe
glacialmaximum 75
5.3 TheAnglianGlaciationand initialdivertedcourseoftheThames 78
6.1 Hoxniansitesandcoastalpositions 85
List ofFigures Xl
6.2 Pollendiagramofthe HoxnianatMarksTey 86
6.3 Sectionacross BarnfieldPit, Swanscombe 90
6.4 PositionofLowerand MiddlePalaeolithicflint industrieswithin Pleistocene
stagesofBritain 94
7.1 Wolstoniansites 99
7.2 Wolstonian proglaciallakesandtheiroverflows 101
7.3 TheWolstonian and associatedglacialepisodes 104
7.4 Siteswithevidenceofadditionalpost-Hoxnian/pre-Ipswichiantemperate
andcoldepisodes 110
7.5 MinchinHolestratigraphy 112
7.6 Terracesequenceofthe Midland Avon 114
7.7 Terracesequenceofthe UpperThames 117
7.8 Marsworthstratigraphy 118
7.9 Vegetationalsuccessioninthe EarlySaalianoftheNetherlands 121
8.1 Ipswichiansitesandcoastalpositions 124
8.2 Ipswichianpollenzonerange diagram 125
8.3 Pollendiagramofthe Ipswichian 130
9.1 EarlyandMiddle Devensian/Midlandianlocalities 144
9.2 Deglacialretreatand readvanceoftheNorth AtlanticPolarFront 145
9.3 AverageJulytemperature variationin thesouthernandcentrallowlandsof
the British Islessincethe IpswichianInterglacial 146
9.4 FourAshesstratigraphy 148
9.5 Devensian iceadvancesandproglaciallakesineasternEngland 148
9.6 Bacon Holestratigraphy 153
9.7 TheMidlandianColdStage 158
9.8 TheMalin-Hebridesseaareas, stratigraphy 160
9.9 Devensian-Weichseliancorrelations 161
9.10 UpperPalaeolithicarchaeologyandtimescale 166
9.11 LateDevensian/Midlandianlocalitiesandicelimits 172
9.12 Stratigraphicevidencefor the DimlingtonStadialineasternEngland 173
9.13 TheDevensian Glaciationonthe North Welshborder 176
9.14 ThePitstone Soil 177
9.15 Distributionofloessand coversandsinEnglandandWales 179
9.16 Modelofthe LateDevensianicesheet 180
9.17 Devensianglacial features ofeastYorkshireand nearbyareas 182
9.18 Periglacialfeatures inBritainandIreland 183
9.19 Pollendiagramfrom LowWrayBay, Windermere 188
9.20 TheextentofDevensian glaciationinWales 191
9.21 The Aberdeen-Lammermuirand Perthreadvances 196
9.22 TheWesterRossand Loch Lomond readvances. Thedistributionof
Lateglacial marinedeposits. IsobasesfortheMainLateglacialShoreline 197
9.23 LateMidlandianice-sheetcharacteristicsand LatePleistocenelandbridge
routeways 201
10.1 ThePostglacialarchaeologicalandhistoricalsequenceanditstimescale 211
10.2 Archaeologicalsites 212
10.3 Pollenanddiatomlocalities 219
10.4 Pollendiagram oftheFlandrianatHockham 220