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Evidence for late Middle Pleistocene glaciation of the British margin of the southern North Sea

White, Tom S.; Bridgland, David R.; Westaway, Ron; Straw, Allan

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Authors

Tom S. White

Ron Westaway

Allan Straw



Abstract

The timing and extent of late Middle Pleistocene glaciations in England and the southern North Sea are controversial topics. The recent Trent Valley Palaeolithic Project uncovered evidence for a post-Anglian, pre-Devensian glaciation that affected much of central and eastern England; the Wragby Till of Lincolnshire is associated with this glacial event, attributed here to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 8. Coeval glacigenic deposits in the Middle Trent suggest that both western and eastern lobes of MIS 8 ice reached the Derby area. These various deposits have been assigned previously to MIS 12, 10 or 6, although the last can be excluded for the Wragby Till, which is overlain by Trent terrace deposits assigned to MIS 7 (from biostratigraphy and amino acid dating). The disposition of these glacigenic deposits within the landscape, particularly in relation to terrace deposits of the ancestral River Trent, and the absence of MIS 11 and 9 deposits within the footprint of the glaciation also provide compelling evidence. At its maximum extent in eastern England the MIS 8 ice reached the Peterborough area; identifying its extension (or otherwise) into areas such as north-west Norfolk and the West Midlands requires further work.

Citation

White, T. S., Bridgland, D. R., Westaway, R., & Straw, A. (2017). Evidence for late Middle Pleistocene glaciation of the British margin of the southern North Sea. Journal of Quaternary Science, 32(2), 261-275. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2826

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 11, 2015
Online Publication Date Feb 1, 2016
Publication Date Feb 1, 2017
Deposit Date Mar 2, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Quaternary Science
Print ISSN 0267-8179
Electronic ISSN 1099-1417
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 32
Issue 2
Pages 261-275
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2826

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: White, T. S., Bridgland, D. R., Westaway, R. and Straw, A. (2017), Evidence for late Middle Pleistocene glaciation of the British margin of the southern North Sea. Journal of Quaternary Science. 32(2): 261-275, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2826. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.





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