The Oligocene and Miocene Outliers of West Cornwall and their Bearing on the Geomorphological Evolution of Oldland Britain

Walsh, Peter; Atkinson, Keith; Boulter, M. C.; Shakesby, Richard A.

doi:10.1098/rsta.1987.0082

Cited by 31 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…6) is indeed a Mid-Pliocene wavecut platform, as was thought prior to the Walsh et al (1987) revision of the chronology (see online supporting information for details of their revision to the chronology and reasons for the subsequent reversion to the chronology assumed beforehand). Erosion of the palaeocliffline at its landward margin (Fig.…”

Section: Longer-timescale Landscape Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cenozoic uplift of southwest England

Westaway

2010

J Quaternary Science

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The uplift history of southwest England is inferred using a composite dataset including marine and fluvial terraces and karstic data. The estimated post-Mid-Pliocene uplift increases eastward from $130 m in west Cornwall and $135 m in south Devon to $150 m in the Hampshire Basin. The post-Early-Pleistocene uplift likewise increases eastward, from $55 m in west Cornwall to $60 m in south Devon and $80 m in Hampshire. Landscape and thermochronological evidence also indicates Eocene uplift, caused by the British Tertiary Igneous Province magmatism; this component tapers eastward from $300 m in west Cornwall to $50 m in south Devon, with subsidence in east Devon. This uplift accompanied magmatic underplating; the mafic layer added to the basal crust thins eastward from $6 km in west Cornwall to $2 km in south Devon, evidently tapering to zero farther east. The laterally variable crustal properties caused by this variation in underplating have affected the post-MidPliocene uplift; the study region is thus intermediate, in terms of crustal strength and landscape evolution, between central-southern England, with no underplating, and Ireland, where $10 km thick underplating has resulted in extreme Late Cenozoic landscape stability. The Eocene mantle-plumerelated uplift is distinct from the post-Mid-Pliocene phase which, the modelling indicates, has been driven by surface processes and, thus, by climate change.

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Section: Longer-timescale Landscape Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cenozoic uplift of southwest England

Westaway

2010

J Quaternary Science

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“…A widespread planation surface of presumed middle Miocene age ('Reskajeage surface') is recognised across western Britain and beyond (Walsh et al, 1987(Walsh et al, , 1996Walsh, 1999). In north-east Scotland kaolin weathering took place in the middle Miocene under temperatures of 15 ± 5 °C (Hall et al, 2015).…”

Section: Neogenementioning

confidence: 99%

Filling the North Sea Basin: Cenozoic sediment sources and river styles

Gibbard¹,

Lewin²

2016

Geol. Belg.

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ABSTRACT. The history of the infilling of the North Sea is outlined, with particular focus on sediment sources and river inputs. In simple terms (for the detail is complex), these sources changed from domination by northwesterly sources from the Shetland area (Paleocene to Eocene), to a geographically more uniform basin-centred pattern, and then northerly input following Fennoscandian uplift (Oligocene and Neogene). Baltic inputs followed via an 'Eridanos (Baltic) River' (Miocene), with cold-climate coarser sediment inputs, and lacustrine episodes resulting from ice damming (Pleistocene). River styles in each of these phases are discussed, with the Cenozoic at first being dominated by low energy fluvial deposition (channel sands, chemically weathered clays, and organic sedimentation) in fluctuating climates. Cold climates in the latest Neogene and Quaternary are seen as major determinant of a change in fluvial style, though these are also associated with tectonic effects, as in Scandinavia. The mediating role of vegetation, relating also to temperature and precipitation, is also likely to have been significant. Narrow valley incision followed the Middle Pleistocene Transition, as well as an increasing importance of Rhine-Meuse sources that had begun earlier.

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“…In fact, a series of benches has been identified along the coast and attributed to progressively lower transgressions in the Pliocene and Quaternary. This marine interpretation has been challenged by Walsh et al (1987Walsh et al ( , 1999 who showed the presence of deeply weathered rock and Oligocene (Chattian) and Miocene sediments within this regional surface. Similarly, Battiau-Queney (1984) reports that deeply weathered rock (up to 20 m) underlies this surface in Pembrokeshire in Wales.…”

Section: The Neogenementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Deep weathering profiles of a thickness up to 15 m have probably formed in less than 1 Ma. In North Wales and Derbyshire the Mio-Pliocene Brassington formation consists of pockets of what appear to be products of tropical weathering (Walsh et al 1972), while in Cornwall Walsh et al (1987Walsh et al ( , 1999 believe they have identified pockets of Miocene saprolite on an etchplain of tropical and subtropical origins. Similarly, Battiau-Queney (1984) claims to identify inselbergs, tropical planation surfaces and tropical weathering products in Wales.…”

Section: Possible Mechanisms Of Landscape Development In the Palaeogenementioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-Quaternary geomorphological history and geoheritage of Britain

Migoń

Goudie

2012

Quaestiones Geographicae

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AbstrAct. Substantial parts of the British Isles preserve landscapes that are the legacy of pre-Quaternary times. Some of these may be the result of burial and exhumation of pre-Cenozoic features. However, most landscapes post-date the Cretaceous transgression during which a Chalk mantle was laid down. Much of the British Isles became land during the Palaeogene and the Chalk cover was rapidly removed over large areas. Sea floor spreading, thermal uplift, and intrusion and extrusion of igneous material occurred. Landscapes also evolved in response to warm climatic conditions and this may have led to etchplanation. In the Neogene various surface formed and were affected by ongoing tectonic activity. Various estimates have been made of Cenozoic denudation rates and amounts, but they appear to have varied spatially and temporally. Landscapes which provide tangible evidence of pre-Quaternary times include those of north-east Scotland and southern England. Such ancient landscapes are important components of the Geoheritage of Britain.

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The Oligocene and Miocene Outliers of West Cornwall and their Bearing on the Geomorphological Evolution of Oldland Britain

Cited by 31 publications

References 20 publications

Cenozoic uplift of southwest England

Cenozoic uplift of southwest England

Filling the North Sea Basin: Cenozoic sediment sources and river styles

Pre-Quaternary geomorphological history and geoheritage of Britain

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