The palaeogeography and correlation of pre-Anglian-Glaciation terraces of the River Thames in Essex and the London Basin

Whiteman, Colin A.

doi:10.1016/s0016-7878(08)80197-6

Cited by 37 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Figure 1A shows the earliest known route of the Thames into East Anglia, as recorded by the distribution of the Highlevel Kesgrave Sands and Gravels (Hey, 1980;Allen, 1984), also called the Sudbury Formation by Whiteman and Rose (1992). At least two separate terrace aggradations are recognized within these gravels (Allen, 1984;Whiteman, 1992), which are thought to date entirely from the Early Pleistocene (Hey, 1980). They were deposited predominantly under a periglacial climate, but may have been fed by glaciation(s) in the headwaters of what was then a much larger Thames catchment (Hey, 1980;Bowen et ai, 1986;Whiteman and Rose, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quaternary River Diversions in the London Basin and the Eastern English Channel

Bridgland¹,

Gibbard²

2007

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The principal river of the London basin, the Thames, has experienced a number of course changes during the Quaternary. Some, at least, of these are known to result directly from glaciation. In the early Quaternary the river flowed to the north of London across East Anglia to the north coast of Norfolk. By the early Middle Pleistocene it had changed its course to flow eastwards near the Suffolk - Essex border into the southern North Sea. The Thames valley to the north of London was blocked by ice during the Anglian/Elsterian glaciation, causing a series of glacial lakes to form. Overflow of these lakes brought the river into its modern valley through London. It is thought that this valley already existed by the Anglian in the form of a tributary of the north-flowing River Medway, which joined the old Thames valley near Clacton. Also during the Anglian/Elsterian glaciation. British and continental ice masses are thought to have joined in the northern part of the North Sea basin, causing a large lake to form between the east coast of England and the Netherlands. It is widely believed that the overflow from this lake caused the first breach in the Weald-Artois Ridge, bringing about the formation of the Strait of Dover. Prior to the glaciation the Thames, in common with rivers from the continent (including the Rhine and Meuse), flowed into the North Sea Basin. It seems that, after the lake overflow, these rivers together drained southwards into the English Channel. Whether this southern drainage route was adopted during all later periods of low sea level remains to be determined, but it seems certain that this was the case during the last glacial.De nombreuses captures ont modifé le cours de la Tamise et des autres fleuves du bassin de Londres au cours du Quaternaire. L'une d'entre elles au moins est le résultat direct des glaciations. Au Quaternaire inférieur. Ia Tamise coulait au nord de Londres à travers l'East Anglia, vers la côte nord du Norfolk. Au début du Pléistocène moyen, elle avait changé de cours pour se diriger vers l'est, à la frontière entre Essex et Suffolk, vers le sud de la mer du Nord. Au cours du maximum glaciaire de l'Anglien/Elstérien, les glaces ont bloqué la vallée de la Tamise au nord de Londres, provoquant la formation de lacs. La vidange de ces lacs a provoqué le déversement de la rivière vers sa basse vallée actuelle. Celle-ci existait déjà, mais était alors parcourue par un affluent de la Medway qui coulait vers le nord, et rejoignait l'ancienne vallée de la Tamise aux environs de Clacton. Il semble que durant les glaciations de l'Anglien et de l'Elstérien, les calottes glaciaires britannique et continentale étaient coalescentes dans la partie septentrionale du bassin de la mer du Nord. Il en est résulté la formation d'un vaste lac entre les côtes de l'Angleterre orientale, du Danemark et des Pays-Bas. L'écoulement de ce lac s'est probablement fait par la Manche, entre le Weald et le massif de l'Artois, provoquant la formation du Pas de Calais. Avant la glaciation. Ia Tamise confluait avec...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quaternary River Diversions in the London Basin and the Eastern English Channel

Bridgland¹,

Gibbard²

2007

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“…These have been removed for this paper and 'envelopes' drawn around each terrace deposit ( Figure 3b) instead to more accurately reflect the complexity involved in correlating terrace fragments from such data. Increased complexity when the full thickness of sediment is used to define terrace bodies was also observed by Whiteman (1992) and Veldkamp and Kroonenberg (1993b). Table 3 shows a comparison of the Westaway et al and PASHCC stratigraphic schemes.…”

Section: Comparison Of Thementioning

confidence: 52%

“…the Thames-Medway in eastern Essex -Bridgland, 2003 and references contained therein; the Kesgrave Thames in Suffolk - Whiteman, 1992;Whiteman and Rose, 1992). River terrace fragments can also be correlated using stratigraphic markers associated with volcanic activity (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrace reconstruction and long profile projection: a case study from the Solent river system near Southampton, England

Briant

Bates

Marshall

et al. 2012

Proceedings of the Geologists' Association

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(up to 200 words)River terrace sequences are important frameworks for archaeological evidence and as such it is important to produce robust correlations between what are often fragmentary remnants of ancient terraces. This paper examines both conceptual and practical issues related to such correlations, using a case study from the eastern part of the former Solent River system near Southampton, England. In this region two recent terrace schemes have been constructed using different data to describe the terrace deposits: one based mainly on terrace surfaces; the other on gravel thicknesses, often not recording the terrace surface itself. The utility of each of these types of data in terrace correlation is discussed in relation to the complexity of the record, the probability of post-depositional alteration of surface sediments and comparison of straight-line projections with modern river long profiles. Correlation using age estimates is also discussed, in relation to optically-stimulated luminescence dating of sand lenses within terrace gravels in this region during the PASHCC project. It is concluded that the need for replication at single sites means that this approach has limited use for correlative purposes, although dating of sediments is important for understanding wider landscape evolution and patterns of human occupation.2

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“…Some elements of the problem are no longer in serious dispute, including the provenance of the Thames gravels (Hey and Brenchley, 1977;Green et ai, 1980;Bridgland, 1986;Whiteman, 1990), their fluvial origin, and the former existence of a larger Thames catchment, the latter strongly implied by both gravel lithology and the spatial distribution and gradients of the surfaces of the gravel members of the Sudbury Formation (Whiteman, 1992;Whiteman and Rose, 1992;Bridgland, 1994). What is not known for certain is the exact size and shape of the former catchment and the nature of the mechanism which led to its truncation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several types of lithological and morphological evidence for the contraction of the Thames river catchment have been recognised (Whiteman, 1990;Rose, 1994); (i) mean ratios of flint to quartz plus quartzite in 58 comparable clast analyses from southern East Anglia (Hey, 1965(Hey, , 1980Allen, 1984;Bridgland, 1988;Whiteman, 1990) show a conspicuous difference of lithology between the Sudbury and Colchester Formations reflecting a change in the source of sediment; (ii) both a decrease in floodplain width and an increase in floodplain sinuosity are revealed by the reconstruction of terrace surfaces from borehole evidence in the Vale of St. Albans and western Essex (Whiteman, 1990) which is likely to reflect the smaller discharge of the river which deposited the Colchester Formation; (iii) the steeper surface gradients of the terraces that form the members of the Colchester Formation compared to those of the Sudbury Formation reflects the smaller discharge of the later river and the new relative position of these younger terraces near the head of a shortened catchment; (iv) it seems possible to explain the position of flu-FIGURE 3. Davisian-type reconstruction of consequent rivers (from Buckman, 1900, Fig.…”

Section: Evidence For Contraction Of the Thames Catchmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early-Middle Pleistocene Beheading of the River Thames

Whiteman¹,

Rose²

2007

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This paper marks the centenary of the first of three articles by W.M. Davis on the beheading of the Thames, beginning with a statement of his capture hypothesis in 1895 and concluding with attempts to explain anomalous misfit streams in 1899 and 1909. It discusses Davis's classic thesis of river capture by slow, long-term landscape evolution and his apparent reluctance to accept the fact of rapid Quaternary climate change. In contrast, recent work based on lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and morphostratigraphy emphasises the dynamism of the Quaternary Period and its influence on river capture. Possible mechanisms for the beheading of the Thames, tectonism, glacial erosion and conventional Davisian river capture, and the timing of the event, are discussed. In conclusion, the paper summarises known and unknown components of the problem of the beheading of the Thames, and discusses the extent of Davis's influence on later Thames studies.Cet article marque le centenaire du premier de trois articles consacrés par W.M. Davis à la capture de la Tamise qui commençait par une déclaration de son hypothèse de capture en 1895 et concluait par des tentatives d'explication du réseau inadapté, en 1899 et 1909. L'article discute de la thèse classique de Davis de capture suivant une évolution lente, à long terme, du paysage, et son apparente réticence à accepter le fait des changements climatiques rapides survenus au Quaternaire. Par opposition, les travaux récents, fondés sur la lithostratigraphie, la biostratigraphie et la morphostratigraphie, soulignent l'importance de la période quaternaire et son influence sur les captures. Les mécanismes pouvant être responsables de la capture de la Tamise, notamment la tectonique, l'érosion glaciaire, la capture fluviale classique selon Davis, ainsi que la chronologie des événements, sont discutés. En conclusion, cet article résume les faits connus et les éléments méconnus du problème de la capture de la Tamise et discute des limites de l'influence de Davis sur les études postérieures sur la Tamise.Dieser Artikel hebt den hundertsten Jahrestag des Erscheinens des ersten von drei Artikeln von W.M. Davis ïiber die Ablenkung der Themse hervor. Dieser begann 1895 mit der Darlegung seiner Ablenkungs-Hypothese und schloss 1899 und 1909 mit Erklàrungsversuchen anomaler unteroder uberfâhiger Strômungen. Der Artikel setzt sich mit Davis' klassischer These der Flussablenkung durch langsame langzeitige Landschaftsentwicklung auseinander sowei seinem Widerstreben, die Tatsache einer schnellen Klimaverànderung im Quartâr zu akzeptieren. Im Gegensatz dazu betonen neuere Arbeiten ausgehend von Lithostratigraphie, Biostratigraphie und Morphostratigraphie die Dynamik der Quartâr-Zeit und ihren Einfluss auf die Flussablenkung. Môgliche Mechanismen bei der Ablenkung der Themse wie Tektonik, glaziale Erosion und die konventionelle Flussablenkung nach Davis, sowie der zeitliche Ablauf dieses Geschehens werden diskutiert. Abschliessend fasst der Artikel bekannte und unbekannte Elemente des Problems der Ablen...

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The palaeogeography and correlation of pre-Anglian-Glaciation terraces of the River Thames in Essex and the London Basin

Cited by 37 publications

References 55 publications

Quaternary River Diversions in the London Basin and the Eastern English Channel

Quaternary River Diversions in the London Basin and the Eastern English Channel

Terrace reconstruction and long profile projection: a case study from the Solent river system near Southampton, England

Early-Middle Pleistocene Beheading of the River Thames

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