Timing and dynamics of Late Wolstonian Substage ‘Moreton Stadial’ (MIS 6) glaciation in the English West Midlands, UK

Abstract

Glaciation during the late Middle Pleistocene is widely recognized across continental northwest Europe, but its extent and palaeoenvironmental significance in the British Isles are disputed. Although glaciogenic sediments at Wolston, Warwickshire, in the English West Midlands, have been used to define the stratotype of the Wolstonian Stage, their age has been variably assigned between marine isotope stages (MIS) 12 and 6. Here we present sedimentological and stratigraphical observations from five sites across the English West Midlands whose chronology is constrained by new luminescence ages from glaciofluvial sediments, supplemented by cosmogenic 36 Cl exposure dating of erratic boulders. The ages suggest that between 199 ± 5 and 147 ± 2.5 ka the British Ice Sheet advanced into the English West Midlands as far south as Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. This advance is assigned to the Moreton Stadial of the Late Wolstonian Substage. Dating of the glaciation to this substage allows correlation of the Moreton Stadial glacial deposits in the English West Midlands with those of the Drenthe Stadial during the Late Saalian Substage across continental northwest Europe.

A revision of the British chronostratigraphy within the last glacial-interglacial cycle based on new evidence from Arclid, Cheshire UK

“…A pre-Ipswichian amino acid age from the Lapwing Bed was obtained from this unit (Bowen, 1992). Therefore, whilst a larger temporal hiatus between the Oakwood Formation till and the dated sands above cannot be ruled out, the Oakwood Formation till is most likely to be Wolstonian in age, due to its composition and recent evidence that the BIIS extended as far south as the Midlands and Eastern England during this time (Gibson et al, 2022;Gibbard et al, 2018, Fig. 1B).…”

“…1). There is evidence for glaciation during the Wolstonian (MIS 6) (Gibson et al, 2022;Fairburn and Bateman, 2021) and a temperate climate with widespread oak forests during the Ipswichian Interglacial (MIS 5e) (e.g., Hall et al, 2002;Gao and Boreham, 2011;Candy et al, 2016). Post-Ipswichian saw long-term cooling with BIIS expansion reaching its maximum extent at ~26 ka BP (Clark et al, 2022).…”

Palaeoenvironmental history of the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Gilson, Warwickshire, England: part of the High Speed Two railway route alignment

“…The latter are critically correlated at Gilson to the Wolston Glacigenic Formation of Shotton (1953) (and its regional equivalent sequence at Quinton, as represented by the Quinton interglacial formation and the following cold-Figure 7. A lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic chart of the Gilson (Grimstock Hill) and related regional sediments, modified from Shotton (1976), Brown (1980), Maddy (1999) and Gibson et al (2022). *1 The Nechells Upper glacial series comprises Edgbaston, Brookfields, Snow Hill and Aston Tills.…”

“…Further climate deterioration sees periglacial reworking of the Gilson Organic Beds and the formation of the overlying Gilson Sand and Silt). C. Glaciation during the Moreton Stadial (Gibson et al, 2022) leads to deposition of glaciofluvial sediments across the entire region, including the Gilson site. There is erosion of the Gilson Sand and Silt to an unknown degree.…”

“…The results are compared with both English West Midland and wider East Anglian palaeoenvironmental sequences for their stratigraphical implications. The correlation is critical since it provides a vital stratigraphical marker in the predominantly English West Midlands cold‐climate sequence, which includes the stratotype of the immediately post‐Hoxnian, Wolstonian ( = Saalian) Stage (Gibson et al, 2022).…”