Pre-Würm periglacial phenomena in Britain
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1960/9/19Keywords:
periglacial phenomena, Quaternary, BritainAbstract
Pre-Würm periglacial manifestations are found mostly in southern England which was located outside the limits of the most extensive glaciations (Mindel and Riss). In this region, which was never covered by glaciers, we indicate a few periglacial phenomena to illustrate the methods used to date them. Geological methods have allowed us to attribute deposits of limestone bedrock (called coombe rock) and loess in the Thames Valley to two stages of the Riss glaciation. In the Weald thanks to geomorphological methods, a solifluction deposit belonging to the Mindel glaciation was distinguished. The correlation of head (gelifluction deposits) and loess deposits near Chichester with the Riss has been confirmed by micromorphological study of fossil soils. The size of fossil wedge-shaped cracks in northeast Yorkshire and the surface structures in central and southern England indicate intense cooling and a depth of frozen basement, that do not align with commonly held conceptions of the climate during the Würm. We believe that the large altiplanation terraces of Dartmoor are the result of several periglacial phases. However, further research will be needed before the contribution of pre-Würm phases to the cryogenic modification of landscapes in southwestern England can be properly assessed.
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