a lower palaeolithic industry from the cromerian mis 13 baginton formation of waverley wood and wood farm pits bubbenhall warwickshire uk artefacts of cromerian mis 13 age recovered from extensions to the classic site of waverley wood farm pit warwickshire give new insights into the lower palaeolithic and pleistocene geological record of the english midlands the baginton formation in the area to the south and southwest of coventry has been the major source of lower palaeolithic artefacts in the midlands since the first discoveries in the 1930s current sand and gravel workings at waverley wood and wood farm pits near the village of bubbenhall have provided artefacts of quartzite andesite and flint together with sparse large mammal material some of the lower palaeolithic finds were in situ in the succession providing for the first time firm evidence of their geological provenance the variety and number of the artefacts allows detailed evaluation of the largest group of lower palaeolithic tools to be found in the west midlands the petrology of some of the tools and associated clasts in the gravels at the base of the baginton formation allow speculation on the origin of the rock types from northwest and eastern england which may have been brought to the west midlands by a pre anglian glaciation or just possibly by human transport copyright 2006 john wiley sons ltd

middle pleistocene climate and hydrological environment at the boxgrove hominin site west sussex uk from ostracod records the sediments of the slindon formation at the junction of the chalk south downs and the west sussex coastal plain as revealed and studied at boxgrove contain evidence for early middle pleistocene environments in southern england around half a million years ago the archaeological importance of the deposits is attested to by the recovery of stone and organic tools butchered fauna and fossil hominin remains we combine palaeoecological and geochemical analyses of ostracods from the coastal plain deposits to reconstruct the climate and environment at one period of the hominin occupation the stratigraphy of our study area is indicative of a terrestrial environment surrounding a small lake or pond ostracod assemblages from the sediments indicate that the ponds were shallow but permanent and fed by groundwater and springwater however the species alone cannot confirm that these ponds were completely fresh application of mutual climatic range mcr techniques shows that summer temperatures were similar to present day values and winter temperatures were probably colder whereas mean annual air temperature was similar to present or perhaps slightly cooler trace element and strontium isotope analyses of ostracods from the sediments support the conclusion that the ponds were fed largely by fresh groundwater derived from the chalk although there may have been a minor seawater input the carbon isotope ratios of the ostracod shells are consistent with a groundwater source although they also indicate that the dissolved inorganic carbon most likely did not reach equilibrium with atmospheric carbon dioxide suggesting that the ponds had short residence time the combination of palaeotemperature estimates with oxygen isotope values from ostracod shells allowed us to reconstruct the oxygen isotope ratio of the pond water which was close to the value of early middle pleistocene precipitation at this site values were similar to present day suggesting that there may have been a change in seasonality or precipitation source since the mean air temperatures might have been lower

lower and middle pleistocene human settlements recorded in fluvial deposits of the middle loire river basin centre region france abstract this paper records the findings from c 80 prehistoric sites that have been discovered in the alluvial deposits of the rivers creuse cher and loir tributaries of the middle loire river over the period since 1981 these deposits comprise river terrace aggradations formed during successive glacial interglacial cycles which have recorded climate and environment during quaternary time the systematic dating of these river deposits by electron spin resonance esr applied to optically bleached sedimentary quartz has resulted in the establishment of a chronological framework for the evolution of these rivers during lower and middle pleistocene between 1 7 ma and 130 ka evidence for early palaeolithic mode 1 industries with an in situ context workshops soils in the highest aggradations indicates that hominins were present in the study area near the geographical centre of france 47 n around 1 1 ma examination of the sites indicates that human occupations were located along valley bottom sites during temperate episodes subsequently after a gap of several hundred thousand years industries with handaxes appear in the middle loire basin in the interval between 700 and 600 ka and then continuously from 400 ka these two phases of settlement produced industrial assemblages with clear differences in their responses to the supplies of raw materials and in the modes of making flakes

palaeogeography europe cut adrift the floor of the english channel provides evidence for two catastrophic floods arising from the drainage of huge glacial lakes in the area of the southern north sea these megafloods made britain what it is today britain became geographically isolated from continental europe when high interglacial seas flooded the shallow english channel and north sea shelf areas but a tenuous link remained the weald artois chalk ridge between southeast england and northwest france just how this isthmus was breached making britain an island has been a matter of conjecture a new bathymetric map of the sea floor may solve the mystery it reveals a large bedrock floored valley containing landforms including grooves and streamlined islands consistent with a megaflood event caused when a rock dam at the dover strait breached draining a large pro glacial lake in the north sea basin

modelled atmospheric temperatures and global sea levels over the past million years the climate has passed through a series of glacials and interglacials over the past million years but the nature of this cyclicity in terms of temperature ice volume and sea level and the underlying causes are not well known bintanja et al use a new method to deduce a one million year time series of these variables the reconstructed records are much longer than other methods have provided for any of these variables individually the most intense glacial stages were 17 c colder than today and most of the continental ice was present in north america strong cooling in the beginning of glacials was found to precede ice sheet build up these findings may shed light on the causes of ice age cycles marine records of sediment oxygen isotope compositions show that the earth s climate has gone through a succession of glacial and interglacial periods during the past million years but the interpretation of the oxygen isotope records is complicated because both isotope storage in ice sheets and deep water temperature affect the recorded isotopic composition1 2 3 4 5 separating these two effects would require long records of either sea level or deep ocean temperature which are currently not available here we use a coupled model of the northern hemisphere ice sheets6 and ocean temperatures forced to match an oxygen isotope record for the past million years compiled from 57 globally distributed sediment cores to quantify both contributions simultaneously we find that the ice sheet contribution to the variability in oxygen isotope composition varied from ten per cent in the beginning of glacial periods to sixty per cent at glacial maxima suggesting that strong ocean cooling preceded slow ice sheet build up the model yields mutually consistent time series of continental mean surface temperatures between 40 and 80 n ice volume and global sea level we find that during extreme glacial stages air temperatures were 17 1 8 c lower than present with a 120 10 m sea level equivalent of continental ice present

a catastrophic origin for the palaeovalley system of the eastern english channel abstract the partially infilled valley system found in the floor of the eastern english channel is not typical of a normal river system and a catastrophic flood which modified a former fluvial system is invoked the breaching of a permafrost sealed chalk barrier at the site of the present dover strait in late quaternary times permitted the scouring of the exposed channel floor modification of the palaeovalley system and the creation of the hurd deep the flood waters involved in this short lived event were released from a lake developed between an ice front in the central north sea and the northern limb of the weald artois anticlinorium a number of related consequences are described including complexities in the late quaternary successions bordering the north sea and sea floor features in the north sea and western english channel

mapping the human record in the british early palaeolithic evidence from the solent river system the lithic record from the solent river and its tributaries is re examined in the light of recent interpretations about the changing demography of britain during the lower and early middle palaeolithic existing models of the terrace stratigraphies in the solent and its tributary areas are reviewed and the corresponding archaeological record specifically handaxes for each terrace is assessed to provide models for the relative changes in human occupation through time the bournemouth area is studied in detail to examine the effects of quarrying and urbanisation on collection history and on the biases it introduces to the record in addition the effects of reworking of artefacts from higher into lower terraces are assessed and shown to be a significant problem although there is very little absolute dating available for the solent area a cautious interpretation of the results from these analyses would suggest a pre marine isotope stage mis 12 date for the first appearance of humans a peak in population between mis 12 and 10 and a decline in population during mis 9 and 8 owing to poor contextual data and small sample sizes it is not clear when levallois technology was introduced this record is compared and contrasted to that from the thames valley it is suggested that changes in the palaeogeography of britain in particular land connections to the continent might have contributed to differences in the archaeological records from the solent and thames regions copyright 2009 john wiley sons ltd

the british pleistocene fluvial archive east midlands drainage evolution and human occupation in the context of the british and nw european record this paper reviews the pleistocene evolution and human occupation of the river trent the major fluvial artery draining midland britain and places it within a modern quaternary context in contrast to the sedimentary records of the river thames and the erstwhile bytham system which extend back to the early pleistocene present knowledge of the terrace sequence of the trent its tributary systems and associated ancestral courses extends back only to the anglian glaciation marine isotope stage mis 12 although the regional pre anglian drainage configuration is demonstrably complex the post anglian sequence is well developed with major terrace sand and gravel aggradations associated with each subsequent cold stage temperate climate sediments correlating with mis 7 and 5e have been recorded although deposits relating to earlier interglacials during mis 11 and 9 have yet to be identified evidence for human occupation in the form of lower and middle palaeolithic artefacts has been recorded from terrace sediments correlated with mis 8 and mis 4 but the majority of this material is heavily rolled and abraded suggesting significant reworking from older deposits this review demonstrates that there is a rich palaeo environmental record from the trent but the lack of a high resolution chronostratgraphic framework raises issues about correlation with other systems

palaeolithic archaeology and the british quaternary sequence abstract studies within the last two decades culminating in the recent publication of the i g c p project 24 quaternary glaciations in the northern hemisphere sibrava et al 1986 have amplified changed or questioned much of the accepted sequence in britain during the middle and late pleistocene this review takes the chronology of events as now seen and relates it to the evidence for the palaeolithic period prior to that in the reach of radiocarbon dating it would indicate that there was considerable human activity in britain before the hoxnian stage and that acheulian hand axe industries of considerable refinement were present and that these industries occurred before or co existed with non hand axe clactonian industries only the latter can be demonstrated as having been present during the earlier part of the hoxnian interglacial acheulian industries occur in various forms from towards the close of this interglacial and during the long period before the ipswichian stage it is not possible to demonstrate a human presence during the ipswichian interglacial as represented by the type site and artifacts occur very sparsely if at all in sediments attributed to other warm periods or the period between the hoxnian and ipswichian stages levallois technique is not found as a significant element of flint industries until the latter part of this period during the first half of the devensian stage flint industries with distinctive hand axes and levallois flakes occur and can be described as mousterian of acheulian tradition

riparian landscapes and human habitat preferences during the hoxnian mis 11 interglacial the archaeological environmental and geological data from hoxnian interglacial marine isotope stage mis 11 sites from britain are examined to elucidate the type of habitats that humans preferred during this temperate episode the conclusion is that humans avoided lacustrine situations but did make use of the full range of resources that fluvial environments provide this model is strengthened by the examination of other non archaeological hoxnian sites the problem of archaeological visibility in lacustrine sediment sequences is also discussed and methods of identifying other evidence of human presence are suggested that may offset the deficiencies in the lithic record these include presence of cut marked bone micro debitage and possibly charcoal in fine grained sediments deposited in distal settings the reasons for human selection of fluvial situations are discussed it is concluded that these environments provide a greater diversity of animal plant and lithic resources but also are major route ways through the landscape patterns of human site use are identified which seem to be triggered by local changes in hydrology and drainage themselves possibly caused by regional changes in climate finally lower palaeolithic sites on the interfluves are discussed although they lack environmental or dating evidence it is tentatively suggested that they were used during cooler episodes when more open conditions prevailed copyright 2006 john wiley sons ltd

accelerated uplift resulting from anglian glacioisostatic rebound in the middle thames valley uk evidence from the river terrace record abstract a relatively simple analysis of the terraces of the middle thames valley reveals a complex sequence of responses to late anglian late middle pleistocene drainage disruption a decrease in the amounts of vertical incision separating the later post anglian terraces strongly suggests a major change in the rate of incision in the middle thames area in the post anglian a late anglian and early post anglian incision rate of 1 45 m ka 1 was quickly replaced by incision at a rate of 0 089 m ka 1 in the later post anglian period the lower incision rate of the later post anglian compares favourably with previous estimates of regional uplift two plausible explanations for the enhanced incision in the late anglian and early post anglian are recognized one related to ponding of the river by anglian ice and the other to glacio isostatic rebound in the latter case the mismatch between expected and actual heights of late anglian deposits would suggest glacio isostatic uplift of the order of 22 25 m

the british lower palaeolithic of the early middle pleistocene the archaeology of britain during the early middle pleistocene mis 19 12 is represented by a number of key sites across eastern and southern england these sites include pakefield happisburgh 1 high lodge warren hill waverley wood boxgrove kent s cavern and westbury sub mendip alongside a background scatter lithic record associated with the principal river systems bytham pre diversion thames and solent and raised beaches westbourne arundel hominin behaviour can be characterised in terms of preferences for temperate or cool temperate climates and open woodland mosaic habitats indicated by mammalian fauna mollusca insects and sediments a biface dominated material culture characterised by technological diversity although with accompanying evidence for distinctive core and flake pakefield and flake tool high lodge assemblages probable direct hunting based subsistence strategies with a focus upon large mammal fauna and generally locally focused spatial and landscape behaviours principally indicated by raw material sources data although with some evidence of dynamic mobile and structured technological systems the british data continues to support a modified short chronology to the north of the alps and the pyrenees with highly sporadic evidence for a hominin presence prior to 500 600 ka although the ages of key assemblages are subject to ongoing debates regarding the chronology of the bytham river terraces and the early middle pleistocene glaciations of east anglia

thames river sediments of the british early and middle pleistocene abstract the thames drainage system contains the most complete record of fluvial sediments in the british quaternary the kesgrave sands and gravels form the main body of this sediment having been deposited over an interval that spans the later part of the early pleistocene and most of the middle pleistocene conventional stages pre pastonian a through to early anglian ca 1 2 ma this deposit provides a stratigraphic context for related bio morpho and pedostratigraphic evidence and for the recognition of pre anglian pre oi stage 12 upland glaciation in the welsh mountains and intense periglaciation in lowland england it also facilitates correlation with the stratigraphy of northern europe and the global pattern of orbitally forced climatic change this paper describes the first catchment wide correlation of thames river sediments and proposes a formal redefinition of the lithostratigraphic units concerned the scheme outlined here is based on two lithologically distinctive formations defined at type areas reflecting significant changes in catchment dimensions the earlier sudbury formation was formed when the thames catchment extended into wales and drained northwards across east anglia the later colchester formation was formed after the upper catchment had been reduced in extent to that of the present river but continued to flow across east anglia the whole sediment body is now named the kesgrave group

biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the middle pleistocene glacial succession in north norfolk uk considerable debate surrounds the age of the middle pleistocene glacial succession in east anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north western europe the orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the anglian marine isotope stage mis 12 has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage before during and after mis 12 between trimingham and sidestrand on the north norfolk coast datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession the oldest glacial deposit happisburgh till directly overlies the sidestrand unio bed here defined as the sidestrand hall member of the cromer forest bed formation dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence this paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the sidestrand unio bed which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland there are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions significant differences are apparent between the sidestrand assemblages and those from west runton the type site of the cromerian stage these differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at sidestrand and a much younger age this conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars arvicola rather than its ancestor mimomyssavini with rooted molars amino acid racemisation data also indicate that sidestrand is significantly younger than west runton these data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the cromerian complex and support the conventional view that the happisburgh till was emplaced during the anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from mis 16 moreover new evidence from the trimingham lake bed sidestrand cliff formation above the youngest glacial outwash sediments briton s lane formation indicates that they also accumulated during a middle pleistocene interglacial probably mis 11 all of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within mis 12 rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the new glacial stratigraphy during mis 16 12 10 and 6 copyright 2009 john wiley sons ltd

early italy and the colonization of western europe abstract the early phases of human occupation in italy are considered in the context of discussions on the chronology and patterns of hominid dispersal out of africa and into western europe this paper is therefore a synthesis and an evaluation of new data on three interrelated topics a the question of direct contacts between italy and north africa in the lower and middle pleistocene through the sicilian channel b the evidence for the successive dispersal in western europe of two different technical traditions and c the nature and chronology of the earliest human occupation of italy interpretations of bifaces and biface industries are discussed as they are an important aspect of out of africa models hominid presence in italy is documented at the beginning of the middle pleistocene their route of entry apparently not through sicily but from the north in contrast to the ubeidiya and gesher benot ya aqov assemblages in israel the earliest dated biface assemblages in italy with a preliminary date at about 640 70 ka show no specific characteristics that would tie them to the african acheulean evidence for a precedence of core and flake over handaxe industries is ambiguous their interpretation as designating different groups of hominids lacks a sound archaeological basis since faunal exchanges with continental europe are documented throughout the pleistocene the hypothesis of multiple episodes of human migration into italy should be considered however we can neither support it or refute it because the archaeological assemblages do not inform us on specific migration events

age of middle pleistocene fauna and lower palaeolithic industries from kent s cavern devon abstract kent s cavern has long been known as potentially among the oldest palaeolithic sites in the country with the basal breccia deposit containing a sparse lower palaeolithic industry the sediment consists of a chaotic clayey conglomerate emplaced as a series of debris flows which entered the cave via blocked entrances at its southwest end the breccia contains a fauna dominated by the bear ursus deningeri with lion felis leo and the voles arvicola cantiana and microtus oeconomus establishing a late cromerian age for the deposit the artefacts comprise an industry of crudely manufactured handaxes and flakes and show damage suggesting that they were brought into the cave by the debris flows and may thus predate the sediment and fauna we demonstrate an age of 340 ka for the breccia using two independant dating methods consistent with existing models of the age of the british middle pleistocene sequence

pleistocene evolution of the solent river of southern england abstract the solent river no longer exists since most of its course was drowned by eustatic sea level rise during the flandrian stage holocene previously it flowed eastwards across southeast dorset and south hampshire as an extension of the river frome as such it formed the axial major stream of the hampshire basin a sequence of fluvial aggradations ranging in height from 125 m o d to below sea level provide evidence of the former courses of this substantial river and its tributaries detailed study of the deposits supported by analysis of clast lithological assemblages provide the basis for the recognition of a series of lithostratigraphical units throughout the area the facies and sedimentary structures indicate that the bulk of the deposits accumulated in a braided river environment under periglacial climates late pleistocene fossiliferous sediments of ipswichian and flandrian age provide a biostratigraphical framework the results demonstrate that the solent river was a substantial system comparable in size to the present thames and was a tributary of the channel river during periods of low sea level cold stages evolution of the river reflects its response to climatic change local geological structure and long term tectonic activity although datable deposits limit determination of the age of the solent river sequence it is undoubtedly of considerable antiquity and potentially extends back to the early pleistocene discussion of the sequence includes placing the events within their regional context

early and middle pleistocene river systems in eastern england evidence from leet hill southern norfolk england pleistocene sediments at leet hill southern norfolk are examined in terms of their sedimentary structures palaeocurrent indicators clast and heavy mineral lithology and litho and morphostratigraphic position colour of the quartzite and vein quartz clasts is used to differentiate the bytham and the kesgrave sands and gravels with the bytham sands and gravels having a significantly higher proportion of coloured material the kirby cane sands and gravels are the lower sedimentary unit and were deposited by the bytham river which drained a catchment extending into central england at leet hill erosion of the kesgrave sands and gravels by the bytham river has given the kirby cane sands and gravels a distinctive lithological assemblage trace clast lithologies suggest that the kesgrave sands and gravels in the region of leet hill were deposited in a coastal location with an input from northern sources as well as southern and welsh sources diagnostic of the thames catchment the glaciofluvial leet hill sands and gravels were deposited by outwash from the anglian scandinavian ice sheet initially the flow direction of the outwash was determined by the bytham river valley but this changed to a southerly direction once the valley had been infilled this paper provides the first indication of the location of the boundary early pleistocene coastline between the fluvial kesgrave sands and gravels and the marine equivalent reworked by coastal processes and demonstrates the way the pre glacial relief initially controlled patterns of glaciofluvial sedimentation during the early part of the anglian glaciation copyright 1999 john wiley sons ltd

glacial erosion of the wash and fen basin and the deposition of the chalky till of eastern england abstract it is widely accepted that the low lying area of eastern england comprising the wash and the fens was excavated by the anglian ice sheet moving first from the northwest and then from the north the ice moved rapidly across the deformable bed on the jurassic mudrocks and rode up over the chalk escarpment eroding the scarp face and setting back the lowered escarpment by several kilometres the eroded material was deposited beyond the basin as the chalky till of the southeast midlands and east anglia in this paper reconstruction of the form of the preglacial landscape of the jurassic and cretaceous outcrops allows estimation of the excavated volume of both mudrock 312 km 3 and of chalk 243 km 3 a total of about 555 km 3 this volume and the lithological mix matches closely the reconstructed volume estimate 363 km 3 of the now dissected chalky till around the margins of the glacial lobe the amount of erosion achieved by the anglian ice sheet amounts to 3 4000 bubnoffs b i e mm ka 1 even if we allow 20 ka for a complex glaciation this far exceeds rates of erosion recorded anywhere with the british isles today even if averaged over the 440 000 yr since that event the rate is 167 b far greater than the erosion achieved on similar rocks within the adjacent unglaciated thames basin estimated at 45 b

major river systems of central and southern britain during the early and middle pleistocene central and southern britain was drained by two main river systems during the larger part of the early and middle pleistocene the thames and bytham rivers evidence for these rivers and their quaternary history is represented by their sediments the kesgrave and bytham sands and gravels respectively the geomorphological position of the sediments biostratigraphy and amino acid geochronology evidence from the earlier parts of the early pleistocene tiglian c4b and earlier indicates low energy river systems and marine conditions over much of east anglia for most of the early pleistocene tiglian c4c to the cromerian complex the ancestral thames was the main river with at its maximal extent a catchment that extended into wales and across east anglia and what is now the north sea to join the ancestral rhine during this period glaciers in the uplands of wales and periglacial mass movement elsewhere supplied material to the catchment and it was at this time that the bulk of the sorted quaternary ssediments of lowland britain were deposited the bytham river system has no successor because the landscape now in existence has been fundamentally altered by glacial erosion this catchment drained most of midland england and joined the thames in central east anglia initially the bytham river was a tributary of the thames but over time it extended its catchment and at the beginning of the cromerian complex it became the main river of southern britain with the anglian glaciation 01 stage 121 the bytham river was destroyed and the thames was diverted to its present route through london

pre anglian fluvial and coastal deposits in eastern england lithostratigraphy and palaeoenvironments abstract clast lithology and derived microflora are used to provide a basis for correlating pre anglian fluvial and coastal deposits in eastern england and to provide a lithostratigraphic framework for these early and early middle pleistocene sediments three fluvial systems are recognised i the thames which drained an area from wales through midland england to the thames basin and southern east anglia the catchment was truncated over the period concerned and the western headwaters diverted to other river systems ii the bytham river which drained midland england and the southern pennines and reached the southern north sea delta in the region of north central east anglia this river extended its catchment over the period concerned iii the ancaster river which drained the southern pennines and received sediment from northeast england each of these catchments contributed sediment to the southern north sea delta estuary and contributed to the lithologies of the red norwich and wroxham crag formations the lithostratigraphic subdivisions are based on the fact that i the pliocene and early pleistocene rivers and the equivalent red and norwich crags are characterised by far travelled microflora which was transported in suspension and a locally derived clast assemblage transported as bedload and ii the later early and early middle pleistocene rivers and the equivalent wroxham crag are characterised by a far travelled microflora and a far travelled clast assemblage variations in the amount and composition of far travelled materials is determined by the relative importance of the three river systems this provides a basis for identifying different formations of the thames river sediments older sudbury formation and younger colchester formation and different members of the wroxham formation dobb s plantation member local material with minor components of thames and ancaster river sediments how hill member local material with major components of thames and ancaster river sediments mundesley member with major components of bytham river sediments these lithostratigraphic units are related to established north european biostratigraphy and oxygen isotope stratigraphy the factors forcing the changes in river energetics are explained in terms of the relative importance of geomorphic processes operating within the river catchments determined by the patterns of milankovitch orbital forcing

excavations at the lower palaeolithic site at east farm barnham suffolk 1989 92 preliminary results are presented from three seasons9 work at the lower palaeolithic site at barnham the complex stratigraphy is described and a provisional interpretation given which suggests that the archaeological deposits date to a warm phase after the anglian middle pleistocene cold stage a fauna1 assemblage from the deposits is described providing an environmental and biostratigraphic context for the site further geochronological control is provided by amino acid ratios on shells from the sequence two flint assemblages have been excavated the first consisting of flakes and cores and the second including bifaces these assemblages and their position in the british sequence are considered in terms of their stratigraphic context and their relationship to other lower palaeolithic assemblages in the british isles

river terrace sequences templates for quaternary geochronology and marine terrestrial correlation fluvial sequences particularly terrace staircases represent archives of quaternary palaeoclimatic fluctuation and can serve as stratigraphical frameworks for geochronology and for correlation with other depositional environments in particular the global marine oxygen isotope record fluvial lithostratigraphical frameworks also provide contexts for records from fossils and artefacts of faunal evolution and human occupation conversely both records can be means of relative dating of riverine sequences three fluvial sequences are examined as case studies first is the severn avon system in the english midlands which has biostratgraphical evidence and an amino acid geochronology together with marker inputs from three different glaciations the somme sequence of northern france famous for its palaeolithic artefact assemblages again has biostratigraphy and an amino acid geochronology and has also been dated with reference to overlying loess palaeosols sequences the fluvial terraces of the river arun the final case study lack dating evidence but are interspersed within the sussex raised beach staircase although various lines of evidence suggest that the rivers discussed have formed terraces in response to climatic fluctuation an intriguing difference is that interglacial sediments occur at the bases of terrace formations in the severn avon whereas in the somme they occur at the tops of sequences beneath loessic overburden

differentiation of the british late middle pleistocene interglacials the evidence from mammalian biostratigraphy abstract acknowledgement of the climatic complexities of the marine oxygen isotope 18o record has inspired fresh investigations into methods of identifying and separating interglacial deposits on land biostratigraphical analysis of fossil mammalian assemblages particularly those from long fluvial sequences has proved to be a uniquely valuable technique in the differentiation of the various temperate episodes of the late middle pleistocene in britain thereby enabling a sequence of diagnostic mammalian assemblage zones to be established the scheme has provided an important means of correlation between geographically distant localities and between different types of depositional environment using mammalian biostratigraphical information this paper explores the evidence for three post anglian interglacials prior to the last ipswichian interglacial correlated with stages 11 9 and 7 of the oxygen isotope record and presents the case for the recognition of much smaller scale environmental and climatic oscillations within these interglacials possibly corresponding to marine isotopic substages

the middle pleistocene deposits of waverley wood pit warwickshire england a complex of channels underlying the baginton lillington gravel baginton formation at waverley wood quarry warwickshire is described fossil pollen and plant macrofossils coleoptera ostracoda mollusca and mammalia are described from the channel fill deposits consideration of all the evidence allows the identification of four separate stages of channel fill which largely occurred under a cool temperate climate at the top of channel 2 evidence for a cold continental climatic episode can be recognised suggesting that the whole complex was deposited under a fluctuating climate at the end of a temperate stage at two levels in the channels human artefacts were recovered confirming the presence of palaeolithic people in warwickshire during the deposition of the sediments amino acid geochronology suggests an age within the cromerian complex stage for the channels the small vertebrate and molluscan faunas indicate that the deposits are no older than the latter part of the cromerian complex stage of east anglia the regional stratigraphic significance of the waverley wood succession is outlined

catastrophic flooding origin of shelf valley systems in the english channel britain became geographically isolated from continental europe when high interglacial seas flooded the shallow english channel and north sea shelf areas but a tenuous link remained the weald artois chalk ridge between southeast england and northwest france just how this isthmus was breached making britain an island has been a matter of conjecture a new bathymetric map of the sea floor may solve the mystery it reveals a large bedrock floored valley containing landforms including grooves and streamlined islands consistent with a megaflood event caused when a rock dam at the dover strait breached draining a large pro glacial lake in the north sea basin a hypothesis for the permanent isolation of britain from mainland europe during interglacial high sea levels has been confirmed gupta et al analysed a new regional bathymetric map of part of the area finding a valley with landforms indicating large scale subaerial erosion by high magnitude water discharges they suggest breaching of a rock dam at the dover strait instigated drainage of a large lake in the north sea basin megaflood events involving sudden discharges of exceptionally large volumes of water are rare but can significantly affect landscape evolution continental scale drainage patterns and climate change1 it has been proposed that a significant flood event eroded a network of large ancient valleys on the floor of the english channel the narrow seaway between england and france2 3 4 this hypothesis has remained untested through lack of direct evidence and alternative non catastrophist ideas have been entertained for valley formation5 6 here we analyse a new regional bathymetric map of part of the english channel derived from high resolution sonar data which shows the morphology of the valley in unprecedented detail we observe a large bedrock floored valley that contains a distinct assemblage of landforms including streamlined islands and longitudinal erosional grooves which are indicative of large scale subaerial erosion by high magnitude water discharges our observations support the megaflood model in which breaching of a rock dam at the dover strait instigated catastrophic drainage of a large pro glacial lake in the southern north sea basin2 we suggest that megaflooding provides an explanation for the permanent isolation of britain from mainland europe during interglacial high sea level stands7 and consequently for patterns of early human colonisation of britain together with the large scale reorganization of palaeodrainage in northwest europe4

age limits on middle pleistocene glacial sediments from osl dating north norfolk uk the lowland region of north norfolk contains some of the best preserved evidence for glacial deposition during the middle pleistocene in northwest europe despite the importance of these deposits there is limited chronological control and it is debated whether they belong to a single glaciation equated to the anglian glaciation marine isotope stage 12 or represent deposition over a number of middle pleistocene cold stages in order to develop an improved chronology for glaciation in this region we obtained 18 samples for optical stimulated luminescence osl dating from glacial outwash facies samples of coarse grained quartz sand were measured using the sar single aliquot regenerative dose protocol the low radioactive isotope concentrations in sediments of this region enable the traditionally accepted age limit of luminescence dating to be extended the form of the dose response curves pre heat plateaux tests and dose recovery experiments also indicate that laboratory doses can be reliably measured in these samples age overestimation due to partial bleaching is thought to be insignificant the osl ages suggest that the glacial sediments studied were deposited during mis 12 rather than in different post mis 12 stages

rapid diversification of planktonic foraminifera in the tropical pacific odp site 865 during the late paleocene thermal maximum the planktonic foraminiferal generamorozovellaandacarininarapidly in 10 k y diversified during the late paleocene thermal maximum lptm giving rise to such morphotypes asm allisonensis new species m africana anda sibaiyaensis single specimen isotopicanalysisconfirmsthatm allisonensisanda sibaiyaensisarerestrictedtothelptm carbon isotope excursion recorded at ocean drilling program site 865 equatorial pacific ocean the short lived 50 to several 100 k y excursion taxa attest to the ephemeral effectsofthelptmonthecalcareousplankton single specimenoxygenisotopedatashow that evolution of m allisonensis and a sibaiyaensis was accompanied by migration to deeper water depths ancestralm velascoensisanda soldadoensiswere extremely rare or absent during the early stages of the lptm but immigrated back into the study area to coexist with their descendants in later lptm horizons photosymbiosis may have facilitatedthemorozovellidandacarininiddiversificationsduringtheoligotrophicconditionsof the lptm

an optically stimulated luminescence dated middle to late pleistocene fluvial sequence from the western solent basin southern england this paper presents numerical dating from a middle to late pleistocene terrace deposit sequence in the solent basin southern england the sequence from the western part of the former solent river system is one of the longest in britain with 18 mapped terrace aggradations a set of 23 optically stimulated luminescence osl dates aim to provide dated tie points within the lower part of the sequence at five stratotype locations these dates are replicated at single sites providing age estimates for fewer members but increasing the reliability for those members that have been dated the results provide two reliably dated tie points within the sequence and suggest that i the lowest six terrace aggradations all postdate ca 275 kyr mis 8 ii terraces may have aggraded during cold phases within the penultimate interglacial mis 7 and iii the interglacial deposits at stone point whose age has previously been contested are likely to be of ipswichian last interglacial mis 5e age these findings are compared to previous age models in the western solent basin with which they agree in part they may suggest that fluvial activity in the solent was particularly dynamic during mis 7

uplift driven valley incision and climate controlled river terrace development in the thames valley uk abstract the sequence of terraces of the river thames in southeast england has previously been shown to span the period from the earliest pleistocene to the present this terrace sequence contains biostratigraphical and sedimentary evidence that testifies to the high amplitude climatic changes of the quaternary large scale fluvial incision resulting in basin wide terrace formation appears to have been concentrated at the warming limbs of the major climatic glacial interglacial cycles when sediment supply was greatly reduced this incision and subsequent valley floor widening created the accommodation space for the later aggradation of the terrace sediments during the following warm cold transitions and during the cold stages when high sediment supply conditions prevailed although the timing of terrace aggradation may be controlled by climate change the progressive valley incision recorded by terrace staircases cannot easily be explained in terms of quaternary climatic change alone and recently developed models suggest that long term incision by the thames has been driven by uplift this paper presents an overview of the available terrace data and tabulates incision amounts and rates between key stratigraphic horizons superimposed upon these broad changes revealed by the complex internal sedimentary architecture of many terrace sediments are the geomorphological system responses to both higher frequency climate driven changes and more localized intrinsic fluvial system adjustments

chemical transformations of type iii organic matter associated with the akouta uranium deposit niger geological implications abstract pure vitrinites from the akouta uranium deposit niger have been characterized using rock eval pyrolysis c h o analysis infrared and raman spectroscopies and reflectance measurements the organic matter sampled in the sandy guezouman formation is land derived type iii elemental analyses plotted in a h c vs o c diagram define three types of evolution the first one corresponds to a maturation trend and has been related to a w e geothermal gradient the second one corresponds to a slow rate diagenetic oxidation affecting organic matter located far from the ore zone the third one can be compared with a late oxidation it is related to the mineralizing process and results from both oxidation reduction and radiolysis effects the different alteration trends have been compared to mineralogical and microthermometric data in order to draw geological implications

u series dating of hoxnian interglacial deposits at marks tey essex england a u th dating study was carried out on the authigenic carbonate component of interglacial lake sediments at marks tey essex england isochron methods were necessary because of the presence of non carbonate detritus calculated dates around the limit of the u th method were obtained for two horizons error limits were determined by monte carlo sampling from the normal distributions of errors in the isotope ratios comparison of the resulting empirical distribution functions with the marine oxygen isotope time scale indicates with 87 confidence that the marks tey sediments correlate with ois 11 or some older stage as the marks tey deposits rest without stratigraphical break on anglian till and can be firmly correlated with the hoxnian interglacial type site at hoxne suffolk england this result implies that the anglian glaciation took place in ois 12 acid the hoxnian stage of the british chronostratigraphy commenced in ois 11 copyright c 1999 john wiley sons ltd

dating the earliest lowland glaciation of eastern england a pre mis 12 early middle pleistocene happisburgh glaciation this paper outlines the evidence for the happisburgh glaciation the first middle pleistocene glaciation of lowland eastern england and the adjacent margins of the north sea basin we propose that this glaciation occurred during a pre elsterian anglian mis 12 cold stage based on evidence of clasts of till erratics and heavy minerals from the third youngest terrace of the pre glacial bytham river in southern norfolk the heavy minerals show a progressive increase in glacially sourced materials from the bottom to the top of the bytham river third terrace sediments the till clasts are correlated with the extensive deposits of the happisburgh formation on the basis of their colour heavy minerals and particle size properties thus the happisburgh glaciation occurred during the accumulation of the bytham river terrace deposits and prior to mis 12 when the bytham river system was destroyed by the anglian glaciation in the absence of any geochronology or robust biostratigraphy the age of the happisburgh glaciation is estimated by the synchronisation of the pattern of large scale river activity with patterns of milankovitch forced global climate change on this basis and assuming the british ice sheet acted in phase with global patterns of ice volume the happisburgh glaciation is considered to have occurred during mis 16 and be equivalent of the don glaciation of eastern europe