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Pleistocene deposits at Stoke Goldington, in the valley of the Great Ouse, UK
Author(s) -
Green C. P.,
Coope G. R.,
Jones R. L.,
Keen D. H.,
Bowen D. Q.,
Currant A. P.,
Holyoak D. T.,
Ivanovich M.,
Robinson J. E.,
Rogerson R. J.,
Young R. C.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1417(199601/02)11:1<59::aid-jqs218>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - geology , aggradation , macrofossil , fluvial , floodplain , pleistocene , terrace (agriculture) , paleontology , isotopes of oxygen , temperate climate , geochemistry , archaeology , structural basin , holocene , ecology , geography , biology
At Stoke Goldington in the valley of the Great Ouse in Buckinghamshire a river terrace at a height of about 7 m above the floodplain is underlain by fluvial sediments representing climatic fluctuations in the late Middle Pleistocene. Near the base of the succession, at a level only 1 m above the modern floodplain, a fossil assemblage, including pollen, plant macrofossils, molluscs, insects and ostracods, provides evidence for the local development of herb‐rich grassland under temperate climatic conditions. The fossil record, amino‐acid racemisation ratios and uranium disequilibrium dating all suggest deposition of this material during Oxygen Isotope Stage 7. The deposits containing the temperate assemblage are immediately overlain by typical cold‐climate gravels of the Great Ouse. These have been subjected to a later cut‐and‐fill episode, with the fill accumulating in cool climatic conditions. The cut‐and‐fill episode was succeeded by aggradation, forming the overlying terrace surface. Amino‐acid racemisation ratios indicate that the fill was emplaced, and the terrace surface created, during or after Oxygen Isotope Stage 5. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.