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Pleistocene gravels in the lower wye valley
Author(s) -
Hey R. W.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
geological journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.721
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1099-1034
pISSN - 0072-1050
DOI - 10.1002/gj.3350260204
Subject(s) - geology , pleistocene , aggradation , glacial period , paleontology , early pleistocene , river terraces , sequence (biology) , geomorphology , ordovician , holocene , last glacial maximum , archaeology , fluvial , geography , structural basin , genetics , biology
The fluviatile Pleistocene of the lower Wye valley, below the Devensian glacial limit near Hereford, consists almost entirely of coarse gravels, situated both above and below the level of the modern flooplain. Those above the floodplain are largely composed of pebbles from the Ordovician and Silurian of east‐central Wales. Around Hereford they are associated with well‐preserved terraces; further downstream they are fragmentary and have also undergone some displacement. It is suggested that the high‐level gravels comprise remants of four distinct aggradational units. Correlations are proposed with the Severn valley Pleistocene sequence, from which it is concluded that the lower Wye gravels represent a series of cold, perhaps glacial, periods ranging in age from pre‐Hoxnian to Devension. This confirms the pre‐Hoxnian age of fragmentary glacial deposits in northeast Herefordshire. Relations between the gravels and some geomorphological features are discussed, with special attention to abandoned incised meanders.