Premium
Implications of a Middle Pleistocene ice‐wedge cast at Trimingham, Norfolk, eastern England
Author(s) -
Whiteman Colin
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
permafrost and periglacial processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-1530
pISSN - 1045-6740
DOI - 10.1002/ppp.415
Subject(s) - geology , ice wedge , permafrost , pseudomorph , pleistocene , wedge (geometry) , ice sheet , geomorphology , paleontology , glacial period , physical geography , oceanography , geography , quartz , physics , optics
A wedge exposed at Trimingham, northeast Norfolk, UK, in 1998 is interpreted as an ice‐wedge pseudomorph indicating that permafrost was present in the surrounding Cromer Forest‐bed Formation sediments. The wedge is overlain by North Sea Drift Formation (NSDF) glacial sediments, demonstrating that the associated ice sheet deposited till in either a terrestrial or an extremely shallow glaciolacustrine/marine environment. This conclusion supports those who believe that this ice sheet was, at least initially, terrestrial at this location. If the wedge is stratigraphically equivalent to the early Anglian soil stratigraphic unit, the Barham Soil, then none of the NSDF tills can be older than the Anglian/Elsterian Stage (MIS 12). Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.