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The Holocene lithostratigraphy of Fenland, eastern England: a review and suggestions for redefinition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

A. J. Wheeler  and
M. P. Waller
A. J. Wheeler
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, U.K.
M. P. Waller
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE, U.K.
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Abstract

The Fenland basin is filled with unconsolidated Holocene marine and freshwater deposits. Stratigraphic studies of the basin date back to 1877. This paper reviews the various lithostratigraphic schemes which have been proposed. Particular attention is paid to the presently accepted lithostratigraphy. Examples and a case study of a newly surveyed area are used to highlight its failings. Many of the difficulties experienced in Fenland are common to problems of lithostratigraphic classification in coastal lowland environments, as is demonstrated by reference to recent debate in the southeastern North Sea. In Fenland, as a result of the shortcomings of the various schemes, it is proposed that a new lithostratigraphy with formal stratotypes is devised. Suggestions are made as to the form this new stratigraphy could take. In the meantime, an informal lithostratigraphy should be adopted which has no regional or chronostratigraphic connotations.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 132 , Issue 2 , March 1995 , pp. 223 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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