Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T22:32:49.673Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An evaluation of climate, crustal movement and base level controls on the Middle-Late Pleistocene development of the River Severn, U.K.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2016

D. Maddy
D. Maddy*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Newcastle, Daysh Building, Newcastle upon Tyne NEI 7RU. e-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Pleistocene development of the lower Severn valley is recorded in the fluvial sediments of the Mathon and Severn Valley Formations and their relationship to the glacigenic Wolston (Oxygen Isotope Stage 12), Ridgacre (OIS 6) and Stockport (OIS 2) Formations. The most complete stratigraphical record is that of the Severn Valley Formation, which post-dates the Anglian Wolston Formation and comprises a flight of river terraces, the highest of which is c.50 m above the present river. The terrace staircase indicates that the Severn has progressively incised its valley during the post-Anglian period. The terrace sediments are predominantly composed of fluvially deposited sands and gravels, largely the result of deposition in high-energy rivers under cold-climate conditions. Occasionally towards the base of these terrace deposits low-energy fluvial facies are preserved which contain faunal remains and yield geochronology which support their correlation with interglacial conditions. This simple stratigraphy supports a climate-driven model for the timing of terrace aggradation and incision, with the incision mode at its most effective during the cold-warm transitions and the aggradational mode at its most effective during warm-cold climate transitions. The chronology of terrace aggradation in the lower Severn seems to correspond with the Milankovitch lOOka climate cycles. The timing of incision events suggests that base level (eustatic sea-level) changes do not play a significant role i.e. incision occurs as sea-level is rising.

Although climate change is significant in governing the timing of incision, the long-term incision of the River Severn appears to be driven by crustal uplift. A long-term incision rate of 0.15 m ka1, calculated using the base of the terrace deposits, is believed to closely equate with the long-term uplift rate. Superimposed on this long-term uplift are periods of complex terrace sequence development resulting from rapid incision during periods of glacio-isostatic rebound, with large incision events reflecting the rebound adjustment to late glacial stage isostatic depression. However, in no case in the Severn valley has glacial encroachment led to enhanced incision, suggesting that there has been no additional uplift resulting from isostatic compensation for glacial erosion.

Keywords

River Severnriver terracesuplift ratesglacio-isostatic rebound
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 81 , Special Issue 3-4: Fluvial Archive Group, FLAG , December 2002 , pp. 329 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2002

References

Antoine, P., 1994. The Somme valley terrace system (northern France): a model of river response to Quaternary climatic variations since 800,000 bp. Terra Nova 6: 453–464.Google Scholar
Ambrose, K., Moorlock, B.S.P. & Cannell, B., 1985. The geology of sheet S084. Keyworth: British Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Barclay, W.J., Brandon, A., Ellison, R.A. & Moorlock, B.S.P., 1992. A Middle Pleistocene palaeovalley-fill west of the Malvern Hills. Journal of the Geological Society of London 149: 75–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beckensale, R.P. & Richardson, L., 1964. Recent findings on the physical development of the lower Severn valley. Geographical Journal 130:87–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, D.Q. (ed.), 1999. A correlation of Quaternary deposits in the British Isles. Geological Society of London Special Report 23.Google Scholar
Bowen, D.Q., Hughes, S., Sykes, G.A. & Miller, G.H., 1989. Land-sea correlations in the Pleistocene based on isoleucine epimerization in non-marine molluscs. Nature 340: 49–51.Google Scholar
Boulton, W.S., 1917. Mammalian remains in the glacial gravels at Stourbridge. Proceedings of the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society 14:107–112.Google Scholar
Bridgland, D.R., 1994. Quaternary of the Thames. Geological Conservation Review Series No. 7. Chapman and Hall (London): 441pp.Google Scholar
Bridgland, D.R., 2000. River terrace systems in north-west Europe: an archive of environmental change, uplift and early human occupation. Quaternary Science Reviews 19: 1293–1303.Google Scholar
Bridgland, D.R. & Maddy, D., 1995. River terrace deposits: long Quaternary terrestrial sequences. Abstracts, XIV INQUA Congress, Berlin: 37.Google Scholar
Bridgland, D.R., Keen, D.H. & Maddy, D., 1986. A reinvestigation of the Bushley Green Terrace typesite, Hereford and Worcester. Quaternary Newsletter 50: 1–6.Google Scholar
Brown, A.G., 1982. Late Quaternary Palaeohydrology, Palaeoecology and Floodplain development of the Lower River Severn. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Southampton.Google Scholar
Brown, A.G., 1983. Wilden. In: Brown, A.G. (ed.): The Severn 1983: Excursion Guide. INQUA Eurosiberian subcommission for the study of the Holocene and IGCP Project 158 Palaeohydrology of the Temperate Zone in the last 15,000 years, (Shrewsbury): 28–30.Google Scholar
Buckman, S.S., 1899. The development of rivers, and particularly the genesis of the Severn. Natural Science 14: 273–89.Google Scholar
Buckman, S.S., 1902. River Development. Geological Magazine: 367–375.Google Scholar
Bull, W.B., 1991. Geomorphic responses to climate change. Oxford University Press (Oxford) : 329pp.Google Scholar
Clayton, K.M., 1977. River Terraces. In: Shotton, F.W. (ed.): British Quaternary Studies, Recent Advances. Oxford University Press (Oxford):153–168.Google Scholar
Cloetingh, S., Gradstein, F.M., Kooi, h., Grant, A.C. & Kaminski, M., 1990. Plate reorganisation: a cause of rapid late Neogene subsidence and sedimentation around the North Atlantic. Journal of the Geological Society of London 147: 495–506.Google Scholar
Coope, G.R., Shotton, F.W. & Strachan, I., 1961. A Late Pleistocene fauna and flora from Upton Warren, Worcestershire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B244: 379–421.Google Scholar
Cope, J.C.W., 1994. A latest Cretaceous hotspot and the southeasterly tilt of Britain. Journal of the Geological Society of London 151:905–908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, W.M., 1895. The development of certain English rivers. Geographical Journal 5: 127–146.Google Scholar
Dawson, M.R., 1988. Diamict deposits of the pre-Late Devensian Glacial age underlying the Severn Main Terrace at Stourport, Worcestershire: their origins and stratigraphie implications. Proceedings of the Geologists’Association 99: 125–132.Google Scholar
Dawson, M.R., 1989. Chelmarsh. In: Keen, D.H. (ed.): The Pleistocene of the West Midlands: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association (Cambridge): 80–85.Google Scholar
Dawson, M.R. & Bryant, I.D., 1987. Three-dimensional facies geometry in Pleistocene outwash sediments, Worcester, U.K. In: Ethridge, F.G. (ed.): Recent developments in fluvial sedimentology. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 39: 191–196.Google Scholar
De Rouffignac, C. Bowen, D.Q., Coope, G.R., Keen, D.H., Lister, A.M., Maddy, D., Robinson, E., Sykes, G.A. & Walker, M.J.C., 1994. Late Middle Pleistocene deposits at Upper Strensham, Worcestershire, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 10: 15–31.Google Scholar
Ellison, R.A., Moorlock, B.S.P., Worssam, B.C., Wyatt, R.J. & Baron, A.J.M., 1988. Tewkesbury 1:50,000 Solid and Drift Sheet 216. Keyworth. British Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Fairbridge, R.W., 1961. Eustatic changes in sea-level. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 4: 99–185.Google Scholar
Gibbard, P.L., 1985. The Pleistocene history of the Middle Thames Valley. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge): 155pp.Google Scholar
Goodwin, M.D., 1999. Evidence for Late Middle Pleistocene glaciation in the British Isles. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education.Google Scholar
Gray, J.W., 1911. North and Mid Cotteswolds, and the Vale of Moreton during the Glacial Epoch. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club 17: 257–274.Google Scholar
Gray, J.W., 1912. The Lower Severn plain during the Glacial Epoch. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club 17:365–380.Google Scholar
Gray, J.W. 1914. The drift deposits of the Malverns and their supposed glacial origin. Proceedings of the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society 13: 1–18.Google Scholar
Gray, J.W. 1919. Notes on the Cotteswold-Malvern region during the Quaternary Period. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club 20: 99–141.Google Scholar
Harrison, W.J., 1898. The ancient glaciers of the Midland counties of England. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 15: 400–408 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hey, R.W., 1958. High-level gravels in and near the Lower Severn Valley. Geological Magazine 95: 161–168.Google Scholar
Lambeck, K., 1993. Glacial rebound of the British Isles I: Preliminary model results. Geophysical Journal International 115: 941–959.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambeck, K., 1995. Late Devensian and Holocene shorelines of the British Isles and North Sea from models of glacio-hydro-iso-static rebound. Journal of the Geological Society of London 152: 437–448.Google Scholar
Leopold, L.B. & Bull, W.B., 1979. Base level, aggradation and grade. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 123: 168–202.Google Scholar
Leeder, M.R. & Stewart, M.D., 1996. Fluvial incision and sequence stratigraphy: alluvial responses to relative sea-level fall and their detection in the geological record. In: Hesselbo, S.P. & Parkinson, D.N. (eds) : Sequence stratigraphy in British Geology. Geological Society Special Publication 103: 25–39.Google Scholar
Linton, D.L., 1951. The Midlands Drainage. The Advancement of Science 7: 449–456.Google Scholar
Lucy, W.C., 1872. The gravels of the Severn, Avon and Evenlode, and their extension over the Cotteswold Hills. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club 5: 71–125.Google Scholar
Maddy, D., 1989. The Middle Pleistocene development of the rivers Severn and Avon. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Maddy, D., 1997. Uplift Driven Valley Incision and River Terrace Formation in Southern England. Journal of Quaternary Science 12: 539–545.Google Scholar
Maddy, D., 1999. Reconstructing the Baginton River Basin and its implications for the early development of the River Thames drainage system. In: Andrews, P. & Banham, P. (eds): Late Cenozoic Environments and Homonid Evolution: a tribute to Bill Bishop. Geological Society (London): 169–182.Google Scholar
Maddy, D., Keen, D.H., Bridgland, D.R. & Green, C.P. 1991. A revised model for the Pleistocene development of the River Avon, Warwickshire. Journal of the Geological Society of London 148: 473–484.Google Scholar
Maddy, D., Green, C.P., Lewis, S.G. & Bowen, D.Q., 1995. Pleistocene Geology of the Lower Severn Valley, U.K. Quaternary Science Reviews 14: 209–222.Google Scholar
Maddy, D. & Bridgland, D.R., 2000. Accelerated uplift resulting from Anglian glacioisostatic rebound in the Middle Thames valley, UK? : Evidence from the river terrace record. Quaternary Science Reviews 19: 1581–1588.Google Scholar
Maddy, D., Bridgland, D.R. & Green, C.P., 2000. Crustal uplift in southern England: Evidence from the river terrace records. Geomorphology 33: 167–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddy, D., Bridgland, D.R. & Westaway, R., 2001. Uplift-driven valley incision and climate-controlled river terrace development in the Thames Valley, U.K. Quaternary International 79: 23–36.Google Scholar
Maw, G., 1864. On the drifts of the Severn in the neighbourhood of Colebrook Dale and Bridgnorth. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 20: 130.Google Scholar
Moorlock, B.S.P., Barron, A.J.M., Ambrose, K. & Cannell, B., 1985. Geology of sheet S085. Keyworth: British Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Morgan, A.V. 1973. The Pleistocene geology of the area north and west ofWolverhampton. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B265: 233–297.Google Scholar
Murchison, R.I., 1836. Gravel and Alluvia in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Proceedings of the Geological Society 2: 230–236.Google Scholar
Murchison, R.I., 1839. Silurian System. John Murray (London).Google Scholar
Penck, A. & Bruckner, E., 1909. Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter. Tauchnitz (Leipzig).Google Scholar
Schumm, S.A., 1993. River response to baselevei change: implications for sequence stratigraphy. Journal of Geology 101: 279–294.Google Scholar
Shackleton, N.J., Berger, A. & Peltier, W.R., 1990. An Alternative Astronomical Calibration of the Lower Pleistocene Timescale Based on ODP Site 677. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 81: 252–261.Google Scholar
Shotton, F.W. & Coope, G.R., 1983. Exposures in the Power House Terrace of the River Stour, Wilden, Worcestershire, England. Proceedings of the Geologists’Association 94: 33–44.Google Scholar
Shotton, F.W., Keen, D.H., Coope, G.R., Currant, A.P., Gibbard, P.L., Aalto, M., Peglar, S.M. & Robinson, J.E., 1993. The Middle Pleistocene deposits at Waverley Wood Pit, Warwickshire, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 8: 293–325.Google Scholar
Symonds, W.S., 1861. On the drifts of the Severn, Avon, Wye & Usk. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club 3: 31–39.Google Scholar
Van den Berg, M.W. 1996. Fluvial sequences of the Maas: a lOMa record of neotectonics and climate change at various time-scales. PhD Thesis, University of Wageningen.Google Scholar
Veldkamp, A. & Van Dijke, J.J., 2000. Simulating internal and external controls on fluvial terrace stratigraphy: a qualitative comparison with the Maas record. Geomorphology 33: 225–236.Google Scholar
Watts, A.B., McKerrow, W.S. & Fielding, E., 2000. Lithospheric flexure, uplift, and landscape evolution in south-central England. Journal of the Geological Society of London 157: 1169–1177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westaway, R., 2001. Flow in the lower continental crust as a mechanism for the Quaternary uplift of the Rhenish Massif, northwest Europe. In: Maddy, D., Macklin, M. & Woodward, J. (eds): River Basin Sediment Systems: Archives of Environmental Change. Balkema (Rotterdam): 87–168.Google Scholar
Westaway, R., Maddy, D. & Bridgland, D.R., 2002. Flow in the lower continental crust as a mechanism for the Quaternary uplift of southeast England. Quaternary Science Reviews 21: 559–603.Google Scholar
Whiteman, C.A. & Rose, J., 1992. Thames river sediments of the British Early and Middle Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 11:363–375.Google Scholar
Williams, G.J., 1968. The buried channel and superficial deposits of the lower Usk and their correlation with similar features in the lower Severn. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 79: 325–348.Google Scholar
Wills, L.J., 1924. The development of the Severn Valley in the neighbourhood of Iron-Bridge and Bridgnorth. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 80: 274–314.Google Scholar
Wills, L.J., 1937. The Pleistocene History of the West Midlands. British Association for the Advancement of Science Presidential Address to Section C (Geology). British Association (London).Google Scholar
Wills, L.J., 1938. The Pleistocene development of the Severn from Bridgnorth to the sea. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 94: 161–242.Google Scholar
Wills, L.J., 1948. The palaeogeography of the Midlands. Hodder and Stoughton (Liverpool).Google Scholar
Worssam, B.C., Ellison, R.A. & Moorlock, B.S.P., 1989. Geology of the country around Tewkesbury. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 216 (England and Wales). HMSO (London).Google Scholar