Up-land
Abstract A most notable feature of the geology of southern Britain is that readily eroded clays and sands can be found at 200 metres or more above sea-level. In fact we find from multiple sources of data that Britain has been rising over the past few millions of years. This information includes the...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University PressOxford
2024
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198871620.003.0010 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/58292328/oso-9780198871620-chapter-10.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract A most notable feature of the geology of southern Britain is that readily eroded clays and sands can be found at 200 metres or more above sea-level. In fact we find from multiple sources of data that Britain has been rising over the past few millions of years. This information includes the current height of former warm period interglacials when sea-levels were similar to those of today. Raised beaches in the eastern Isle of Wight and on the mainland have risen almost 35 metres since they were laid down, 400,000 years ago. Abandoned river terraces high on the valley margins of some of the principal rivers indicate 60-70m uplift in a million years across central southern England. In southwest Britain, incised meanders of rivers formerly close to sea-level reveal geologically recent uplift, Meanwhile the central North Sea has sunk more than 1100m since the start of the Pleistocene while inland of East Anglia there is a consistent tilt up to the southwest of the early Pleistocene Red Crag formation by at least 180m. Even greater amounts of long term (20-30 million year) uplift has raised ancient metamorphosed terrains more than 1500m across western and northern Norway, again apparently without accompanying tectonic action. However, from the evidence of the heights of an extreme storm surge flood level in the early 17th century, allied with tide-gauge records in Cornwall, and continuous GPS station measurements, southern England currently continues to sink every year in contrast to the post-glacial uplift of Scotland. |
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