New OSL dating of UK loess: indications of two phases of Late Glacial dust accretion in SE England and climate implications

Abstract Windblown dust deposits or loess, locally known in the UK as brickearth, blanket many parts of southern England outside the limits of the British and Irish Ice Sheet. The best‐studied loess exposures occur in Kent, southeast England, where the deposits are believed to be Late Glacial in age...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Quaternary Science
Main Authors: Clarke, Michèle L., Milodowski, Antoni E., Bouch, Jon E., Leng, Melanie J., Northmore, Kevin J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2007
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.1061
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjqs.1061
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jqs.1061
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Summary:Abstract Windblown dust deposits or loess, locally known in the UK as brickearth, blanket many parts of southern England outside the limits of the British and Irish Ice Sheet. The best‐studied loess exposures occur in Kent, southeast England, where the deposits are believed to be Late Glacial in age. New sedimentological evidence is presented for phases of accretion with two distinct units, a calcareous brickearth exhibiting periglacial cryoturbation and a non‐calcareous, massive brickearth. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating has been applied to chemically isolated modal quartz silts to derive a chronology for sediment accretion and to better understand the palaeoclimatic significance of these deposits. © British Geological Survey/Natural Environment Research Council copyright 2007. Reproduced with the permission of BGS/NERC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.