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Stratigraphy and palaeontology of Pleistocene cold-stage deposits at Alton Road Quarry, Farnham, Surrey, England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

I. D. Bryant ,
P. L. Gibbard ,
D. T. Holyoak ,
V. R. Switsur  and
A. G. Wintle
I. D. Bryant
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, U.K.
P. L. Gibbard
Affiliation:
Subdepartment of Quaternary Research, Botany School, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, U.K.
D. T. Holyoak
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 2AS, U.K.
V. R. Switsur
Affiliation:
Subdepartment of Quaternary Research, Godwin Laboratory, Free School Lane, Cambridge, CB2 3RS, U.K.
A. G. Wintle
Affiliation:
Subdepartment of Quaternary Research, Godwin Laboratory, Free School Lane, Cambridge, CB2 3RS, U.K.
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Abstract

Summary. Pleistocene deposits exposed at Alton Road Quarry, Farnham in 1980 have been sub-divided into two formal stratigraphical units of ‘member’ status. The ‘Wrecclesham Gravel’ is the lowest unit and consists primarily of fluvial sands and gravels. Silts which occurred as a channel fill within this member contained a macro- and micro-fossil flora indicative of open country conditions and included a species of moss previously unreported from the European Pleistocene. Tentative thermoluminescence dating indicates an Early Devensian age for this unit, although radiocarbon dating of the plant macrofossils yielded an age of a B.P. The overlying ‘Farnham Silty Loam’ is separated from the Wrecclesham Gravel by a discontinuous and variable thickness of matrix-supported gravels interpreted as a slope deposit. The Farnham Silty Loam appears to be, at least in part, of aeolian origin. Mineralogical investigations suggest that it is predominantly of local derivation, whilst thermoluminescence dating suggests that it is of Late Devensian age.

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Articles
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Geological Magazine , Volume 120 , Issue 6 , December 1983 , pp. 587 - 606
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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