Devensian Late-glacial environmental change in the Gordano Valley, North Somerset, England: a rare archive for southwest Britain |
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| Authors: | Thomas C B Hill Wendy A Woodland Chris D Spencer Susan B Marriott David J Case John A Catt |
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| Institution: | (1) Birmingham Archaeo-Environmental, Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, England;(2) School of Geography and Environmental Management, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY, England;(3) Department of Geography, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, England |
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| Abstract: | The Late-glacial and Holocene environmental history of the Gordano Valley, North Somerset, UK has been reconstructed using
pollen, sediment particle size and mineralogical analyses and radiocarbon dating. A Devensian sediment ridge across the valley
confined the waters of a small lake, within which the initial sedimentation was minerogenic. Radiocarbon dating of overlying
organic-rich deposits suggests that this began late in the Dimlington Stadial c. 18,000–15,000 Cal. BP. Petrographic analyses
indicate the minerogenic sediments were partly wind-blown in origin. Climatic amelioration during the Windermere Interstadial
c. 15,000 Cal. BP encouraged a shift from minerogenic to biogenic sedimentation. A brief return to minerogenic sedimentation
between c. 10,400 and c. 9,520 Cal. BP was followed by uninterrupted fen peat accumulation throughout the Holocene. The later
minerogenic horizon appears to represent the Loch Lomond Stadial. Few stratigraphic sequences preserving the complete Devensian
Late-glacial–Holocene transition exist in southwest Britain, making the sedimentary archive of the Gordano Valley valuable
regionally for reconstructing Late-glacial climate change. |
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| Keywords: | Dimlington Stadial Windermere Interstadial Loch Lomond Stadial Loess Severn Estuary |
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