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Devensian Late-glacial environmental change in the Gordano Valley, North Somerset, England: A rare archive for southwest Britain

Hill, Thomas C.B.; Case, David J.; Spencer, Chris; Woodland, Wendy; Marriott, Susan; Catt, John A.

Authors

Thomas C.B. Hill

David J. Case

Wendy Woodland Wendy3.Woodland@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography

Susan Marriott

John A. Catt



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. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Citation

Case, D. J., Hill, T. C., Spencer, C., Woodland, W., Marriott, S., & Catt, J. A. (2008). Devensian Late-glacial environmental change in the Gordano Valley, North Somerset, England: A rare archive for southwest Britain. Journal of Paleolimnology, 40(1), 431-444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-007-9171-5

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jul 1, 2008
Journal Journal of Paleolimnology
Print ISSN 0921-2728
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 40
Issue 1
Pages 431-444
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-007-9171-5
Keywords Devensian late-glacial environmental change, Gordano Valley, North Somerset, UK, Southwest England
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1015853
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-007-9171-5