Testing the case for a Middle Pleistocene Scandinavian glaciation in Eastern England: evidence for a Scottish ice source for tills within the Corton Formation of East Anglia, UK

• Published in: Boreas 2002-12, Vol.31 (4), p.345-355
• Main Authors: Lee, Jonathan R., Rose, James, Riding, James B., Moorlock, Brian S. P., Hamblin, Richard J. O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0300-9483
• DOI: 10.1080/030094802320942554

The provenance of the Happisburgh Till and Corton Till of the Corton Formation is investigated using erratic clast lithologies and allochthonous palynomorphs to test whether the long held assumption that they were deposited by ice that originated in Scandinavia is valid. The results show a wide range of lithologies including Carboniferous Limestone and Coal Measures, and Permian Magnesian Limestone that are not found in Scandinavia, and an absence of distinctive Scandinavian material such as rhomb porphyry and larvikite. Lithologies found indicate deposition by an ice sheet which flowed southwards into north-east East Anglia from central and southern Scotland eroding and transporting materials derived from outcrops in these areas and from eastern England and the western margins of the southern North Sea Basin. It is concluded that the long held assumption that the Happisburgh Till and Corton Till of the Corton Formation were deposited by a Scandinavian ice sheet is erroneous and that they were instead deposited by Scottish ice.