An erratic chert pebble discovered on an exposure of the Lowestoft Till (Anglian Stage, Pleistocene) of North Lopham, Norfolk, UK, contains graptolites preserved three-dimensionally in silica in a mode not known in the UK. The graptolites are Monograptus parapriodon , Monograptus priodon , Monoclimacis linnarssoni and an undetermined retiolitid that indicate an Oktavites spiralis Biozone (mid-late Telychian, Late Llandovery, Silurian) age. The graptolites are associated with organic-walled microfossils, some containing internal bodies. The combination of lithology, preservation and low thermal maturity seem to exclude a British origin. The closest comparison is with Silurian chert pebbles in Miocene and Pleistocene gravels in central Germany, thought to be derived from bedrock in the Frankenwald region of Thuringia. A conjectured natural transport vector for this pebble involves drainage along the proto-Rhine system flowing into early/mid Pleistocene North Sea deltaic/marine deposits, with subsequent glacial transport to Norfolk. The possibility of an anthropogenic vector is also considered, but dismissed.

The Engineering Group of the Geological Society (EGGS) held its annual fieldtrip to West Dorset on 13-15 th June 2025. The location and itinerary were chosen in memory of the late Professor Denys Brunsden who carried out his pioneering research on this coastline from the mid-60s and the EGGS fieldtrip to Dorset led by Denys and John Pitts back in 1972. Denys was also the visionary and leader for developing the case and application for World Heritage status for the East Devon and Dorset Jurassic Coast, which was granted by UNESCO in December 2001. This tribute and account provides an illustrated record of the field weekend including visits to the Brunsden Memory Stone, Tout Quarry, Portland; and the classic landforms of West Dorset at West Bay, Stonebarrow Hill, Charmouth, Black Ven and Lyme Regis. The account provides a brief illustrated overview of the site setting, features of interest, topics of discussion, further reading, and the significance of Brunsden's work locally and internationally.

This paper examines the landforms and sediments in the area of the Lochaber Glacial Lakes in order to evaluate the process, pattern and timing of Late Devensian glaciation and ice wastage in that part of northwestern Scotland. Detailed evidence is provided fora number of critical areas including the Roy-Spey watershed region, the Allt Chonnal valley, the Glen Turret Fan and Moraine, the valley side fans of the upper and middle Roy valley and Glen Gloy. The work is based on field evidence and includes moraine ridges, fan landforms and sediments, along with the results of varve analyses from the Roy and Laggan valleys published elsewhere. The results suggest that, apart from some small corrie glaciers at the south side to the Roy-Spey watershed, much of the area was deglaciated following the Western Ross Readvance (c. 15.4-15.8 cal ka BP), prior to glaciers of the Loch Lomond Readvance (c. 12.9-11.7 cal ka BP) reaching the well-defined limits that held back the glacial lakes. The process of ice wastage within Glen Roy, from the Wester Ross Readvance, involved ice-marginal fluctuations, minor readvances and the formation of a proglacial lake related to the col at the Roy/Spey watershed. It is also proposed that many of the fans that occur along the sides of Glen Roy are of subaerial origin formed by paraglacial processes, rather than as subaquatic lake deltas. (c) 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Geologists' Association. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The results of geomorphological mapping and survey of Lateglacial and Holocene displaced shorelines in the Clyde estuary and around Loch Lomond, western central Scotland are described. On the basis of morphology, sedimentology, altitude and radiocarbon dating, four discrete shorelines are identified and are correlated with previously identified Scottish displaced shorelines. The shoreline formerly referred to as the Main Postglacial Shoreline is renamed the Menteith Shoreline. This body of data, combined with data on displaced shorelines for Scotland as a whole has been analysed using Gaussian quadratic trend surface analysis in order to determine the centre of glacio‐isostatic displacement for each shoreline. These Gaussian models of palaeo‐relative sea‐level suggest that the zone of greatest displacement lay NNW of Loch Lomond in the Lateglacial then moved SSE to the region of Loch Lomond during the Holocene and the Clyde in the Late Holocene. The factors responsible for the movement of the zone of greatest uplift are discussed, including temporal variations in the ice‐sheet thickness, variations in water load in the adjacent sea‐lochs and neotectonic processes. Comparison is made with glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out on the use of Gaussian trend surface analysis glacio‐isostatic modelling and this is included in the research evaluation, and reported in full in the Supporting Information files, along with the raw data used throughout this study.

A summary of two aquifer tests conducted in the Upper Gallatin River Valley for the Ground Water Investigation Program Upper Gallatin project.

Within the context of the work and achievements of James Croll, this paper reviews the records of direct observations of glacial landforms and sediments made by Charles Lyell, Archibald and James Geikie and James Croll himself, in order to evaluate their contributions to the sciences of glacial geology and Quaternary environmental change. The paper outlines the social and physical environment of Croll's youth and contrasts this with the status and experiences of Lyell and the Geikies. It also outlines the character and role of the 'Glasgow School' of geologists, who stimulated Croll's interest into the causes of climate change and directed his focus to the glacial and 'interglacial' deposits of central Scotland. Contributions are outlined in chronological order, drawing attention to: (i) Lyell's high-quality observations and interpretations of glacial features in Glen Clova and Strathmore and his subsequent rejection of the glacial theory in favour of processes attributed to floating icebergs; (ii) the significant impact of Archibald Geikie's 1863 paper on the 'glacial drift of Scotland', which firmly established the land-ice theory; (iii) the fact that, despite James Croll's inherent dislike of geology and fieldwork, he provided high-quality descriptions and interpretations of the landforms and sediments of central Scotland in order to test his theory of climate change; and (iv) the great communication skills of James Geikie, enhanced by contacts and evidence from around the world. It is concluded that whilst direct observations of glacial landforms and sediments were critical to the long-term development of the study of glaciation, the acceptance of this theory was dependent also upon the skills, personality and status of the Geikies and Croll, who developed and promoted the concepts. Sadly, the subsequent rejection of the land-ice concept by Lyell resulted in the same factors challenging the acceptance of the glacial theory.

ABSTRACT This paper provides a record and analysis of a site in east‐midland England, at which organic and soil material are found between two Middle Pleistocene tills. This is the first discovery of its kind in the area, and demonstrates unequivocally that the region was glaciated on two separate occasions, something that has long been inferred and articulated, but not actually demonstrated. The landforms, sediments and soils are studied with respect to their geomorphological, lithological, pedological, palaeobotanical and structural properties. The organic and soil material along with soil structures indicate, sequentially, a periglacial climate, a long period of warm temperate weathering and a cool temperate climate. Evaluation of this evidence in terms of existing published work identifies a number of problems with existing models and suggests that the most likely model for the glacial history of this part of midland England is an early Middle Pleistocene glaciation which is represented only by trace erratics, a Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 age glaciation which moved across the area from the NW and deposited a chalk‐free till, and an MIS 8 age glaciation that transported and deposited an upper chalky till from the NE. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Quaternary Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

This study examines the long‐term neotectonic evolution of the Crag Basin of eastern England during the Plio‐Pleistocene (c. 4.0–0.48 Ma) and the influence of neotectonics on coastal and drainage development. The Crag Basin was situated within the western margins of the southern North Sea with palaeogeography influenced by changes in global sea‐level and longer‐term regional‐scale neotectonic uplift and subsidence. This study identifies an additional local‐scale neotectonic control on basin development with localized crustal displacement occurring along normal faults. Plio‐Pleistocene movement along these faults was accommodated by partial dip‐slip (normal) reactivation of an Oligocene‐age (Pyrenean) dextral strike‐slip shear zone, which in turn was inherited from much older Caledonian orogenic crustal structure. Fault displacement was driven by sediment‐loading reflecting enhanced landscape denudation under progressively deteriorating climates and increased rates of erosion/sedimentation. Faulting acted to regulate accommodation space, controlling sedimentation patterns and the courses of major preglacial drainage systems including the Kesgrave Thames and Bytham rivers. The lower reaches of both river systems are considered to have been confluent in the Crag Basin during much of the Early Pleistocene with their lower reaches structurally controlled. Divergence occurred at c. 0.9 Ma with the lower reaches of the Bytham utilizing the former Bytham‐Thames valley and the Kesgrave Thames adopting progressively more southern routes, aligned to the axis of subsidence within the London Basin. The study highlights the significance of tectonic inheritance in driving recent neotectonic crustal deformation and its influence on sedimentation patterns and drainage development within an intraplate setting.

Former glaciolacustrine systems are an important archive of palaeoglaciological, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic change. The annually laminated (varved) sediments that, under certain conditions, accumulate in former glacial lakes, offer a rare opportunity to reconstruct such changes (e.g. glacier advance and retreat cycles, glacier ablation trends, permafrost melt, nival events) at annual or even sub-annual temporal resolution. Data of this kind are desirable for their ability to guide and test numerical model simulations of glacier dynamics and palaeoclimatic change that occur over rapid time intervals, with implications for predicting future glacier response to climatic change, or the effects of weather and climate events on lake sedimentation. The most valuable records preserved in glaciolacustrine systems are continuous varved sequences formed in the distal parts of glacial lakes, where microscale lamination structures can accumulate relatively undisturbed. Technological advances, in the last few decades, have enabled improved characterisation of glaciolacustrine varve microfacies and the precise measurement of varve thickness at the micrometre scale. However, unlike in cognate fields (e.g. soil science), protocols for the robust and consistent description and interpretation of glaciolacustrine varve sediments are lacking. To fill this gap, and to provide a resource for future studies of glaciolacustrine varved sediments, this paper reviews the processes of sedimentation in glacial lake basins, and presents the defining microfacies characteristics of glacial varves using a descriptive protocol that uses consistent examination of grain size, sorting, structure, nature of contacts, development of plasmic fabrics and features such as dropgrains and intraclasts within individual laminations. These lamination types are then combined into lamination sets, whose structures can be interpreted as glaciolacustrine varves. Within this framework, we define five principal assemblages of glaciolacustrine varve microfacies which, if clearly identified in palaeoglaciolacustrine settings, enable more detailed palaeoenvironmental interpretations to be made. Finally, we discuss the utility and complexities of reconstructing the evolution of former glacial lake systems using varve microfacies and thickness datasets.

Although substantial work has been done on the pre-glacial terraces of East Anglia, very little systematic work has been done to understand the origin of river terraces in East Anglia that have formed since ice last covered the region. This paper records the results of studies of exposures and borehole records in ‘classical’ Quaternary terrace landforms that are considered to have formed since the Anglian (MIS 12) Glaciation, in the middle Waveney Valley. These features have been examined in terms of their morphological and sedimentological properties, in order to provide a detailed record of their form and composition, understand their processes of formation, and identify their stratigraphical status. The results show that the main body of the highest terrace (Homersfield Terrace, Terrace 3) is not composed of river sediments, but of shallow marine sediments, and is a remnant of early Middle Pleistocene Wroxham Crag. River sediments, in the form of Anglian age (MIS 12) glaciofluvial Aldeby Sands and Gravels also exist in the area as a channel fill, cut through the Wroxham Crag, and reflect outwash erosion and sedimentation from a relatively proximal ice margin to the west. The results mean that the interpretations previously presented for the terrace landforms of the middle Waveney valley are not applicable. The issue of why the terrace stratigraphy, hitherto identified in East Anglia cannot be related to that for the River Thames to the south and the rivers of Midland England to the west, still requires further research.

The Anthropocene is proposed as a new interval of geological time in which human influence on Earth and its geological record dominates over natural processes. A major challenge in demarcating the Anthropocene is that the balance between human‐influenced and natural processes varies over spatial and temporal scales owing to the inherent variability of both human activities (as associated with culture and modes of development) and natural drivers (e.g. tectonic activity and sea level variation). Against this backdrop, we consider how geomorphology might contribute towards the Anthropocene debate by focusing on human impact on aeolian, fluvial, cryospheric and coastal process domains, and how evidence of this impact is preserved in landforms and sedimentary records. We also consider the evidence for an explicitly anthropogenic geomorphology that includes artificial slopes and other human‐created landforms. This provides the basis for discussing the theoretical and practical contributions that geomorphology can make to defining an Anthropocene stratigraphy. It is clear that the relevance of the Anthropocene concept varies considerably amongst different branches of geomorphology, depending on the history of human actions in different process domains. For example, evidence of human dominance is more widespread in fluvial and coastal records than in aeolian and cryospheric records, so geomorphologically the Anthropocene would inevitably comprise a highly diachronous lower boundary. Even to identify this lower boundary, research would need to focus on the disambiguation of human effects on geomorphological and sedimentological signatures. This would require robust data, derived from a combination of modelling and new empirical work rather than an arbitrary ‘war of possible boundaries' associated with convenient, but disputed, ‘golden’ spikes. Rather than being drawn into stratigraphical debates, the primary concern of geomorphology should be with the investigation of processes and landform development, so providing the underpinning science for the study of this time of critical geological transition. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ABSTRACTThe Middle Pleistocene glacial history of northern East Anglia is a controversial topic with differing opinions surrounding chronology, provenance and the relative stratigraphic framework. Reconciling the stratigraphic framework of the region is an essential first step to developing onshore–offshore geological models and a robust event‐driven chronological framework. Within this study a dynamic tectonostratigraphic–parasequence methodology is applied to deposits traditionally attributed to the Anglian Glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage 12). This approach offers an insight into ice‐bed coupling during glaciation and how evolving boundary conditions influenced glacier dynamics. Six major tectonostratigraphic–parasequence assemblages (A1–A6) are recognized in northern East Anglia and correlate with successive advances into the region of North Sea or Pennine lobes of the British Ice Sheet. Individual tectonostratigraphic–parasequence assemblages are bound at their base by a sedimentary contact or, more commonly, a glacitectonic zone. The geometry and structural characteristics of these glacitectonic zones reflect temporal and spatial variations in ice‐bed coupling (traction), a function of substrate rheology and, in turn, variations in lithology, porewater availability and thermo‐mechanical properties. The role of permafrost may also be significant, promoting proglacial/ice‐marginal thrust stacking in front of advancing ice and enhanced ice‐bed decoupling during subsequent overriding and subglacial till accretion. © 2016 British Geological Survey, NERC Journal of Quaternary Science © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The concept that Rannoch Moor, the centre of the Younger Dryas (YD), West Highland Icefield, was deglaciated as early as 12.5calka BP is discussed in the light of radiocarbon dates and varve sequences from outlet glaciers of this icefield, and climate change during the YD. The maximum positions of three YD glaciers were reached after 11.6–11.8calka BP (Lomond), and after 11.8–11.9calka BP (Spean and Treig) indicating that ice remained on Rannoch Moor until long after c.12.5calka BP, and possibly until the YD/Holocene transition at c.11.7calka BP. Further, the Spean glacier dammed a proglacial lake in Lochaber for at least 495 varve years over a period that included the deposition of the Vedde Ash (c.12.1calka BP) and a late YD ash layer (c. 11.7–11.2calka BP), a thesis at variance with supposed early YD deglaciation. Recent examination of this issue using 10Be exposure age determinations from Rannoch Moor is equivocal. In view of the presence of hard water algae at the sampling site on Rannoch Moor it is recommended that the ‘early’ 14C dates from Rannoch Moor need to be further reassessed using chronological constraints provided by dated microtephra, and a collaborative radiocarbon dating programme.

The post-depositional alteration of cave sediments is of critical importance for the recognition, identification and investigation of geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence. There have been relatively few studies of tropical cave sediments using micromorphology and this work represents one of the most detailed with 26 samples taken from deposits in the West Mouth of the Great Cave of Niah that cover the last >∼55,000 BP, and contain the earliest known evidence for the remains of modern humans in Southeast Asia. Cave sediments situated in the humid tropics are subject to relatively high temperatures and moisture conditions that promote high rates of chemical alteration and geomorphic change. This paper outlines those post-depositional features that occurred in situ in the West Mouth and include: translocation and concentration; bioturbation; excrement; bone alteration; plant alteration; clast alteration and guano decomposition. It examines their implications for recognising past human activities (e.g. fire-altered materials), the preservation of archaeological remains, the nature of palaeoenvironments and of localised physical and bio-geochemical processes.

This work focuses on the bivalve Glycymeris, commonly used in classic amino acid racemisation (AAR) studies in the Mediterranean, as part of an extensive assessment of the suitability of intra-crystalline protein diagenesis (IcPD) dating. We test the closed system behaviour (a prerequisite for IcPD studies) of Glycymeris through bleaching and heating studies, as well as fossil material sourced from Last Interglacial deposits in Sardinia (Calamosca), Mallorca (Palma Bay) and Tunisia (Hergla). Although bleaching appears to be effective in isolating an intra-crystalline fraction of proteins, this fraction may not behave as a closed system in all molluscan taxa, as we verify here for some of the fossil Glycymeris. We show that open-system behaviour can be identified by analysing the co-variance between FAA and THAA fractions and the relative THAA composition and we also provide further evidence that, for taphonomic reasons, dating the molluscan fauna does not necessarily yield age information for the sedimentary units when these contain derived shells.

177 times at Niah. This provides a partial explanation of how people could colonize and use tropical forest environments during the Late Pleistocene. During the Holocene, the management of vegetation seems to have been transformed into a system involving sago palms and rice, contemporary with if not earlier than the precocious agriculture based on bananas and tuberous plants known from New Guinea (Denham 2011; Denham et al. 2003, 2004; Haberle et al. 2012), ancient practices that were still present in Borneo until the recorded past and that may survive in some form today. disrupted, allowing a foothold for regeneration taxa. The absence of altitudinally-restricted taxa during some probable stadials could indicate that there was a lag in the migration of many species during episodes of rapid temperature change, but many taxa seem to have been able to migrate extremely rapidly. There is a range of evidence that people actively managed vegetation using fire to create forest-edge habitats during interstadials, from the beginning of the known sequence c. 53,000 years ago, and that this pattern persisted in the Holocene until at least 6500 years ago at Loagan Bunut, and probably into sub-recent