Anglian stage

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Anglian
0.478 – 0.424 Ma
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Usage information
Celestial body Earth
Regional usageRegional
Time scale(s) usedBritish Isles
Used by Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Definition
Chronological unit Age
Stratigraphic unit Stage
St Andrew's Church, Hornchurch, the furthest location south reached by a Pleistocene ice sheet in Britain St Andrew's Church Hornchurch.JPG
St Andrew's Church, Hornchurch, the furthest location south reached by a Pleistocene ice sheet in Britain

The Anglian Stage is the name used in the British Isles for a middle Pleistocene glaciation. It precedes the Hoxnian Stage and follows the Cromerian Stage in the British Isles. The Anglian Stage is correlated to Marine Isotope Stage 12 (MIS 12), [2] [3] [4] which started about 478,000 years ago and ended about 424,000 years ago. [5] [6]

Contents

Description

The Anglian stage has often been correlated to the Elsterian Stage of northern Continental Europe and the Mindel Stage in the Alps. However, there is ambiguity regarding the correlation of these two glacials to either MIS 12 or MIS 10, as described in more detail in the article 'Elster glaciation'. [7]

The Anglian was the most extreme glaciation during the last 2 million years. In Britain the ice sheet reached the Isles of Scilly and the Western Approaches, the furthest south the ice reached in any Pleistocene ice age. [8] In the south-east of England it diverted the River Thames from its old course through the Vale of St Albans south to its present position. [9]

This stage had been equated to the Kansan Stage in North America. However, the terms Kansan Stage, along with Yarmouth, Nebraskan, and Aftonian stages, have been abandoned by North American Quaternary geologists and merged into the Pre-Illinoian stage. [10] [11] The Anglian Stage is now correlated with the period of time which includes the Pre-Illinoian B glaciation of North America. [4] [11]

See also

See also

Historical names of the "four major" glacials in four regions.
RegionGlacial 1Glacial 2Glacial 3Glacial 4
Alps Günz Mindel Riss Würm
North Europe Eburonian Elsterian Saalian Weichselian
British Isles Beestonian Anglian Wolstonian Devensian
Midwest U.S. Nebraskan Kansan Illinoian Wisconsinan
Historical names of interglacials.
RegionInterglacial 1Interglacial 2Interglacial 3
Alps Günz-Mindel Mindel-Riss Riss-Würm
North EuropeWaalianHolsteinian Eemian
British Isles Cromerian Hoxnian Ipswichian
Midwest U.S. Aftonian Yarmouthian Sangamonian

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of glaciation</span> Chronology of the major ice ages of the Earth

There have been five or six major ice ages in the history of Earth over the past 3 billion years. The Late Cenozoic Ice Age began 34 million years ago, its latest phase being the Quaternary glaciation, in progress since 2.58 million years ago.

The Cromerian Stage or Cromerian Complex, also called the Cromerian, is a stage in the Pleistocene glacial history of north-western Europe, mostly occurring more than half a million years ago. It is named after the East Anglian town of Cromer in Great Britain where interglacial deposits that accumulated during part of this stage were first discovered. The stratotype for this interglacial is the Cromer Forest Bed situated at the bottom of the coastal cliff near West Runton. The Cromerian stage preceded the Anglian and Elsterian glacials and show an absence of glacial deposits in western Europe, which led to the historical terms Cromerian interglacial and the Cromerian warm period. It is now known that the Cromerian consisted of multiple glacial and interglacial periods.

The Hoxnian Stage was a middle Pleistocene stage of the geological history of the British Isles. It was an interglacial which preceded the Wolstonian Stage and followed the Anglian Stage. It is equivalent to Marine Isotope Stage 11. Marine Isotope Stage 11 started 424,000 years ago and ended 374,000 years ago. The Hoxnian is divided into sub-stages Ho I to Ho IV.

The Wolstonian Stage is a middle Pleistocene stage of the geological history of Earth from approximately 374,000 until 130,000 years ago. It precedes the Eemian Stage in Europe and follows the Hoxnian Stage in the British Isles.

The Kansan glaciation or Kansan glacial was a glacial stage and part of an early conceptual climatic and chronological framework composed of four glacial and interglacial stages.

The Illinoian Stage is the name used by Quaternary geologists in North America to designate the period c.191,000 to c.130,000 years ago, during the middle Pleistocene, when sediments comprising the Illinoian Glacial Lobe were deposited. It precedes the Sangamonian Stage and follows the Pre-Illinoian Stage in North America. The Illinoian Stage is defined as the period of geologic time during which the glacial tills and outwash, which comprise the bulk of the Glasford Formation, accumulated to create the Illinoian Glacial Lobe. It occurs at about the same time as the penultimate glacial period.

The Yarmouthian stage and the Yarmouth Interglacial were part of a now obsolete geologic timescale of the early Quaternary of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elster glaciation</span>

The Elster glaciation or, less commonly, the Elsterian glaciation, in the older and popular scientific literature also called the Elster Ice Age (Elster-Eiszeit), is the oldest known ice age that resulted in the large-scale glaciation of North Germany. It took place 500,000–300,000 years ago. It succeeded a long period of rather warmer average temperatures, the Cromerian Complex. The Elster was followed by the Holstein interglacial and the Saale glaciation. The glacial period is named after the White Elster, a right tributary of the Saale.

The Beestonian Stage is an early Pleistocene stage used in the British Isles. It is named after Beeston Cliffs near West Runton in Norfolk where deposits from this stage are preserved.

The Pastonian interglacial, now called the Pastonian Stage, is the name for an early or middle Pleistocene stage used in the British Isles. It precedes the Beestonian Stage and follows the Pre-Pastonian Stage. Unfortunately the precise age of this stage cannot yet be defined in terms of absolute dating or MIS stages. The Pre-Pastonian Stage is equivalent to the Tiglian C5-6 Stage of Europe and the Pre-Illinoian I glaciation of the early Pre-Illinoian Stage of North America.

The Pre-Pastonian Stage or Baventian Stage, is the name for an early Pleistocene stage used in the British Isles. It precedes the Pastonian Stage and follows the Bramertonian Stage. This stage ended 1.806 Ma at the end of Marine Isotope Stage 65. It is not currently known when this stage started. The Pre-Pastonian Stage is equivalent to the Tiglian C4c Stage of Europe and the Pre-Illinoian J glaciation of the early Pre-Illinoian Stage of North America.

The Bramertonian Stage is the name for an early Pleistocene biostratigraphic stage in the British Isles. It precedes the Pre-Pastonian Stage. It derives its name from Bramerton Pits in Norfolk, where the deposits can be found on the surface. The exact timing of the beginning and end of the Bramertonian Stage is currently unknown. It is only known that it is equivalent to the Tiglian C1-4b Stage of Europe and early Pre-Illinoian Stage of North America. It lies somewhere in time between Marine Oxygen Isotope stages 65 to 95 and somewhere between 1.816 and 2.427 Ma. The Bramertonian is correlated with the Antian stage identified from pollen assemblages in the Ludham borehole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine isotope stages</span> Alternating warm and cool periods in the Earths paleoclimate, deduced from oxygen isotope data

Marine isotope stages (MIS), marine oxygen-isotope stages, or oxygen isotope stages (OIS), are alternating warm and cool periods in the Earth's paleoclimate, deduced from oxygen isotope data reflecting changes in temperature derived from data from deep sea core samples. Working backwards from the present, which is MIS 1 in the scale, stages with even numbers have high levels of oxygen-18 and represent cold glacial periods, while the odd-numbered stages are lows in the oxygen-18 figures, representing warm interglacial intervals. The data are derived from pollen and foraminifera (plankton) remains in drilled marine sediment cores, sapropels, and other data that reflect historic climate; these are called proxies.

The Holstein interglacial, also called the Mindel-Riss interglacial (Mindel-Riß-Interglazial) in the Alpine region, is the third to last major interglacial before the Holocene, the present warm period. It followed directly after the Elster glaciation and came before the Saale glaciation, during the Middle Pleistocene. The more precise timing is controversial since Holstein is commonly correlated to two different marine isotope stages, MIS 11 and MIS 9. This ambiguity is much related to the correlation problem described in more detail in the article 'Elster glaciation'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromer Forest Bed</span> Geological formation in Norfolk, England

The Cromer Forest Bed is a geological formation in Norfolk, England. It consists of river gravels, estuary and floodplain sediments predominantly clays and muds as well as sands along the coast of northern Norfolk. It is the type locality for the Cromerian Stage of the Pleistocene between 0.8 and 0.5 million years ago., The deposit itself range varies in age from about 2 to 0.5 million years ago. It is about 6 metres thick and is exposed in cliff section near the town of West Runton. For over a century the bed, named after the local town of Cromer, has been famous for its assemblage of fossil mammal remains, containing the diverse remains of numerous taxa, including deer, carnivorans and birds. Although most of the forest bed is now obscured by coastal defence, the Cromer Forest Bed continues to be eroded and is rich in fossils including the skeletal remains of the West Runton Mammoth which was discovered in 1990. The oldest human footprints outside Africa, the Happisburgh footprints as well as handaxes and bison bones with cut marks were also found in layers considered to belong to this deposit near the town of Happisburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Gibbard</span>

Philip Leonard Gibbard is a Quaternary geologist and has been Professor of Quaternary Palaeoenvironments in the University of Cambridge, Department of Geography since 2005. A PhD student of Professor Richard Gilbert West in the Subdepartment of Quaternary Research, University of Cambridge (1971–1974), he investigated the diversion of the River Thames from its course through Hertfordshire to its present course through London. Later he established the stratigraphy and palaeogeography of the Thames in the Middle (1985) and Lower Thames Valley (1994). He has since undertaken many collaborative, palaeoenvironmental investigations. This multidisciplinary approach has led to him working throughout Britain, offshore areas, especially the North Sea, English Channel and the formation of the Strait of Dover, and neighbouring countries. For an example of this work, see Britain's island heritage: reconstructing half a million years of history.

The Pre-Illinoian Stage is used by Quaternary geologists for the early and middle Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods of geologic time in North America from ~2.5–0.2 Ma.

The Sangamonian Stage is the term used in North America to designate the last interglacial period. In its most common usage, it is used for the period of time between 75,000 and 125,000 BP. This period of time is equivalent to all of Marine Isotope Stage 5 and the combined Eemian period and early part of the Weichselian glaciation in Europe. Less commonly, the Sangamonian Stage is restricted to the period between 122,000 and 132,000 BP, which is equivalent to Marine Oxygen Isotope Substage 5e and the Eemian period of Europe. It preceded the Wisconsinan (Wisconsin) Stage and followed the Illinoian Stage in North America.

Marine Isotope Stage 9 is a Marine Isotope Stage in the geological record. It is the final period of the Lower Paleolithic, and lasts from 337,000 to 300,000 years ago according to Lisiecki and Raymo's LR04 Benthic Stack, which has been adopted by the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy of the International Commission on Stratigraphy. It was an interglacial which corresponds to the Purfleet Interglacial in Britain, and falls within the Pre-Illinoian in North America. Some authorities regard it as corresponding to the Holstein Interglacial in continental Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Glaciation</span> Major glaciation of eastern Europe

The Don Glaciation, also known as the Donian Glaciation and the Donian Stage, was the major glaciation of the East European Plain, 0.5–0.8 million years ago, during the Cromerian Stage of the Middle Pleistocene. It is correlated to Marine Isotope Stage 16, approximately 650,000 years ago, which globally contained one of the largest glacial volumes of the Quaternary.

References

  1. The Essex Field Club, Geology Site Account, The Dell Strictly, the furthest point south was The Dell, a few metres south of the church.
  2. McMillan, A.A. (2005). "A provisional Quaternary and Neogene lithostratigraphic framework Great Britain". Netherland Journal of Geosciences. 84 (2): 87–107. doi: 10.1017/S0016774600022988 .
  3. Walker, M. (2005). Quaternary Dating Methods. Chichester UK: Wiley. ISBN   0-470-86927-5.
  4. 1 2 Gibbard, P.L.; Boreham, S.; Cohen, K.M.; Moscariello, A. (2007). "Global chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 2.7 million years". Cambridge UK: Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. Archived from the original (JPG 844 kb) on 2008-09-10.
  5. Lisiecki, L.E. (2005) Ages of MIS boundaries. LR04 Benthic Stack Boston MA:Boston University
  6. Lisiecki, L.E.; Raymo, M.E. (2005). "A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic d18O records" (PDF). Paleoceanography. 20: PA1003. Bibcode:2005PalOc..20.1003L. doi:10.1029/2004PA001071. hdl: 2027.42/149224 . S2CID   12788441.
  7. Böse et al. (2012), Quaternary Glaciations of Northern Europe, Quaternary Science Reviews 44, page 17-22.
  8. Scourse, JD (ed) (2006) The Isles of Scilly: Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association, London, 2006.
  9. "Greater London". Natural England. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  10. Hallberg, G.R. (1986). "Pre-Wisconsin glacial stratigraphy of the Central Plains region in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri". Quaternary Science Reviews. 5: 11–15. Bibcode:1986QSRv....5...11H. doi:10.1016/0277-3791(86)90169-1.
  11. 1 2 Richmond, G.M.; Fullerton, D.S. (1986). "Summation of Quaternary glaciations in the United States of America". Quaternary Science Reviews. 5: 183–196. Bibcode:1986QSRv....5..183R. doi:10.1016/0277-3791(86)90184-8.

Further reading