An Ipswichian fluvial deposit at Fulbeck,Lincolnshire and the chronology of the Trent terraces

Mammalian fossils recently discovered near Fulbeck in Lincolnshire, include abundant hippopotamus, suggesting an Ipswichian date for the Fulbeck Sand and Gravel (new name). These deposits mark a former course of the River Witham; clasts indicate derivation from outcrops of Jurassic rocks and chalky till to the south and south-east. The relationship of the Fulbeck Sand and Gravel to the terrace deposits of the River Trent necessitates a revised chronology. The Balderton Sand and Gravel (new name), laid down by the Trent along its former course to the Lincoln Gap, is shown to be older than the Ipswichian Fulbeck Sand and Gravel, and was probably deposited during the Wolstonian Stage. The Eagle Moor Sand and Gravel (new name), probably glaciofluvial outwash from the chalky tills of the region, is considerably older than the Balderton Sand and Gravel and, together with the tills, is assigned to the early part of the Wolstonian, or the Anglian glacial Stage. It is suggested that the Balderton and Eagle Moor terraces equate with the lower and upper facets of the composite Hilton Terrace of the Middle Trent.