Geoarchaeologic analysis of South Platte River terraces: Kersey,Colorado

Soil-sediment records and radiometric dating allow the development of environmental histories of three South Platte River alluvial terraces in the vicinity of Kersey, Colorado. These advocate a correlation with Holocene glacial records for the Colorado Front Range (Benedict, 1981, 1985). The archaeological potential of the Kersey fill, the Kuner strath, and the Hardin fill depends upon their age and sediment context. The oldest and most extensive terrace is the Kersey fill. The position of cultural components on the Kersey terrace implies an association of older Paleoindian sites (11,500–10,000 B.P.) with channel banks and bars on the terrace, younger Paleoindian sites (<10,000 B.P.) with terrace margins near the river, and Archaic and younger sites with eolian deposits on the terrace. An association of Clovis components with both Kersey alluvium and adjacent eolian dune fields indicates that eolian deposition began prior to 11,000 B.P. and that sediment availability influenced early Holocene eolian deposition. Examination of 150 cores and 75 backhoe test units along an 8-km study corridor demonstrates that Paleoindian sites are not as abundant on the Kersey terrace as previous researchers have proposed. Although the incision of the Kuner strath began earlier than 9600 B.P., we propose that its greatest potential is to yield cultural components that postdate ca. 7250 B.P. In turn, the Hardin fill may yield cultural components dating to the Kuner abandonment (ca. 6380 B.P.). However, Hardin sediment and soil records recommend that this fill terrace's highest potential is to yield in situ cultural components dating from ca. 1900 to 120 B.P. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Geoarchaeology and late quaternary geomorphology of the middle south Platte River,Northeastern Colorado

Investigations were conducted along the middle South Platte River to better define the geomorphic contexts of Paleoindian sites and to reconstruct the alluvial and eolian geochronology. Paleoindian sites are associated with the Kersey terrace (the downstream equivalent of the Broadway terrace). The Kersey alluvium was deposited during Clovis occupation and the surface stabilized by 10,000 B.P. Post-Clovis sites post-date aggradation and stream downcutting may have started as early as 10,500 B.P. Subsequent floodplain development and downcutting formed the Kuner terrace (the possible downstream equivalent of the Piney Creek terrace) no later than 3000 B.P. and the Hardin terrace probably within the last 1000 years. Soils on the Kersey terrace are Ustochrepts (gravelly alluvium) or Haplustalfs (sandy and clayey alluvium). Soils on the Kuner terrace are cumulic Ustorthents and Ustochrepts. Soils on the Hardin terrace are Ustorthents with no obvious horizonation. Eolian sands began accumulating in the region by 10,000 B.P., but most are probably late Holocene deposits and are indicative of drier post-Pleistocene climate. Correlations with deposits in low order tributaries and other drainages can be difficult to make a) using soils because soil development varies as a function of parent material texture and b) because aggradation and degradation may be out-of-phase.     

Pedoarchaeology of Cactus Hill,a sandy Paleoindian site in southeastern Virginia,U.S.A.

Cactus Hill is located in the Virginia Coastal Plain on a terrace above the Nottoway River. The site has a record of occupation that spans the Holocene and also offers evidence of humans late in the Pleistocene before Clovis time. Soil investigations identified several deposit types, and demonstrated that multisequal eolian sands forming the site's primary core are arrayed in spatially and temporally discrete horizons. Resting atop an ancient paleosol, the earliest sand stratum (19,540 ± 70 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) is marked by a conspicuous but culturally sterile buried surface horizon. Eolian sand above this surface supports another sequum in which Clovis and underlying “Blade” artifacts are associated with a fainter surface horizon and pronounced subsoil lamellae. Early Archaic and successively younger artifacts occur above the Clovis level in a more weakly developed uppermost sequum. This soil and cultural stratigraphy, together with considerations of regional topography, demonstrate that the landscape has evolved incrementally since about the last glacial maximum. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Geochronology of paleoenvironmental change,clovis type site,Blackwater draw,New Mexico

Geoarchaeological investigations at the Clovis type site, Blackwater Locality No. 1, in 1983 and 1984 included core drilling, archaeological test excavations, stratigraphic profiling, sedimentary analyses, and radiocarbon dating. Six lines of core holes transverse to the outlet channel clearly defined the subsurface configuration and stratigraphy of the prehistoric spring run. Pieces of large animal bone from units B, C, D, and E that elsewhere in the site contain Paleoindian artifacts suggest occurrences of additional buried sites along the ancient spring run. Four Paleoindian projectile points recovered during archaeological testing confirm these prospects. The Clovis type site, located in an abandoned gravel pit, is in a natural depression initially occupied by a late Pleistocene lake. After breaching of the depression by overflow or sapping, it became a springhead and was enlarged by slumping and slopewash. Detailed stratigraphic profiling of the south wall of the abandoned gravel pit provided precise stratigraphic control for sediment sampling and radiocarbon dating, and revealed more complex microstratigraphy and facies relationships than heretofore known for the site. The interfingering of dune facies around the depression with lacustrine and spring-laid facies within it aid paleoclimatic interpretation. Deflational contacts within the depression appear to correlate with adjacent wedges of dune sand reflecting relatively arid intervals. Between these arid episodes occur intervals of increased ground water level attended initially by deposition of spring-laid sands of unit B during the late Pleistocene (13,000–11,500 yr B.P.). As the water table rose following a period of severe deflation, slumping and gravity flow deposited clayey sand, Unit C, on the floor of the blowout between 11,500 and 11,000 yr B.P. During this time Clovis people first appeared at the site. After another brief period of deflation, a lake rose causing sand of Unit D₀ to be washed in from shore followed by deposition of diatomities, units D₁ and D₂. These were separated by a brief influx of eolian sand, unit D_2z. Between 10,800 and 10,000 yr B.P. outflow from the lake was reduced by accumulation of eolian sand in the outlet while Folsom people and later Agate Basin people arrived to hunt bison during this time. Cody complex people appeared during and after a brief erosional episode that preceded deposition of eolian silt and sand of units E and F from 10,000 to 8000 yr B.P. Eolian deposition during post-Folsom time converted the pond to a wet meadow and eventually, during Cody time, to a grassy swale. Some of these deposits were blown out during the Altithermal arid period (ca. 8000-5000 yr B.P.), a time when prehistoric Archaic peoples excavated wells in the floor of the depression. Subsequent eolian activity has resulted in deflation and dune migration during the late Holocene. The best prospects for Paleoindian finds are along the buried outlet south of the south wall and in early Holocene dune sands on the uplands around the depression. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Late quaternary floodplain sedimentation along the Pomme de Terre River,southern Missouri

New cross sections and dates from along the Pomme de Terre River clarify the complex local history of valley development and floodplain sedimentation. The observed history begins with a series of ancient bedrock strath terraces that record past bedrock valley positions at 15.5 to more than 58 m above the modern bedrock floor. Each strath is capped by 1–2 m of channel gravel and sand permeated by red clay. Sometime previous to ca. 140,000 yr B.P., a much lower bedrock valley only about 5–6 m above the modern level was excavated. By 140,000 yr B.P., accumulation of red and gray mottled silty clay had commenced, and had reached to 8.5 m above the modern floodplain before 48,900 ± 900 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Sometime between ca. 49,000 and 45,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., erosion caused abandonment of an oxbow meander, and lowered the bedrock valley to about its present depth. Younger yellowish-red and gray mottled silty clay alluvium then began accumulating. This mid-Wisconsinan fill reached to 2.5 m above the modern floodplain sometime before 31,800 ± 1340 ¹⁴C yr B.P., at which time another erosional phase was in progress. A late Wisconsinan olive clay accumulated between 27,480 ± 1950 and ca. 23,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., followed by approximate stability until 13,550 ± 400 ¹⁴C yr B.P. After stability, an erosional episode began, but by 10,200 ± 330 ¹⁴C yr B.P., deposition of a distinctive brown clayey silt was underway. This early Holocene fill reached to about the same level as the mid-Wisconsinan fill by 8100 ± 140 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Erosion occurred between this date and 7490 ± 170 ¹⁴C yr B.P., but the former floodplain level was rapidly reattained, and was apparently stable until ca. 5000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Finally, erosional unconformities and 17 dates from the brown clayey silt, and from younger grayish-brown silty sand underlying the modern floodplain, record subsequent episodes of floodplain erosion at ca. 5000, 2900, 1500 and 350 ¹⁴C yr B.P. The timing of Pomme de Terre floodplain sedimentary regimes, characterized by net aggradation, erosion, or stability, may have been controlled by climate. In particular, both periods of stability appear to have been coeval to times of strongly zonal upper atmospheric circulation. Intensified zonal circulation would have resulted in less frequent large floods and an increased dominance by floods of small to moderate size. In contrast, there are no obvious parallels to be drawn between this local alluvial history and sea level or glacial outwash induced baselevel changes.     

Climatic Implications of the Late Quaternary Alluvial Record of a Small Drainage Basin in the Central Great Plains

Four late-Quaternary alluvial fills and terraces are recognized in Wolf Creek basin, a small (163 km²) drainage in the Kansas River system of the central Great Plains. Two terraces were created during the late Pleistocene: the T-4 is a fill-top terrace underlain by sand and gravel fill (Fill I), and the T-3 is a strath terrace cut on the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone. Both Fill II (early Holocene) and Fill III (late Holocene) are exposed beneath the T-2, a Holocene fill-top terrace. The T-1 complex, consisting of one cut and three fill-top terraces, is underlain by Fills III and IV. A poorly developed floodplain (T-0) has formed within the past 1000 yr. As valleys in Wolf Creek basin filled during the early Holocene, an interval of soil formation occurred about 6800 yr B.P. Early Holocene fill has been found only in the basin's upper reaches, indicating that extensive erosion during the middle Holocene removed most early-Holocene fill from the middle and lower reaches of the basin. Valley filling between 5000 and 1000 yr B.P. was interrupted by soil formation about 1800, 1500, and 1200 yr B.P. As much as 6 m of entrenchment has occurred in the past 1000 yr. Holocene events in Wolf Creek basin correlate well with those in other localities in the central Great Plains, indicating that widespread changes in climate, along with adjustments driven by complex response, influenced fluvial activity.     

Dating Quaternary volcanism and incision by the River Tigris at Diyarbakır,southeast Turkey

New high‐precision Ar‐Ar dating of basalt underlying the city of Diyarbak?r, southeast Turkey, constrains the Quaternary incision history of the River Tigris, strengthening the pre‐existing chronology based on magnetostratigraphy and K‐Ar dates. The basalt, which overlies Tigris terrace gravel 70 m above the river, is part of the Karacada? shield volcano complex centred ca. 60 km to the southwest. The reverse‐magnetised Diyarbak?r basalt, one of relatively few flow units to reach the Tigris valley axis, has been dated to 1196 ± 19 ka (±2σ). Two lower terraces have been recognised in the Diyarbak?r area, 46 and 32 m above the present river, with at least one other further downstream. From this evidence the rate of Middle‐Late Pleistocene incision by the Tigris can be estimated; it probably reached ca. 0.07 mm a^?1, reflecting the characteristic global increase in uplift rates observed at that time. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Depositional and soil history along the Lower Macleay River,New South Wales

Extensive terrace and flood plain deposits occur along the Lower Macleay River. A sequence of terraces from oldest to youngest was named: Madron, Corangula, Mungay, Mooneba, Belgrave and Macleay deposits (contemporary). Basal sediments in the Mooneba terrace were dated by radiocarbon analysis at 3,280 ± 55 years; basal sediments of the Mungay terrace were dated at 6,425 ± 105 years. The Madron and Corangula terraces are considered very much older than the Mungay. The flood plain consists of two early cycles of aggradation buried under 23m of estuarine sediment, which in turn is overlain by up to 6m of alluvium. The estuarine sediments were dated at 8,530 ± 200 years at elevation —4m relative to mean sea level. The base of the overlying Smithtown alluvium was dated at 3,295 ± 95 years. A general chronology is presented for the Lower Macleay valley, and a sequence of terrace soils is discussed.     

Ages of subsurface stratigraphic intervals in the Quaternary of Enewetak Atoll,Marshall Islands

Drill cores of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands, reveal six stratigraphic intervals, numbered in downward sequence, which represent vertical coral growth during Quaternary interglaciations. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Holocene sea transgressed the emergent reef platform by about 8000 yr B.P. The reef grew rapidly upward (about 5 to 10 mm/yr) until about 6500 yr B.P. Afterward vertical growth slowed to about 0.5 mm/yr, then lateral development became dominant during the last several thousand years. The second interval is dated at 131,000 ± 3000 yr B.P. by uranium series. This unit correlates with oxygen-isotope substage 5e and with terrace VIIa of Huon Peninsula, New Guinea, and of Main Reef-2 terrace at Atauro Island. The third interval is not dated because corals were recrystallized and it is tentatively correlated with either oxygen-isotope stages 7 or 9. The age of the fourth interval is estimated at 454,000 ± 100,000 yr B.P. from measured ${}^{234}\text{U}{}^{238}\text{U}$ activity ratios. This unit is correlated with either oxygen-isotope stage 9, 11, or 13.     

A micromorphological analysis of stratigraphic integrity and site formation at Cactus Hill,an Early Paleoindian and hypothesized pre‐Clovis occupation in south‐central Virginia,USA

Twenty thin sections were studied from Cactus Hill, a ca. 20 ka stratified sand dune site in Virginia, USA, with a Clovis and hypothesized pre‐Clovis component. The high‐resolution soil micromorphology investigation focused on testing the integrity of Clovis and pre‐Clovis stratigraphy from one location where there is a high density of artifacts. Site formation processes were dominated by eolian (dune) sand formation. There was also ephemeral topsoil development and associated occupation, along with their penecontemporaneous disturbance and dispersal by scavenging animals (assumed) and localized down‐working by small invertebrate mesofauna (as evidenced by aggregates of fine phytolith‐rich humic soil and fine soil‐coated charcoal fragments). Partial erosion of these occupation soils (deflation?) was followed by successive sand burial. Post‐depositional processes affecting these sand‐buried occupations involved only small‐scale bioturbation and overprinting of clay lamellae, suggesting site stratigraphy has been stable for a long time. Soil micromorphological analysis has defined a difference between occupational units (pre‐Clovis and Clovis) and sterile units found between these units as well as above and below. In summary, according to this analysis, the site appears intact with only minor disturbances affecting the long‐term integrity of the stratigraphy. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Clovis well at the type site 11,500 B.C.: The oldest prehistoric well in America

An enigmatic circular pit uncovered during archaeological excavations at the Clovis type site, Blackwater Draw, New Mexico, in 1964 has been reexposed and posited as a water well excavated by Clovis people around 11,500 B.C. The prehistoric well, the oldest in the New World, was probably a dry hole. Other Clovis wells may exist in the area. The excavation of wells near where there had been surface water shortly before adds to the evidence for drought during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The identified origin of a linear slope near Chi–Chi earthquake rupture combining 2D, 3D resistivity image profiling and geological data

A slope on the west border of the foothill near 921 surface rupture (caused by the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake) in central Taiwan shows distinctive topographic expression that was prone to be considered as a fault scarp formed by a preexisting active fault. The 2D and 3D resistivity images clearly delineate rock surfaces which show steep, deep, gentle, and subvertical displacement beneath the slope, the toe of slope, the non-lateritic terrace, and 921 surface rupture, respectively, which can be attributed to the significant contrast of resistivity between gravel and rock. The horizontal sand bed and clast-supported gravel were deposited in a fluvial environment, whereas wedge-shaped gravel and colluvium were scarp-induced colluvial deposits in the trench profile. The layers shown in the depth of excavation, except for rock, has no offset or disturbance by fault ever since at least 2,480 ± 50 year B.P., based on carbon 14 dating of charcoal sample at the bottom of trench profile. According to information from two boreholes close to the slope, an over 20-m-thick marker bed with transported shell fragments, was found for correlation. This correlation further implies the slope was not formed by fault. On the other hand, two boreholes which are far from the slope and located on the flat non-lateritic terrace frequently show fractured and sheared features. By comparison, the locations around these two boreholes indicate a reverse fault or faults that occurred before the deposition of gravel. Later on, the paleostream was developed along the foot of fault scarp that was subjected to erosion and led to subsequent retrogression or retreat of the slope. Consequently, the incision of paleostream is believed to be responsible for the high relief of rock surface around the slope. Furthermore, from resistivity and borehole data, the rock surface underlying terrace is gentle where no faults occur after the deposition of gravel. The result of RIP crossing the 921 surface rupture displays about 10 m difference in elevation of rock surface on both sides, which is greater than that of 3–4 m caused by Chi-Chi earthquake. This indicates that the 921 surface rupture is a preexisting thrust fault that resulted from several thrusting events since terrace gravel was deposited. So it is not necessary to establish an extra restricted zone for construction in study area, except close to the 921 surface rupture.     

晚更新世晚期以来的长江上游古洪水记录

长江上游三峡河段主要的古洪水记录有:1)三峡深槽的蚀积变化;2)长江阶地粗粒沉积;3)长江的泛滥沉积;4)长江的古洪水平流沉积。不同时间跨度不同类型古洪水记录的精度有较大的差别。古洪水记录显示,晚更新世晚期的40～30kaB.P.,长江上游大洪水比30kaB.P.以来的长江上游大洪水大得多;全新世以来,以3983aB.P.前后的大洪水为相对最大;公元1870年大洪水为3000aB.P.以来最大洪水;近百年来的实测洪水以公元1981年洪水为最大。     

晚更新世晚期以来的长江上游古洪水记录

长江上游三峡河段主要的古洪水记录有:1)三峡深槽的蚀积变化;2)长江阶地粗粒沉积;3)长江的泛滥沉积;4)长江的古洪水平流沉积。不同时间跨度不同类型古洪水记录的精度有较大的差别。古洪水记录显示,晚更新世晚期的40～30kaB.P.,长江上游大洪水比30kaB.P.以来的长江上游大洪水大得多;全新世以来,以3983aB.P.前后的大洪水为相对最大;公元1870年大洪水为3000aB.P.以来最大洪水;近百年来的实测洪水以公元1981年洪水为最大。     

Geoarchaeology of the Mockingbird Gap (Clovis) site,Jornada del Muerto,New Mexico

The Mockingbird Gap site is one of the largest Clovis sites in the western United States, yet it remains poorly known after it was tested in 1966–1968. Surface collecting and mapping of the site revealed a dense accumulation of Clovis lithic debris stretching along Chupadera Draw, which drains into the Jornada del Muerto basin. We conducted archaeological testing and geoarchaeological coring to assess the stratigraphic integrity of the site and gain clues to the paleoenvironmental conditions during the Clovis occupation. The 1966–1968 excavations were in stratified Holocene eolian sand and thus that assemblage was from a disturbed content. An intact Clovis occupation was found elsewhere in the site, embedded in the upper few centimeters of a well‐developed buried Bt horizon formed in eolian sand, representing the regional Clovis landscape. Coring in Chupadera Draw revealed ∼11 m of fill spanning the past ∼11,000 ¹⁴C years. The stratified deposits provide evidence of flowing and standing water on the floor of the draw during Clovis times, a likely inducement to settlement. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Geoarchaeology of the Boca Negra Wash Area,Albuquerque Basin,New Mexico,USA

Dozens of Paleoindian sites, including the Boca Negra Wash (BNW) Folsom site (LA 124474), are scattered across a basalt plateau (the West Mesa) on the western side of the Albuquerque Basin, and adjacent uplands. The BNW site, like many others in the area, is located near a small (˜60 × 90 m) playa basin that formed in a depression on the basalt surface and was subsequently covered by an eolian sand sheet (Unit 1) dated by OSL to ˜23,000 yr B.P. Most of the basin fill is ˜2 m of playa mud (Units 2 and 3) dating ˜13,970 ¹⁴C yr B.P. (17,160–16,140 cal yr B.P.) at the sand–mud interface to ˜2810 ¹⁴C yr B.P. (˜2960–2860 cal yr B.P.) at the top. C/N ratios suggest that the BNW playa basin probably held water more often during the Folsom occupation; stable carbon isotope values indicate C3 vegetation was more common as well, but C4 grasses became dominant in the Holocene. Cores extracted from four playa basins nearby revealed a similar stratigraphy and geochronology, documenting presence of wetlands on playa floors during the Paleoindian occupation of the area. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

黄河晋陕峡谷1.1 Ma阶地的形成及其构造背景*

对黄河晋陕峡谷河曲、黑峪口、延水关和壶口等4个地区进行了详细的野外考察。河曲地区共发现3级河流阶地,更高的则为唐县期宽谷;唐县期宽谷的海拔高度约1000m(拔河高度150m),而3级河流阶地的拔河高度分别约为110m、80m和12m。黑峪口地区也存在唐县期宽谷,宽谷之下发育5级河流阶地,唐县期宽谷西高东低,海拔高度位于970m和940m之间,5级河流阶地的拔河高度分别约为130m,80m、50m、12m和4m。延水关地区共发现6级河流阶地,全部为第四纪期间形成,6级河流阶地的拔河高度分别为180m、130m、95m、50m、20m和4m。壶口地区共存在8级阶地,也全部为第四纪期间的阶地,阶地的拔河高度分别约为260m、210m、180m、120m、80m、60m、35m和15m。对壶口最高阶地进行了地层学研究,发现这一阶地上覆厚度约110m的黄土地层,黄土层的最底部为L13,古地磁研究结果和古土壤断代都指示了这一阶地的形成时间在距今1.1Ma左右。综合晋陕峡谷地区现有的研究结果认为,3.3Ma之前,鄂尔多斯地块内部构造极为稳定,发育了唐县期夷平面,古黄河在此夷平面上主要以侧蚀拓宽为主,下蚀极其微弱;3.3-1.1Ma,鄂尔多斯地块的构造稳定可能被打破,黄河小幅度下切;而1.1Ma以来,受鄂尔多斯地块快速抬升的影响,黄河发生剧烈下切,1.1 Ma阶地和晋陕峡谷的主体在这一时期形成。     

The evolution of Paleoindian geochronology and typology on the Great Plains

The Great Plains contain many of the best‐known Paleoindian sites in North America, and a number of these localities were key to determining the chronology of Paleoindian occupations in the years before, during, and since the development of radiocarbon and other chronometric dating methods. Initial attempts at dating were based on correlation with extinct fauna, the “geologic‐climatic” dating method, and stratigraphic relationships of artifacts within sites. By the time radiocarbon dating was developed (1950), the basic Paleoindian sequence (oldest to youngest) was: Clovis‐Folsom‐unfluted lanceolates (such as Plainview, Eden, and Scottsbluff). Initial applications of radiocarbon dating in the 1950s did little to further resolve age relationships. In the 1960s, however, largely through the efforts of C. V. Haynes, a numerical geochronology of Paleoindian occupations on the Great Plains began to emerge On the Southern Great Plains the radiocarbon‐dated artifact chronology is: Clovis (11,600–11,000 yr B.P.); Folsom and Midland (10,900–10,100 yr B.P.); Plainview, Milnesand, and Lubbock (10,200–9800 yr B.P.); Firstview (9400–8200 yr B.P.); St. Mary's Hall, Golondrina, and Texas Angostura (9200–8000 yr B.P.). The chronology for the Northern Great Plains is: Clovis (11,200–10,900 yr B.P.); Goshen (ca. 11,000 yr B.P.); Folsom (10,900–10,200 yr B.P.); Agate Basin (10,500–10,000 yr B.P.); Hell Gap (10,500–9500 yr B.P.); Alberta, Alberta‐Cody (10,200–9400 yr B.P.); Cody (Eden‐Scottsbluff) (9400–8800 yr B.P.); Angostura, Jimmy Allen, Frederick, and other parallel‐oblique types (9400–7800 yr B.P.). Fifty years after the development of radiocarbon dating, the basic typological sequence has not changed significantly except for the realization that there probably was significant temporal overlap of some point types, and that the old unilinear sequence does not account for all the known typological variation. The chronology has been continually refined with the determination of hundreds of radiocarbon ages in recent decades. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Holocene sedimentation on the North Norfolk barrier coast in relation to relative sea-level change

Fourteen distinct sedimentary environments have been recognised in the surface sediments of the intertidal zone of the North Norfolk coast. Nine of these can be distinguished in borehole samples on the basis of sedimentological and micro-palaeontological characteristics. They comprise: gravel; channel sand; intertidal sand; intertidal silty sand; intertidal mud and marsh creek; lower salt marsh; upper salt marsh; dune sand; and peat. Sediment accumulations have been penetrated to a depth of ?8 m OD and basal peats dated by ¹⁴C back to 8410 ± 50 years BP. An overall rate of sediment accumulation (and subsidence) of about 1 m per thousand years is indicated. There is considerable persistence of sedimentary environments in the same areas during up-building, but some erosion and roll-over of the coastal barrier system has occurred. Evidence of positive and negative sea-level tendencies are present in the record, but the main development of the tract is determined by sediment supply to the beach and marshes; positive sea-level tendencies occur at c. 6610, 5970, 4630 and 2790 BP, negative sea-level tendencies occur at 4520 to 4450 and (possibly) 3470 BP.