The age and stratigraphic context of the Easington Raised Beach, County Durham, UK

The Easington Raised Beach, in Shippersea Bay, County Durham, is the most northerly known interglacial beach deposit in England. It lies directly on Magnesian Limestone bedrock at 33 m O.D. and is covered by glacial sediments attributed to the Devensian. Detailed sedimentological analysis suggests that it is an interglacial beach, which is supported by the presence of pebbles bored by marine organisms and littoral, temperate-climate, marine macro- and micro-fossils. It comprises beds of unconsolidated, bedded, imbricated, well-rounded sands and gravels, overlain by similar, but calcreted, deposits. The gravel fraction is dominated by Magnesian and Carboniferous limestone, with orthoquartzite, flint, and porphyries also present; these are far-travelled erratics that must have derived from the erosion of older glacially transported sediments. Previous workers have described erratics derived from the Oslofjord region of Norway in the raised beach gravel, although rocks diagnostic of a Scandinavian origin have not been recovered as part of this study. The heavy-mineral suite is rich in epidote, dolomite, clinopyroxenes, garnet, tourmaline, and micas. The beach was dated previously by conventional amino acid analysis of the shells, which suggested a Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 age, albeit with a reworked component from MIS 9. This has been confirmed by new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates, which indicate that the beach formed between 240 and 200 ka BP. New amino acid racemisation analyses, using a modified technique, broadly support this interpretation but must await more comparative data before they can be assessed fully. The strong indication of an MIS 7 age for the formation of the beach has implications for the uplift history of northeastern England during the Pleistocene, and indicates an uplift rate of 0.19 mm a⁻¹. The stable isotope geochemistry indicates that the cementation occurred during an interglacial period, whilst U-Series dating of the cement indicates that cementation occurred mostly during the Holocene, and is genetically related to the overlying Devensian till. This work has formed part of a full re-appraisal of the glacial sequence in eastern County Durham, the results of which suggest that the Warren House Formation pre-dates the raised beach, and that the Devensian Horden Till overlies the raised beach.     

The palaeoglaciology of the central sector of the British and Irish Ice Sheet: reconciling glacial geomorphology and preliminary ice sheet modelling

Digital elevation models of the area around the Solway Lowlands reveal complex subglacial bedform imprints relating the central sector of the LGM British and Irish Ice Sheet. Drumlin and lineation mapping in four case studies show that glacier flow directions switched significantly through time. These are summarised in four major flow phases in the region: Phase I flow was from a dominant Scottish dispersal centre, which transported Criffel granite erratics to the Eden Valley and forced Lake District ice eastwards over the Pennines at Stainmore; Phase II involved easterly flow of Lake District and Scottish ice through the Tyne Gap and Stainmore Gap with an ice divide located over the Solway Firth; Phase III was a dominant westerly flow from upland dispersal centres into the Solway lowlands and along the Solway Firth due to draw down of ice into the Irish Sea basin; Phase IV was characterised by unconstrained advance of Scottish ice across the Solway Firth. Forcing of a numerical model of ice sheet inception and decay by the Greenland ice core record facilitates an assessment of the potential for rapid ice flow directional switching during one glacial cycle. The model indicates that, after fluctuations of smaller radially flowing ice caps prior to 30 ka BP, the ice sheet grows to produce an elongate, triangular-shaped dome over NW England and SW Scotland at the LGM at 19.5 ka BP. Recession after 18.5 ka BP displays a complex pattern of significant ice flow directional switches over relatively short timescales, complementing the geomorphologically-based assessments of palaeo-ice dynamics. The palaeoglaciological implications of this combined geomorphic and modelling approach are that: (a) the central sector of the BIIS was as a major dispersal centre for only ca 2.5 ka after the LGM; (b) the ice sheet had no real steady state and comprised constantly migrating dispersal centres and ice divides; (c) subglacial streamlining of flow sets was completed over short phases of fast flow activity, with some flow reversals taking place in less than 300 years.     

Palaeo‐ice streams,trough mouth fans and high‐latitude continental slope sedimentation

The classical model of trough mouth fan (TMF) formation was developed in the Polar North Atlantic to explain large submarine fans situated in front of bathymetric troughs that extend across continental shelves to the shelf break. This model emphasizes the delivery of large volumes of subglacial sediment to the termini of ice streams flowing along troughs, and subsequent re‐deposition of this glacigenic sediment down the continental slope via debris‐flow processes. However, there is considerable variation in terms of the morphology and large‐scale sediment architecture of continental slopes in front of palaeo‐ice streams. This variability reflects differences in slope gradient, the relative contributions of meltwater sedimentation compared with debris‐flow deposition, and sediment supply/geology of the adjacent continental shelf. TMF development is favoured under conditions of a low (<1°) slope gradient; a passive‐margin tectonic setting; abundant, readily erodible sediments on the continental shelf ‐ and thus associated high rates of sediment delivery to the shelf edge; and a wide continental shelf. The absence of large sediment fans on continental slopes in front of cross‐shelf troughs should not, however, be taken to indicate the former absence of palaeo‐ice streams in the geological record.     

Exploring controls of the early and stepped deglaciation on the western margin of the British Irish Ice Sheet

New optically stimulated luminescence dating and Bayesian models integrating all legacy and BRITICE-CHRONO geochronology facilitated exploration of the controls on the deglaciation of two former sectors of the British–Irish Ice Sheet, the Donegal Bay (DBIS) and Malin Sea ice-streams (MSIS). Shelf-edge glaciation occurred ~27 ka, before the global Last Glacial Maximum, and shelf-wide retreat began 26–26.5 ka at a rate of ~18.7–20.7 m a^–1. MSIS grounding zone wedges and DBIS recessional moraines show episodic retreat punctuated by prolonged still-stands. By ~23–22 ka the outer shelf (~25 000 km²) was free of grounded ice. After this time, MSIS retreat was faster (~20 m a^–1 vs. ~2–6 m a^–1 of DBIS). Separation of Irish and Scottish ice sources occurred ~20–19.5 ka, leaving an autonomous Donegal ice dome. Inner Malin shelf deglaciation followed the submarine troughs reaching the Hebridean coast ~19 ka. DBIS retreat formed the extensive complex of moraines in outer Donegal Bay at 20.5–19 ka. DBIS retreated on land by ~17–16 ka. Isolated ice caps in Scotland and Ireland persisted until ~14.5 ka. Early retreat of this marine-terminating margin is best explained by local ice loading increasing water depths and promoting calving ice losses rather than by changes in global temperatures. Topographical controls governed the differences between the ice-stream retreat from mid-shelf to the coast.     

Pattern,style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet retreat: Shetland and northern North Sea sector

The offshore sector around Shetland remains one of the least well-studied parts of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet with several long-standing scientific issues unresolved. These key issues include (i) the dominance of a locally sourced ‘Shetland ice cap’ vs an invasive Fennoscandian Ice Sheet; (ii) the flow configuration and style of glaciation at the Last Glacial Maximum (i.e. terrestrial vs marine glaciation); (iii) the nature of confluence between the British–Irish and Fennoscandian Ice Sheets; (iv) the cause, style and rate of ice sheet separation; and (v) the wider implications of ice sheet uncoupling on the tempo of subsequent deglaciation. As part of the Britice-Chrono project, we present new geological (seabed cores), geomorphological, marine geophysical and geochronological data from the northernmost sector of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet (north of 59.5°N) to address these questions. The study area covers ca. 95 000 km², an area approximately the size of Ireland, and includes the islands of Shetland and the surrounding continental shelf, some of the continental slope, and the western margin of the Norwegian Channel. We collect and analyse data from onshore in Shetland and along key transects offshore, to establish the most coherent picture, so far, of former ice-sheet deglaciation in this important sector. Alongside new seabed mapping and Quaternary sediment analysis, we use a multi-proxy suite of new isotopic age assessments, including 32 cosmogenic-nuclide exposure ages from glacially transported boulders and 35 radiocarbon dates from deglacial marine sediments, to develop a synoptic sector-wide reconstruction combining strong onshore and offshore geological evidence with Bayesian chronosequence modelling. The results show widespread and significant spatial fluctuations in size, shape and flow configuration of an ice sheet/ice cap centred on, or to the east of, the Orkney–Shetland Platform, between ~30 and ~15 ka BP. At its maximum extent ca. 26–25 ka BP , this ice sheet was coalescent with the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet to the east. Between ~25 and 23 ka BP the ice sheet in this sector underwent a significant size reduction from ca. 85 000 to <50 000 km², accompanied by several ice-margin oscillations. Soon after, connection was lost with the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet and a marine corridor opened to the east of Shetland. This triggered initial (and unstable) re-growth of a glaciologically independent Shetland Ice Cap ca. 21–20 ka BP with a strong east–west asymmetry with respect to topography. Ice mass growth was followed by rapid collapse, from an area of ca. 45 000 km² to ca. 15 000 km² between 19 and 18 ka BP , stabilizing at ca. 2000 km² by ~17 ka BP. Final deglaciation of Shetland occurred ca. 17–15 ka BP , and may have involved one or more subsidiary ice centres on now-submerged parts of the continental shelf. We suggest that the unusually dynamic behaviour of the northernmost sector of the British–Irish Ice Sheet between 21 and 18 ka BP – characterized by numerous extensive ice sheet/ice mass readvances, rapid loss and flow redistributions – was driven by significant changes in ice mass geometry, ice divide location and calving flux as the glaciologically independent ice cap adjusted to new boundary conditions. We propose that this dynamism was forced to a large degree by internal (glaciological) factors specific to the strongly marine-influenced Shetland Ice Cap.     

Glacial landscape evolution in the Uummannaq region,West Greenland

The Uummannaq region is a mosaic of glacial landsystems, consistent with hypothesized landscape distribution resulting from variations in subglacial thermal regime. The region is dominated by selective linear erosion that has spatially and altitudinally partitioned the landscape. Low altitude areas are dominated by glacial scour and higher elevations are dominated by plateaux or mountain valley and cirque glaciers. The appearance and nature of each landscape type varies locally with altitude and latitude, as a function of bedrock geology and average glacial conditions. Selective linear erosion has been a primary control on landscape distribution throughout Uummannaq, leading to plateau formation and the growth of a coalescent fjord system in the Uummannaq region. This has allowed the development of the Uummannaq ice stream's (UIS) onset zone during glacial periods. Fjord development has been enhanced by a downstream change in geology to less‐resistant lithologies, increasing erosional efficiency and allowing a single glacial channel to develop, encouraging glacier convergence and the initiation of ice streaming. The landscape has been affected by several periods of regional uplift from 33 Ma to present, and has been subject to subsequent fluvial and glacial erosion. Uplift has removed surfaces from the impact of widespread warm‐based glaciation, leaving them as relict landsurfaces. The result of this is a regional altitude‐dependent continuum of glacial modification, with extreme differences in erosion between high and low elevation surfaces. This study indicates that processes of long‐term uplift, glacial erosion/protection and spatial variability in erosion intensity have produced a highly partitioned landscape.     

Provenance and depositional environments of Quaternary sediments from the western North Sea Basin

As the majority of the data on Quaternary sediments from the North Sea Basin are seismostratigraphical, we analysed the Elsterian Swarte Bank Formation, the Late Saalian Fisher Formation and the Late Weichselian (Dimlington Stadial) Bolders Bank Formation in order to determine genesis and provenance. The Swarte Bank Formation is a subglacial till containing palynomorphs from the Moray Forth and the northeastern North Sea, and metamorphic heavy minerals from the Scottish Highlands. The Fisher Formation was sampled from the northern and central North Sea. In the north, it is interpreted as a subglacial till, with glaciomarine sediments cropping out further south. These sediments exhibit a provenance signature consistent with the Midland Valley of Scotland, the Eocene of the North Sea Basin, the Grampian Highlands and northeast Scotland. The Bolders Bank Formation is a subglacial till containing palynomorphs from the Midland Valley of Scotland, northern Britain, and a metamorphic heavy‐mineral suite indicative of the Grampian Highlands, Southern Uplands and northeast Scotland. These data demonstrate that there was repeated glaciation of the North Sea Basin during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, with ice sheets originating in northern Scotland. There was no evidence for a Scandinavian ice sheet in the western North Sea basin. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Credit where credit's due: developing authorship strategies in the geosciences

As research institutions seek to professionalize the workplace the use of metrics to assess an individual's performance is becoming increasingly commonplace. For academic researchers this can be achieved through the use of publication metrics such as the number of articles published and number of citations. For non-academic professionals, such as cartographers, field assistants or database programmers, they may have limited inclusion as authors and therefore their contribution to research outputs and outcomes is more difficult to ascertain. This paper outlines the current de facto standards for authorship and proposes some potential solutions for the formal recognition of contributions by professionals to research projects. This is presented through strategies currently being trialed at the Journal of Maps and through the example of map publication at the British Geological Survey.