The Pleistocene of the Thames

Abstract

Few rivers of so modest a size have had so much attention devoted to their deposits and geological history as the Thames. The present size of the river belies its importance to British Quaternary geology, however, since Thames sediments provide a framework for this the latest part of the geological record in Britain. Indeed, there is abundant evidence to show that the modern Thames is a mere shadow of its Pleistocene forebear. Not only did it once flow from the London Basin out across East Anglia to north Norfolk, but there are indications that its headwaters may once have drained a large part of the West Midlands and even North Wales (Fig. 1.1). During Middle and Late Pleistocene cold episodes, when sea level was much lower and Britain was joined to the continent, the river extended for many kilometres over areas that now lie off-shore; during these episodes it was a tributary of the Rhine system. Thus Thames deposits provide a potential means for correlation between the London Basin and other areas of Britain, as well as with the North Sea Basin and surrounding parts of the European continent.