Uplift-driven valley incision and river terrace formation in southern England

Abstract

Outside the limits of Middle Pleistocene glaciation, the river basins of Southern England contain long Cenozoic terrestrial sedimentary records. Of greatest importance are the river terrace sequences, which contain biostratigraphical and sedimentary evidence that testifies to the high-amplitude climatic changes of the Quaternary. However, trends in valley development cannot easily be accommodated within the framework of Quaternary climatic change. It is argued in this paper that episodic incision and terrace development result from uplift, a consequence of the interplay between continuing Alpine orogenic movements and erosion-driven isostasy. Using a simple linear model (height–age) an uplift rate of ca. 7 cm ka−1 is estimated for the terrace sequence in the upper Thames valley. This preliminary model is evaluated using the records of adjacent basins. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.