The Glacial Deposits of Gower

Abstract

A general description of the drifts of Gower has been given in the memoirs of the Geological Survey,1 in which, however, no distinction was made between deposits of different ages. But it has long been known that there are at least two series of Glacial deposits in South-Western Britain, though until recently their relative extents were only surmised: in South Wales the relations of the drifts have been determined only within the last few years.2 As a consequence of this recent work it is clear that the Newer Drift does not extend into Gower much beyond the Sketty-Fairwood-Mumbles neighbourhood, and while the margin of this Newer Drift as determined by Charlesworth may be questioned in detail, especially further west along the Towy Valley,3 yet it is at least certain that the greater part of Gower is (or was) covered by Boulder Clay and gravels of the older drift. The general absence of deposits characteristic of terminal moraines, the “ mature ” topography, and the great amount of erosion that the drift has suffered are sufficiently distinctive, even apart from the extensive mounds of sand and gravel that mark the boundary of the Newer Drift further east.