Correlation of Lower Pleistocene Crag at depth in Suffolk

Abstract

SummaryThe stratigraphy of the early Pleistocene marine deposits erected from a borehole at Ludham, Norfolk, based on pollen and foraminifera, is extended to another borehole at Stradbroke, Suffolk. Pollen analyses from argillaceous parts of the sequence at Stradbroke show a Pre-Ludhamian pollen zone, overlain by the Ludhamian. Foraminiferal evidence indicates that the Pre-Ludhamian is equivalent to part of the Red Crag, thus providing the first direct evidence as to the relative ages of the Red Crag and the Ludhamian. Palaeomagnetic investigations indicate a normal polarity and, by comparison with the Netherlands sequence, an age of at least 1.60 m.y. for the deposition of the Pre-Ludhamian.