I have been doing some work on a new publication on the subject of the Greatest British Glaciation (GBG) and came across this map from one of Chris Rolfe's papers. Some people still seem to think that there is a consensus among geologists, glaciologists and geomorphologists that glacier ice did not impinge upon the coasts of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset at any stage, and that erratics from west Wales cannot possibly have been transported to the edge of -- or even onto -- Salisbury Plain. That view (of a very limited maximum glaciation) was proposed by Scourse and Green in 1997, and is now very much out of date. Could glacier ice have reached Salisbury Plain? James Scourse (admittedly in the context of a quote from Sherlock Holmes!) actually used the word "impossible".
Well, there is no consensus. There is certainly disagreement about the details, but a line somewhat similar to that on Chris Rolfe's map is being supported by more and more substantial evidence with every year that passes........
No comments:
Post a Comment