The Quaternary history of the Dorset, south Devon and Cornish coasts

Abstract

The Pre-Mesozoic rocks of South-West England, together with the harder Jurassic formations, provide the platforms which support intermittent outcrops of raised marine sediments and associated periglacial (‘head’) deposits. These deposits have an extremely protracted history of research with notable sites, such as Godrevy, having been described early in the nineteenth century (De 1a Beche, 1839). Although most coastal exposures comprise a simple sequence of raised beach deposits covered by head, in sheltered localities virtually throughout the Peninsula,’ sandrock’, consisting of ancient dune sediments, accompanies the marine deposits. Periglacial ‘heads’ and related sediments occur widely throughout the region and testify to the effectiveness of frost-dominated and other (e.g. slope-wash) processes between the various phases of marine action.