S. Boreham
University of Cambridge
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Journal of Ecology | 1992
K. D. Bennett; S. Boreham; M. J. Sharp; V. R. Switsur
1. Pollen, charcoal, chemical, physical, magnetic and tephra analyses of 14 C-dated Holocene lake sediments from Dallican Water, Catta Ness, north-east Shetland, are presented and interpreted in the light of models of Holocene climatic change, the Shetland archaeological record, and local documentary evidence. The sequence was subdivided and analysed using principal components analysis, a numerical zonation of the pollen data using optimal and binary divisive techniques, and measures of palynological richness and rates of change between samples
Quaternary Science Reviews | 2000
Cunhai Gao; D. H. Keen; S. Boreham; G. Russell Coope; Mary E. Pettit; Anthony J. Stuart; Philip L. Gibbard
Abstract This paper describes Pleistocene fluvial deposits of the River Great Ouse at Woolpack Farm, Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, UK. These sediments consist of a basal gravel, fossiliferous fluviatile muds, sands and gravels later disturbed and formed into a diamicton, and overlying gravels. The regional climate inferred from palaeobotany, Mollusca, Coleoptera and vertebrates from the diamicton indicates temperate conditions. Coleopteran evidence suggests a mean July temperature of ca . 21°C, 4°C warmer than today in eastern England, and winter temperatures a little colder than at present. Molluscan assemblages indicate a slight brackish influence during deposition of the muds which form the diamicton. The gravel succession is represented by three members which have a broad distribution in the Great Ouse Valley, and which were laid down in a braided river under periglacial conditions. The occurrence of permafrost is indicated by the presence of ice wedge casts in the gravels. The pollen and macrofossil evidence from the diamicton suggests correlation with Ipswichian substage IpII ( Pinus – Quercetum mixtum – Corylus phase). The basal gravel is of pre-Ipswichian age. A Devensian age is proposed for the overlying gravels and their attendant periglacial phenomena.
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association | 1995
S. Boreham; P.L. Gibbard
Interglacial lake deposits resting on till and glaciofluvial gravels, and overlain by ‘brickearth’ 1 km south of Hitchin town centres are correlated with the Hoxnian Stage. These deposits are shown to be equivalent to those oreviously described by Clement Reid at the turn of the century. The sediments fill a basin-like depression or depressions that may have originated as a kettle-hole. The inorganic character of the sediments suggests that the basin may have been fed by a stream. The basal part of the deposit formed under late-glacial conditions indicated by Hippophae and Betula scrub. The upper part of the deposit represents the development of thermophilous woodland. Vertebrate remains and Palaeolithic artefacts associated with the sediments are discussed. Later infill of the basin by ‘brickearth’ probably took place under a periglacial climate. In common with many other Hoxnian sites in Hertfordshire, the sequence records only part of the interglacial. Such incomplete sequences have been attributed to climatic variation in water supply through the period.
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association | 2007
Harry Langford; Mark D. Bateman; Kirsty Penkman; S. Boreham; Rebecca M. Briant; G.R. Coope; David H. Keen
At Whittlesey, eastern England, Pleistocene interglacial sediments (unit G3) deposited in marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 7 appear to be truncated by a sequence comprising: (i) a limestone-rich gravel containing organic mud beds (unit F1); (ii) vertically aggrading gravel beds with sand-clay-lined bases (unit F2); and (iii) interbedded sands and gravels (units F4–F6) with associated overbank deposits (unit G4). Preliminary investigations of the floral and faunal assemblages of the organic muds were consistent in providing evidence for deposition under cool conditions. This apparent single cool/cold-phase sequence therefore could have been deposited in either MIS 6 or MIS 5d−2. The presence of sand beds in units F5, F6 and G4 and of molluscs in the organic mud beds of unit F1 provided the opportunity for obtaining age estimates using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and amino acid racemization (AAR). Rather than a single cool/cold-phase sequence the age-estimate data revealed multiphase aggradation, with the AAR data indicating the possibility that the organic muds in unit F1 were deposited earlier in MIS 7 than the interglacial deposits of unit G3. Therefore, the succession could be: unit F1 was truncated initially by unit G3, with unit F2 subsequently incising both unit F1 and unit G3. The OSL age estimates indicate that units F5, F6 and G4 are Early to Middle Devensian in age (MIS 5d-2), and therefore unit F2 was deposited sometime between late MIS 7 and MIS 5d. This paper has demonstrated the utility of using dual age-estimate techniques in dating complex fluvial sequences. Furthermore, the organic mud beds of unit F1 could provide important new information on the complex character of the MIS 7 interglacial. In addition, the OSL data and the fluvial style recorded by units F4–F6 and G4 allow comparisons to be made with recent investigations of nearby Devensian deposits.
Journal of Quaternary Science | 1996
Philip L. Gibbard; S. Boreham; Helen Roe; A Burger
Investigations in quarry exposures in the Asheldham Gravel and related deposits of southeast Essex are described. Section logging, mapping and borehole investigations are supported by clast lithological, heavy and clay mineralogical determinations. The sediments are derived from reworking of local Thames basin materials, fine sediment being predominantly from the London Clay. The sequence is shown to represent an aggradation that began as the fluvial infilling of the River Medway valley. The River Thames, diverted into this valley by glaciation further west, overwhelmed the Medway, reworking the deposits. The valley was subsequently drowned and fine laminated lake sediment was initially deposited. This was during a period when the valley was drowned by the glacial lake ponded in the southern North Sea basin by the Anglian/Elsterian ice sheet. Progradation by a braid-delta complex advanced along the valley and subsequently fluvial deposition returned. Valley widening and straightening accompanied the delta progradation. The deposits were dissected by deep fluvial valleys infilled by Hoxnian interglacial sediments. The Asheldham Gravel is therefore placed in the Anglian/Elsterian Stage.
Science of The Total Environment | 1987
S. Boreham; P. Birch
Abstract In April 1985, a transporter carrying the insecticide “Dursban” was involved in an accident near the M11/M25 interchange at Theydon Garnon, Essex. The resultant spill allowed a substantial amount of insecticide to enter “Brook House” Brook; a tributary of the River Roding. The macro-invertebrate benthos of the River Roding and two of its tributaries was sampled six months after the spill, at sites affected and unaffected by insecticide. Three distinct distribution responses by the fauna are identified and used to assess the environmental impact of the pollution. There was a sharp decrease in the type and number of organisms surviving in the affected parts of the river compared with unaffected regions. Re-population by some insecticide sensitive species was also observed. The effects of the spill are further investigated using hydrobiological indices.
Clay Minerals | 2014
C. V. Jeans; Nicholas J. Tosca; Xiufang Hu; S. Boreham
Abstract The idea is tested that the evolution of the Chalk’s clay mineral assemblage during diagenesis can be deduced by examining the relationships between its clay mineralogy, particle size distribution pattern, and the timing and trace element chemistry of the calcite cement. The preliminary results from five different examples of cementation developed at different stages of diagenesis in chalks with smectite-dominated clay assemblages suggest that this is a promising line of investigation. Soft chalks with minor amount of anoxic series calcite cement poor in Mg, Fe and Mn are associated with neoformed trioctahedral smectite and/or dioctahedral nontronite and talc. Hard ground chalk with extensive anoxic series calcite cement enriched in Mg and relatively high Fe, Mn and Sr are associated with neoformed glauconite sensu lato, berthierine and dioctahedral smectite, possibly enriched in Fe. The chalk associated with large ammonites shows extensive suboxic series calcite cement enriched in Mg, Mn and Fe that show no obvious correlation with its clay mineralogy. Nodular chalks with patchy suboxic series calcite cement enriched in Fe are associated with neoformed dioctahedral smectite, possibly enriched in Al, and berthierine. Regionally hardened chalk with extensive suboxic calcite cement and relatively high trace element contents contain pressure dissolution seams enriched in kaolin and berthierine. Laser-based particle-size distribution patterns suggest that each type of lithification has a typical complex clay mineral population, indicating that subtleties in mineralogy are not being identified and that there could be some control on the size and shape of the clay crystals by the different types of cementation.
Journal of Wetland Archaeology | 2011
S. Boreham; Julie Boreham; Christopher J. Rolfe
Abstract This paper presents results of a project focused on investigating the deterioration of organic sediments in the area adjacent to the Mesolithic site of Star Carr. Physical and geochemical analyses of sediment sequences from 15 boreholes have been used to assess preservation status and potential of the deposits. The results indicate that severe acidification as a result of chemical oxidation of sulphide to sulphate has occurred at various locations around the site. This has adversely affected the preservation potential of these sediments. The acidification is strongly associated with a well-developed iron-sulphur (Fe-S) zone within the archaeological sediments, and is closely linked to annually fluctuating water tables. In contrast, some sequences had constantly low water tables and were oxidised throughout, but others with perennially high ground water showed only modest acidification. This offers the possibility of at least some areas of the Mesolithic Star Carr palaeo-lake edge being better preserved, although perhaps vulnerable to changes in the hydrological regime.
Journal of the Geological Society | 2017
H. E. Langford; S. Boreham; Rebecca M. Briant; G. R. Coope; David J. Horne; Kirsty Penkman; Danielle C. Schreve; Nicki J. Whitehouse; John E. Whittaker
Fossiliferous deposits infilling a channel at Whittlesey, eastern England, are dated by amino acid racemization to the Last Interglacial, and pollen analysis indicates deposition in Ipswichian biozones Ip Ib and Ip IIb. Multidisciplinary palaeoenvironmental analyses of these deposits provide a rare insight into Ip Ib subzone conditions. Specifically, the Ip Ib deposits contain exotic thermophiles Naias minor, Belgrandia marginata, Bembidion elongatum, Pelochares versicolor, Caccobius schreberi, Onthophagus massai and Emys orbicularis, usually associated with Ip IIb. Combined palaeotemperature reconstructions based on beetle, ostracod and vertebrate assemblages of the Ip Ib deposits indicate that summers (mean July range +19 to +22°C) were at least 2°C warmer than at present, whereas winters (mean January air temperature range 0 to +7°C) were probably similar to those of today. These palaeotemperature ranges encompass those for Ip IIb deposits at Trafalgar Square (+20 to +21°C and +1.5 to +3°C), previously considered the only Ipswichian site to record temperatures significantly warmer than Holocene temperatures. Of particular significance is that thermal optimal conditions commenced in Ip Ib, rather than being confined to Ip IIb. This demonstrates rapid warming and biological response to early Ipswichian climate amelioration, which accords with the deep-sea Last Interglacial and European Eemian records. Supplementary material: Supplementary Tables S1-S7 are available at http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3830221.
The Antiquaries Journal | 2010
Tim Malim; S. Boreham; David W. Knight; George Nash; Richard C. Preece; Jean-Luc Schwenninger
Abstract This paper describes the rediscovery of the exact location for the Isleham hoard (tl 63197253) and presents the results of related fieldwork; it briefly reviews the metallurgical significance of the hoard, and discusses its local environmental and social context, as well as the distribution of founders hoards within the Fenland region. The hoard was found to have been placed in a pit dug into a filled-in Bronze Age boundary ditch, next to a rectangular building, and adjacent to the edge of low-lying wetland bordering a palaeochannel which revealed an environmental sequence stretching from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. This area is also in proximity to a possible ringwork. Mesolithic and Neolithic activity is evidenced by residual flint tools and pottery. By the Bronze Age the tongue of fen next to the hoard had begun to be invaded by ferns and terrestrial vegetation and its latest peat phase was radiocarbon dated to 4045 ± 62 bp. Molluscs within the boundary ditch show an open landscape with a mixture of dryland and wetland taxa, and the presence of Vertigo angustior, a rare British species no longer known from Cambridgeshire, and one indicative of transitional habitats between wet and dry land. This landscape was probably contemporary with the deposition of the hoard. Current typological and radiocarbon analysis for Wilburton metalwork would suggest a date within the period 1150 to 1000 bc for the hoard, whilst a typological assessment of the pot in which the hoard was found suggests an affinity with Post-Deverel-Rimbury (PDR) Plainware dated currently from around 1150 to 800 bc. OSL dating of a sample of the pot containing the hoard yielded a date of 1460 ± 230 bc at 1 sigma. The locations of other founders hoards within the region suggest a clustering in the southern fens and South Cambridgeshire, apparently related to ancient routeways. Résumé Cette communication décrit la redécouverte de l’emplacement précis du trésor d’Isleham (tl 63197253) et présente les résultats des travaux sur le terrain qu’y s’y rapportent; il passe brièvement en revue la signification métallurgique du trésor et discute son contexte local environnemental et social, ainsi que la répartition des trésors de fondateurs dans la région du Fenland [plaines marécageuses du Norfolk]. Le trésor avait été découvert placé dans une fosse creusée dans un fossé de bornage datant de l’âge du bronze et comblé par la suite, à côté d’un bâtiment rectangulaire, et adjacent au bord de terres humides en basse altitude elles-mêmes au bord d’un paléo chenal qui révélait une séquence environnementale allant du mésolithique à l’âge du bronze. Cette région est également proche d’un enclos circulaire possible. Des indices de résidus de céramique et d’outils en silex témoignent d’activité mésolithique et néolithique. Dès l’âge du bronze, les fougères et la végétation terrestre avaient commencé à envahir la langue de marécage située à côté du trésor, et sa dernière phase de tourbe a été datée au radiocarbone à 4045 ± 62 bp. La présence de mollusques à l’intérieur du fossé de bornage indique un paysage ouvert avec un mélange de taxons de terres sèches et de terres humides, et la présence de Vertigo angustior, une espèce britannique rare qui n’est plus connue au Cambridgeshire, et qui indique des habitats de transition entre les terres humides et les terres sèches. Ce paysage était probablement contemporain du dépôt du trésor. L’analyse actuelle, typologique et au radiocarbone, des objets en bronze de la phase Wilburton de l’âge du bronze en Grande-Bretagne nous permet de suggérer une date se situant entre 1150 et 1000 avant J.-C. pour le trésor, alors qu’une analyse typologique du pot dans lequel avait été découvert le trésor suggère un rapport avec la céramique de type plainware Post-Deverel-Rimbury (PDR) datée à l’heure actuelle entre environ 1150 à 800 avant J.-C. La datation OSL d’un échantillon du pot contenant le trésor a donné une date de 1460 ± 230 avant J.-C. à 1 sigma. Les emplacements d’autres trésors de fondateurs dans cette région suggèrent un groupe dans le sud des plaines marécageuses et dans le sud du Cambridgeshire, apparemment associé à d’anciennes voies de communication. Zusammenfassung Der Artikel beschreibt eine Wiederentdeckung der exakten Fundstelle des Depotfunds von Isleham (Rasterbezugspunkt tl 63197253), und legt die Resultate der Geländearbeiten vor. Es bespricht die metallurgische Bedeutung des Depots und das lokale Umfeld und der soziale Kontext werden diskutiert, sowie die Verteilung von Rohmetalldepots in der Fenland Region. Das Depot befand sich in einer Grube, innerhalb eines verschlammten bronzezeitlichen Grenzgrabens, neben einem rechteckigem Gebäude und am Rand eines niedrigen Feuchtgebietes. Umweltfunde aus dem angrenzenden Flußbett spannen vom Mesolithikum bis in die Bronzezeit. Die Fundstelle befindet sich auch in der Nähe eines kreisförmigen Erdwerkes. Überreste von Feuersteinwerkzeugen und Keramiken bezeugen mesolithische und neolithische Siedlung. In der Bronzezeit begann der Ausläufer dieses Teils des Moores mit Farnen und terrestrischer Vegetation zu überwachsen und die letzte Torfphase wurde auf 4045±62 bp datiert. Molluskenfunde innerhalb des Grenzgrabens weisen auf eine offene Landschaft hin, mit einer Mischung aus Land- und Moortaxen und das Vorkommen von Vertigo angustior, eine seltene Britische Gattung, die in der Grafschaft Cambridgeshire nicht mehr vorkommt, weist darauf hin, daß es sich um einen Übergangshabitat zwischen feuchtem und trockenem Land handelte. Diese Landschaft existierte warscheinlich zu der Zeit in dem das Depot hinterlegt wurde. Laufende typologische Analysen und Radiocarbondatierungen der Metallarbeiten von Wilburton deuten darauf hin, daß das Depot zwischen 1150 und 1000 vor Chr. datiert werden kann. Die typologische Berurteilung eines Keramikfunds aus dem Depot deuten auf eine Affinität mit der Post-Deverel-Rimbury Plainware Keramik hat, die zur Zeit auf 1150 bis 800 vor Chr. datiert wird. Optisch Induzierte Lumineszenz (OSL) Datierung einer Probe des Keramikgefäßes, in dem das Depot verwahrt wurde, ergab ein Datum von 1460±230 vor Chr. bei einer statistischen Fehlerbreite von 1 sigma. Die Fundstellen von anderen Rohstoffdepots innerhalb der Region häufen sich in den südlichen Niedermooren und Südcambridgeshire, anscheinend an alten Reiserouten entlang.