Abstract
In the northeastern English Lake District two major till units occur. The upper unweathered unit is clearly the product of late-Devensian glaciation1. The lower till has undergone severe humid temperate chemical weathering and contains palaeosol features. It must pre-date the Ipswichian interglacial2. Pre-Devensian weathering profiles of an interglacial character have not previously been described in northern England. There has been scant previous evidence for a pre-Devensian glaciation of north-west England3,4. No date has been assigned to ‘Early Scottish’ till which has been located around Carlisle. Till in Low Furness is recorded beneath ‘interglacial beds’, but this was described in the nineteenth century and cannot be relocated1,3. It has generally been accepted that erosion during the Deven-sian effectively removed pre-existing deposits and it has been assumed that the landforms of the Lake District, including the major erosional features, are the product of the last glaciation5,6. I show here that, in the Yale of Threlkeld, this is not the case.
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Boardman, J. Evidence for pre-Devensian glaciation in the northeastern Lake District. Nature 286, 599–600 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/286599a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/286599a0
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