The Kesgrave Sands and Gravels: 'pre-glacial' quaternary deposits of the River Thames in East Anglia and the Thames Valley

This paper reviews the Kesgrave Sands and Gravels as evidence for the pre-g lacial history of the River Thames and its main tributaries. Attention is g iven to the definitions of the deposit, the lithological and sedimentologic al properties, and the geographical and stratigraphical variations of these properties. Also described are the terrace landforms formed by the Kesgrav e Sands and Gravels and the lithostratigraphical and geomorphological basis by which individual terraces are correlated across the region. The relatio nship of the Kesgrave Sands and Gravels to the palaeosols developed on thei r surfaces, to contemporaneous coastal sedimentation and to neotectonic upl ift in the headwater regions and subsidence around the North Sea margins is outlined, along with possible evidence for glaciation in the headwater reg ions. The paper concludes with a review of the palaeoclimatic and stratigra phical evidence which indicates that most of the unit was deposited by peri glacial river activity during the late Early Pleistocene and the early Midd le Pleistocene between about 1.81 and 0.46 Ma BP. A possible scenario expla ining the factors forcing river activity in this part of the Quaternary is proposed. Thr paper also outlines the role of Richard Hey in the identifica tion and interpretation of this sediment body.