Crustal uplift in southern England: evidence from the river terrace records

Much of the past work on the Quaternary rivers of northwest Europe has been concerned with river terraces, which characterise almost every valley. Whi le these terraces an undoubtedly striking features of the landscape, the in cision achieved by Quatemary rivers is equally significant in terms of rive r behaviour; and for an understanding of the factors affecting landform dev elopment during the Quaternary. This paper examines the incision achieved d uring the Quatemary by the Thames, in both its upper and lower catchments, and by the Hampshire Avon in southern England. Valley incision rates of ca. 0.07-0.10 m ka(-1) have been identified, although in the lower catchment o f the Thames, these have been enhanced by additional incision in response t o glacio-isostasy and valley shortening. A model is proposed in which regio nal uplift is recognized as the primary cause of incision by these Quaterna ry rivers. Possible mechanisms for regional uplift are considered. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.