Geochronology of the Whittlesey sedimentary succession, eastern England: the ‘Pompeii’ of the British late Middle Pleistocene to Holocene record

The sedimentary succession at Whittlesey preserves a unique British late Middle Pleistocene to Holocene record back to a time equivalent to at least marine oxygen isotope stage 8 (ca. 250 ka). This study builds on previously published sedimentology, geochronology and palaeoecology results to establish 20 sedimentary facies associations, with 14 of them dated by luminescence, amino acid geochronology or radiocarbon age-estimate techniques. This remarkable fluvial archive provides insight into the past three glacial–interglacial cycles for eastern England and is ideally located geographically to inform reconstructions of past ice limits, sea level, temperature and drainage networks affecting the North Sea and Fenland. This robust chronostratigraphic framework provides a reference against which to assess previous work in the region and highlights future research directions.