The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Freeland Sand and Gravel Member

Computer Code: FL Preferred Map Code: notEntered
Status Code: Full
Age range: Mid Pleistocene (QPM) — Mid Pleistocene (QPM)
Lithological Description: Predominantly cold phase sands and gravels that underlie the Freeland Terrace. Dominated by clasts of "Bunter" quartz/quartzite, typically with sporadic ironstone and rare flint, in a sandy loam matrix. Limestone clasts are generally rare probably because of pervasive decalcification. Near Oxford [SP515 014] [probable] equivalents [probably] overlie the organic Sugworth Beds, thought from palaeontology to be "Cromerian" (MIS 13+). River terrace deposits. Mid Pleistocene (MI Stage 12).
Definition of Lower Boundary: Unconformable, commonly channelled base, resting on Jurassic bedrock or (locally near head of River Evenlode) on Quaternary Wolston Formation.
Definition of Upper Boundary: Ground surface.
Thickness: 0 to c. 4 m, typically <2 m.
Geographical Limits: Upper Thames catchment, ie, River Thames and most tributaries (excluding River Thame, where named equivalents occur) upstream of the Goring Gap. Well-developed in lower Evenlode around the type locality, with sporadic outliers along the course of the Thames elsewhere, particularly in the Nuneham Courtney area [SU 54 97].
Parent Unit: Upper Thames Valley Formation (UTMS)
Previous Name(s): Northern Drift [Obsolete Name and Code: Use FL] (-2803)
Sand and gravel of unknown origin [Obsolete Name and Code: Use SGAO] (SGUO)
Northern Drift Formation (NDR)
Freeland Member [Obsolete Name and Code: Use FL] (-253)
Plateau Drift [Obsolete Name and Code: Use FL] (-254)
Sand and gravel of unknown origin [Obsolete Name and Code: Use SGAO] (SGUO)
Unbedded drift [Obsolete Name and Code: Use FL] (-3405)
Freeland Terrace Deposits [Obsolete Name and Code: Use FL] (-4044)
Glacial sand and gravel [Obsolete Name and Code] (GSG)
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Reference Section  Sugworth Road Cutting on A34 near Sugworth Farm, 2.3 km north-northeast of Abingdon. Shotton et al., 1980. 
Type Area  Freeland, Oxfordshire. Arkell, 1947a. 
Reference Section  Primary Reference Section, Gravel Pit 300 m south of Rynehill Farm (no longer exposed). Horton et al., 1987, pp 101-2. 
Reference(s):
Stoker, M S, McMillan, A A and Waters, C N. Quaternary Stratigraphical Chart: Southern Britain. British Geological Survey, 1 poster. 
Arkell, W J. 1947. The geology of Evenlode Gorge, Oxfordshire. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol. 58, 87-113. 
Bridgland, D R. 1994. Quaternary of the Thames. Geological Conservation Review Series No.7. (Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.) 
Arkell, W J. 1947. The Geology of Oxford. 267pp. [Oxford: Clarendon Press.] 
Corser, C E. 1978. The sand and gravel resources of the country around Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Description of 1:25 000 resource sheets SU 49, 59 and SP 40, 50. Mineral Assessment Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, No.38. 
Horton, A, Poole, E G, Williams, B J, Illing, V C and Hobson, G D. 1987. Geology of the country around Chipping Norton. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 218 (England and Wales). 
Pringle, J. 1926. The geology of the country around Oxford, (2nd edition). Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. 
Robson, P. 1976. The sand and gravel resources of the Thames Valley, the country between Lechdale and Standlake: Description of 1:25000 Sheet SP30 and parts of SP20, SU29 and SU30. Mineral Assessment Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, No.23. 
Sumbler, M G. 2001. The Moreton Drift, a further clue to glacial chronology in central England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol.112, 13-27. 
Corser, C E. 1981. The sand and gravel resources around the country around Dorchester and Watlington, Oxfordshire. Description of 1:25000 resource sheets SU 69 and part of SU 59. Mineral Assessment Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, No.81. 
Harries, W J R. 1975. The sand and gravel resources of the country around Eynsham, Oxfordshire. Description of 1:25 000 Resource Sheet SP 40 and part of SP 41. Mineral Assessment Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, 28. 
Hey, R W. 1986. A re-examination of the Northern Drift of Oxfordshire. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol.97, 291-302. 
Hull, E. 1855. On the physical geology and Pleistocene phenomena of the Cotteswold Hills. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol.11, 475-496. 
Pocock, T I. 1908. The geology of the country around Oxford, Second edition. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. 
Richardson, L, Arkell, W J and Dines, H G. 1946. Geology of the country around Witney. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. Sheet 236 ( England and Wales). 
Sandford, K S. 1924. The river gravels of the Oxford district. Quarterley Journal of the Gelogical Society of London, Vol.80, 113-179. 
Shotton, F W, Goudie, A S, Briggs, D J and Osmaston, H A. 1980. Cromerian interglacial deposits at Sugworth near Oxford, England, and their relation to the Plateau Drift of the Cotswolds and the terrace sequence of the Upper and Middle Thames. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol.B289, 55-86. 
Sumbler, M G. 1995. The terraces of the rivers Thame and Thames and their bearing on the chronology of glaciation in central and eastern England. Proceeding of the Geologists' Association, Vol.106, 93-106. 
Tomlinson, M E. 1929. The drifts of the Stour-Evenlode watershed and their extension into the valleys of the Warwickshire Stour and Upper Evenlode. Proceedings of the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society, Vol.15, 157-196. 
Whiteman, C A and Rose, J. 1992. Thames river sediments of the British Early and Middle Pleistocene. Quarterly Science Reviews, Vol.11, 363-375. 
Bowen, D Q. 1999. A revised correlation of Quaternary deposits in the British Isles. Geological Society Special Report, No. 23. 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E217 E218 E235 E236 E252 E253 E254