The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Trent Valley Formation

Computer Code: TRVA Preferred Map Code: notEntered
Status Code: Full
Age range: Mid Pleistocene (QPM) — Holocene Epoch (QH)
Lithological Description: Fluvial terrace and alluvial deposits of the River Trent from its source to the Humber, and those of its tributaries excluding Soar [and Idle], and possibly others, pending review. The formation includes deposits of an older course via the Lincoln Gap. Mainly sand, gravel and mud; divided (in type area) into six principal "terrace" members (Eagle Moor, Etwall, Egginton Common, Beeston, Holme Pierrepont and Hemington members), plus Holocene alluvium (the Trent Member of Bowen, 1999) and with local named organic deposits. Includes contemporaneous head, colluvium and soil deposits. Gravel composition varies substantially throughtout the catchment but is generally dominated by "Bunter" pebbles derived ultimately from the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group, together with a proportion of material from local bedrock sources and from glacial deposits of the Anglian Wolston Formation and, in the youngest terraces, from the Devensian Stockport Formation.
Definition of Lower Boundary: Unconformable, commonly channelled base on pre-Quaternary bedrock or glacial deposits (mostly Anglian Wolston Formation, or, in the uppermost Trent, Devensian Stockport Formation).
Definition of Upper Boundary: Ground surface.
Thickness: 0 to c. 10 m.
Geographical Limits: Modern Trent catchment (excluding the Soar [and the Idle]).
Parent Unit: Trent-Witham Catchments Subgroup (TRWCA)
Previous Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Type Area  Middle Trent Valley, Burton upon Trent to Nottingham (Clayton, 1953; Posnansky, 1960; Carney et al., 2001, 2002). 
Reference(s):
Brandon A and Sumbler, M G. 1991. The Balderton Sand and Gravel: pre-Ipswichian cold stage fluvial deposits near Lincoln, England. Journal of Quaternary Science, Vol.6. 117-138. 
Clayton, K M. 1953. The glacial chronology of part of the middle Trent basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol.64. 198-207. 
Pocock, T I. 1929, The Trent valley in the glacial period. Zeitschrift fur Gletscherkunde, Vol.17. 302-318. 
Bowen, D Q. 1999. A revised correlation of Quaternary deposits in the British Isles. Geological Society Special Report, No. 23. 
McMillan, A A, Hamblin, R J O, and Merritt, J W. 2011. A lithostratigraphical framework for onshore Quaternary and Neogene (Tertiary) superficial deposits of Great Britain and the Isle of Man. British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/10/03. 343pp. 
Stoker, M S, McMillan, A A and Waters, C N. Quaternary Stratigraphical Chart: Southern Britain. British Geological Survey, 1 poster. 
Barrow, G, Gibson, W, Cantrill, T C, Dixon, E E L and Cunningham, C H, 1919. The geology of the country around Lichfield. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. 
Brandon, A and Sumbler, M G. 1988. An Ipswichian fluvial deposit at Fulbeck, Lincolnshire and the chronology of the Trent terraces. Journal of Quaternary Science, Vol.3, 127-133. 
Carney, J N, Ambrose, K and Brandon, A. 2001. Geology of the country between Burton, Loughborough and Derby. Description of 1:50k Sheet 141 (England and Wales). 
Carney, J N, Ambrose, K and Brandon, A. 2002. Geology of the Loughborough district. Sheet explanation of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 141 (England and Wales). 
Chisholm, J I, Charsley, T J and Aitkenhead, N. 1988. Geology of the country around Ashbourne and Cheadle. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 124 (England and Wales). 
Knight, D and Howard, A J. 2004. Trent valley landscapes. (King's Lynn: Heritage Marketing and Publications.) 
Posnansky, M. 1960. The Pleistocene succession in the middle Trent basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol.17, 285-311. 
Rice, R J. 1968. The Quaternary Era, 332-355 in: Sylvester-Bradley, P C and Ford, T D (editors). The Geology of the East Midlands. (Leicester University Press). 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E079 E080 E086 E088 E089 E099 E100 E102 E101 E110 E111 E112 E113 E114 E123 E124 E125 E126 E139 E140 E141 E142 E143 E153 E154 E155 E156 E157 E167 E168 E169 E170 E183