Devensian Late‐glacial and Flandrian Vegetational History at Hockham Mere, Norfolk, England

SUMMARY Analysis of the basin morphometry of Hockham Mere suggests that the lake basin is of a shape in which sediment is likely to be focused. Consideration of three long pollen diagrams through the deposits shows that focusing of organic post‐glacial sediment began at about 9255 B.P., and continued until the lake basin had filled, during the mid post‐glacial. The sediments deposited before 9255 B.P. are highly inorganic, and have remained concentrated near the edge of the basin, where they were initially deposited. The pollen accumulation rate diagram, from the deepest part of the basin, cannot be understood without considering the changing pattern of sediment distribution within the lake, and it is suggested that pollen concentrations may yield a more reliable interpretation of the development of vegetation in the surrounding landscape than can be obtained from pollen accumulation rates.