Quaternary lithostratigraphy and mammalian biostratigraphy of the Lower Thames terrace system, South-East England [ Lithostratigraphie quaternaire et biostratigraphie mammalienne du système de terrasses de la basse vallée de la Tamise (Sud-Est de l'Angleterre)]

A lithostratigraphical model for the Lower Thames, in which four glacial-interglacial cycles are recognized within a sequence representing nearly 0 5Ma, was tested by a detailed study of mammalian biostratigraphy The model envisages formation of aggradational terraces in synchrony with glacial- mterglacial climatic fluctuations, set against a background of progressive uplift, so that each of the four interglacials is represented within the sediments of a different terrace The mammalian evidence was found to fully complement the lithostratigraphy Distinctive biozones correspond with each of the four sets of mterglacial deposits, some of which could be further subdivided on the basis of the mammalian biostratigraphical evidence The work has been widened to allow correlation with sites beyond the stratigraphical framework provided by the Thames terraces Proposed correlation with the global oceanic record equates the four interglacials with manne oxygen isotope stages 11, 9, 7 and 5(e), the last four complete mterglacial cycles before the Holocene The implication is that the Lower Thames provides a detailed record of late Middle-Late Pleistocene climatic change, of considerable value as a template for understanding terrestrial sequences elsewhere Brief comparison is made with comparable records elsewhere in NW Europe.