Move Over Studland: Here Comes the Thames

AntarcticPilot

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This uprise due to the release of the weight of glaciers over the north of Britain has always puzzled me. The glaciation extended a lot further south even than Britain. I have seen terminal moraine just north of Verona. So why should Scotland be rising and not the whole of the UK?
Glaciation in Britain only extended as far south as East Anglia. The British ice cap was centred on the Scottish Highlands. In Verona, you would have seen terminal moraines from the Alpine ice cap; of course, there are still remnants of the Alpine ice cap on the shape of the various Alpine glaciers.
 

LadyInBed

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It's a seldom reported fact that while Scotland is still rising after the weight of ice has been removed in the 10,000 years since the last Ice Age, the South of England is sinking.
It must be true, as a new Ordnance Survey calculation has recorded the height of Ben Nevis at 1,345 metres, rather than the previous 1,344 metres.
But wait a moment
The change, which will be displayed on all new OS digital and paper maps, is not down to a geological movement but is simply due to improvements in technology that allow a more accurate reading than when the mountain was last surveyed in 1949. ?
Britain's highest mountain Ben Nevis has 'grown' by one metre, experts have discovered
 

NormanS

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All around the coast of Scotland there are what are known as "Raised Beaches". These are areas where it can be clearly seen that the seashore was much higher than it is now. This difference in height is nothing to do with improvements in technology. We're talking about anything up to 45 metres. Some of the best examples are on the Isle of Jura, where there are vast boulder beaches, which have still not been reclaimed by vegetation. Even if you can't go there to see them with your own eyes, have a look at the relevant OS map, where "Raised Beaches" are marked around the coast.
 

Stemar

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Glaciation in Britain only extended as far south as East Anglia. The British ice cap was centred on the Scottish Highlands. In Verona, you would have seen terminal moraines from the Alpine ice cap; of course, there are still remnants of the Alpine ice cap on the shape of the various Alpine glaciers.

IIRC, Hampstead Heath is part of the terminal moraine.
 

AntarcticPilot

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AntarcticPilot

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All around the coast of Scotland there are what are known as "Raised Beaches". These are areas where it can be clearly seen that the seashore was much higher than it is now. This difference in height is nothing to do with improvements in technology. We're talking about anything up to 45 metres. Some of the best examples are on the Isle of Jura, where there are vast boulder beaches, which have still not been reclaimed by vegetation. Even if you can't go there to see them with your own eyes, have a look at the relevant OS map, where "Raised Beaches" are marked around the coast.
Peter Fretwell, he of penguin poo fame and a regular on the BBC, used to work for me. His PhD thesis was on raised beaches in Scotland. They're very prominent round the east coast of the Clyde.
 

Bodach na mara

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All around the coast of Scotland there are what are known as "Raised Beaches". These are areas where it can be clearly seen that the seashore was much higher than it is now. This difference in height is nothing to do with improvements in technology. We're talking about anything up to 45 metres. Some of the best examples are on the Isle of Jura, where there are vast boulder beaches, which have still not been reclaimed by vegetation. Even if you can't go there to see them with your own eyes, have a look at the relevant OS map, where "Raised Beaches" are marked around the coast.
I assume you meant "sea level" rather than "seashore", or maybe that the seashore was lower than it is nowadays due to the post glacial lift.

Articpilot, I have not noticed raised beaches on east bank of the Clyde. Must take a drive round when the rain goes off.
 

AntarcticPilot

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I assume you meant "sea level" rather than "seashore", or maybe that the seashore was lower than it is nowadays due to the post glacial lift.

Articpilot, I have not noticed raised beaches on east bank of the Clyde. Must take a drive round when the rain goes off.
They're very obvious - the main road from Gourock south to Largs runs on one, with obvious sea cliffs on the landward side of the road. They're particularly visible on Great Cumbrae. In fact, that's why mobile coverage is (or perhaps was - it's a while since I've been there) so awful along that coast; the masts are on the raised beach, so often the signal is masked by the cliffs at the back of the raised beach.
 

NormanS

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I assume you meant "sea level" rather than "seashore", or maybe that the seashore was lower than it is nowadays due to the post glacial lift.

Articpilot, I have not noticed raised beaches on east bank of the Clyde. Must take a drive round when the rain goes off.
Never assume anything. When I said "seashore" I meant what I said. The seashore was higher up the hill then, than it is now. Do you see a difference between seashore and sea level?
 

Birdseye

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Yawn. ? That doesn't alter the fact that while Scotland is rising, giving the impression that the sea level is falling, the South of England is slowly sinking, giving the opposite effect. Yer doomed a tell ye, doomed. ?
Scotland is half empty whilst southern England is full. I blame the SNP.
 

Sandy

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Glaciation in Britain only extended as far south as East Anglia. The British ice cap was centred on the Scottish Highlands. In Verona, you would have seen terminal moraines from the Alpine ice cap; of course, there are still remnants of the Alpine ice cap on the shape of the various Alpine glaciers.
There are some interesting glacial features in north Devon. From erratics, U shaped valleys and Ice Wedges.
 

AntarcticPilot

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There are some interesting glacial features in north Devon. From erratics, U shaped valleys and Ice Wedges.
Well, North Devon - in fact everywhere south of the Severn Estuary, except, perhaps for the very northernmost part of Somerset (present day Avon!) - was never under ice. It would have been a peri-glacial environment - ice-wedges etc. but the U-shaped valleys must have an alternate explanation. I don't know the area very well myself - Exmoor is almost as far as I know - and Exmoor certainly isn't classic glacial terrain.
 

Sandy

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Well, North Devon - in fact everywhere south of the Severn Estuary, except, perhaps for the very northernmost part of Somerset (present day Avon!) - was never under ice. It would have been a peri-glacial environment - ice-wedges etc. but the U-shaped valleys must have an alternate explanation. I don't know the area very well myself - Exmoor is almost as far as I know - and Exmoor certainly isn't classic glacial terrain.
@AntarcticPilot you might be interested in the following links. While not as big as the U shaped valleys further north, the chap who pointed St Catherine's tor was a Geologist.

St Catherine's tor/ Spekes Mill Mouth beach, North Devon, England UK Stock Photo - Alamy

Some think that during colder periods ice was pushed inland from the sea.

https://devonassoc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/A-Reappraisal-Madgett-TDA-1987.pdf

Some notes about the erratics of north Devon.
 

AntarcticPilot

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@AntarcticPilot you might be interested in the following links. While not as big as the U shaped valleys further north, the chap who pointed St Catherine's tor was a Geologist.

St Catherine's tor/ Spekes Mill Mouth beach, North Devon, England UK Stock Photo - Alamy

Some think that during colder periods ice was pushed inland from the sea.

https://devonassoc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/A-Reappraisal-Madgett-TDA-1987.pdf

Some notes about the erratics of north Devon.
Perhaps local glaciers? The main ice cap certainly stopped further north and didn't cross the Severn Estuary. The photograph isn't particularly convincing, and inspection of the geological map says that the deposits in the flat-bottomed valley are alluvial, not glacial.
 

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Perhaps local glaciers? The main ice cap certainly stopped further north and didn't cross the Severn Estuary.
I believe the last glacier sheet stopped around the area of the (current) North Norfolk Coast. Hence the creation of the Cromer Ridge.
Yes, that's on the other side of the country, but does give an indication of how far south.

*edit: typos
 

rotrax

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It seems there are bigger sharks off Teeside than in the Thames.
Fishermen amazed as '10ft long' shark swims close to boat off coast of UK


First Mate and I saw a large shark swimming on the surface not far from Hook Head in Ireland. Estimated length over 12 feet. I took a detailed drawing of its dorsal fin, quite clearly notched deep and shallow at its base. Google and internet searches suggested it was a Porbeagle shark, normaly found deep down.
The British record is over 500lbs.
The one we saw was bigger!
Plenty of big sharks around our coast.
Also plenty of Sting Ray's! - be careful with those!
 

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