The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Cheltenham Sand and Gravel

Computer Code: CHSG Preferred Map Code: symb
Status Code: Full
Age range: Quaternary Period (Q) — Quaternary Period (Q)
Lithological Description: Sand, quartzose, fine- to medium-grained, generally unbedded, with seams of poorly sorted predominantly limestone gravel, especially in the lower part. Sand probably derived by aeolian processes from nearby river terrace deposits. Gravel largely Middle Jurassic ooidal limestone derived probably by solifluction from the nearby Cotswold escarpment, plus ironstone and derived fossils. Rare clay lenticles.
Definition of Lower Boundary: Bedrock surface beneath deposit or underlying superficial deposit. Base channelled, notably under Cheltenham.
Definition of Upper Boundary: Upper surface of deposit, other deposits may overlie. Generally planar surface.
Thickness: Up to about 15 m, very variable.
Geographical Limits: Gloucestershire, Severn Vale, east of the river, from Tewkesbury [SO 90 32] through Cheltenham and Gloucester, possibly as far as Little Sodbury [ST 75 83].
Parent Unit: Severn and Avon Catchments Subgroup (SACA)
Previous Name(s): Cheltenham Sands (-781)
Combined Cheltenham Sand and Fan Gravel [Obsolete Name and Code: Use CHSG] (-3297)
Jurassic gravels [Obsolete Name and Code: Use CHSG] (-127)
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Type Area  Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. 
Reference Section  Railway cutting, Little Herbert's, Cheltenham. Barron, A J M, 1995, appendix 1; locality B1. 
Reference(s):
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. 
Sumbler, M G, Barron, A J M and Morigi, A N, 2000. Geology of the Cirencester district. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 235 (England and Wales). 
Briggs, D J, 1975. Origin, depositional environment and age of the Cheltenham Sand and Gravel and related deposits. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. Vol.86, 333-348. 
Gray, J W, 1912. The lower Severn plain during the glacial epoch. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club, Vol.17, 365-380. 
Richardson, L, 1904. Handbook to the geology of Cheltenham and neighbourhood (Cheltenham: Norman, Sawyer and Co). 
Richardson, L, 1912. Memoir explanatory of a map of a part of Cheltenham and neighbourhood, showing the distribution of the sand, gravel and clay. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club, Vol.17, 297-319. 
Richardson, L, 1913. Memoir explanatory of a map of a part of Cheltenham and neighbourhood, showing the distribution of the sand, gravel and clay. Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club, Vol.18, 125-136. 
Tomlinson, M E, 1940. Pleistocene gravels of the Cotswold sub-edge plain from Mickleton to the Frome Valley. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 96, 385-421. 
Richardson, L. 1933. The Country around Cirencester. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 235 (England and Wales). 
Worssam, B C, Ellison, R A and Moorlock, B S P. 1989. Geology of the country around Tewkesbury. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 216 (England and Wales). 
Richardson, L. 1929. The Country around Moreton in Marsh. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 217 (England and Wales). 
Barron, A J M, 1995. Geological notes and local details for 1: 10 000 Sheet SO91NE (Seven Springs). British Geological Survey Technical Report WA/94/14. 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E216 E235 E217