The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Happisburgh Till Member

Computer Code: HPTI Preferred Map Code: notEntered
Status Code: Full
Age range: Pleistocene Epoch (QP) — Pleistocene Epoch (QP)
Lithological Description: The Happisburgh Till Member is a yellowish grey to grey matrix-supported diamicton that has a sandy clay matrix texture. The clast content of the diamicton is <1% and composed predominantly of flint, vein quartz and quartzite with a subsidiary assemblage of far-travelled British erratic lithologies including Carboniferous limestone, Carboniferous coal, Devonian Red Sandstone, Permian Red Sandstone, Permian "Magnesian" limestone, felsic and basaltic porphyry, Dalradian metasediments. The diamicton has been interpreted as a subglacial deformation till.
Definition of Lower Boundary: The basal contact between the Happisburgh Till Member and the underlying Wroxham Crag Formation is represented by an upward transition from tidally laminated sand and silt to till.
Definition of Upper Boundary: The upper boundary of the Happisburgh Till Member is variable but generally consists of a series of ridges and troughs that have been interpreted as a range of subglacial and ice-marginal landforms. The till is overlain by a series of laminated clays (Ostend Clay Member) and sands (Happisburgh Sand Member).
Thickness: Typically between 2 to 7m
Geographical Limits: The Happisburgh Till Member can be observed in coastal sections between Happisburgh and Overstrand in northeast Norfolk.
Parent Unit: Happisburgh Glacigenic Formation (HPGL)
Previous Name(s): First Cromer Till (-965)
Happisburgh Diamicton [Obsolete Name and Code: Use HPTI] (-3479)
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Type Section  Cliff sections 500m east of Happisburgh lighthouse, Happisburgh, Norfolk, showing the Happisburgh Till Member overlain by the Ostend Clay Member and Happisburgh Sand Member. Hart, 1999. 
Reference(s):
Lee, J R, Booth, S J, Hamblin, R J O, Jarrow, A M, Kessler, H, Moorlock, B S P, Morigi, A N, Palmer, A, Riding, J B and Rose, J. 2004. A new stratigraphy for the glacial deposits around Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, North Walsingham and Cromer, East Anglia, UK. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Norfolk, Vol.53, 3-60. 
Ranson, C E. 1968. An assessment of the glacial deposits of northeast Norfolk. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Norfolk, Vol.16, 1-16. 
Lunkka, J P. 1994. Sedimentation and lithostratigraphy of the North Sea Drift and Lowestoft Till Formations in the coastal cliffs of northeast Norfolk, England. Journal of Quaternary Science, Vol. 9, 203-233. 
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. 
Hart, J K. 1999. Glacial sedimentation: a Casy Study from Happisburgh, Norfolk. In Jones, A P, Tucker, M E and Hart, J K (editors), The Description and Analysis of Quaternary Stratigraphic Field Sections. Technical Guide 7, Quaternary Research Association. 
Banham, P H. 1968. A preliminary note on the Pleistocene stratigraphy of northeast Norfolk. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol.79, 507-512. 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E131