Outwash sedimentation and glacitectonic deformation during accretion of the Cromer Ridge: evidence from Holt, north Norfolk, UK

Sections through sand and gravel deposits exposed by aggregate extraction provide further evidence for the development of a complex proglacial / ice-marginal meltwater drainage system during the Anglian Glaciation. Their sedimentology indicates that deposition occurred within a series of anastomosing braided river channels – interpreted as background sedimentation, punctuated by episodes of elevated discharge characterised by unconstrained sheet-flow. Meltwater sediments form part of an extensive (albeit heavily-dissected) sandur that extends southwards from Cromer towards Norwich and developed during a temporary ice-marginal still-stand associated with the formation of the Cromer Ridge ‘moraine complex’.