Soils and geomorphology of the chalk in south‐east England

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Abstract
Soil mapping and soil profile studies on the Chalk of south‐east England outline the distribution and origin of superficial deposits more clearly than hitherto, and do not support the widely accepted history of landscape development proposed by Wooldridge and Linton (1955). Deposits formed by weathering and periglacial disturbance of a thin cover of basal Tertiary deposits occur on all parts of the dip‐slope interfluves, suggesting that the exhumed sub‐Tertiary surface, somewhat lowered by dissolution of the Chalk, is much more extensive than supposed by Wooldridge and Linton. The evidence for high Plio‐Pleistocene sea levels is reviewed, with particular reference to their limited effect on soils and superficial deposits and on the morphology of the dip‐slope. Alternative explanations for the so‐called Calabrian marine platform and cliff are considered. Emphasis is placed on periglacial processes in the later Pleistocene denudation of the Chalk, and on the protective role played by the cover of disturbed basal Tertiary sediment.

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