The pleistocene deposits of the area around Croft in south Leicestershire

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Abstract
The Pleistocene sediments of an area of just over 100 km 2 in south Leicestershire have been mapped. The first half of the paper describes their lithology and stratigraphy in terms of the units earlier identified by Shotton, Rice and Douglas. The original extension of the Baginton-Lillington sand and gravel along the proto-Soar valley is confirmed, as is an early ice advance laying down the Thrussington till, which in the west consists mainly of Triassic debris but eastwards contains more and more Jurassic and Cretaceous material. The Bosworth clays and silts accumulating in Lake Harrison are thickly developed in the southwest of the study area but thin northeastwards to be replaced by the upper levels of the Thrussington till; no thick and continuous horizon has been found north of Broughton Astley. An important marker horizon is the Wolston sand and gravel, representing a sandur that drained southwestwards into a partially emptied Lake Harrison. The final event was an overriding of the whole area by the ice responsible for the Oadby till. The second half is concerned with the post-depositional disruptions to which the sediments have been subject. Sections at Dunton Bassett and Sapcote illustrate two styles of glaciotectonic disturbance that are believed to characterize a broad tract of southern Leicestershire. The Dunton Bassett pit displays faults and folds affecting not only the Wolston sand and gravel but also the basal Oadby till; all the structures indicate compression from just east of north. Motorway sections at Sapcote show huge Keuper Marl masses, 15 m thick in places, thrust south-southwestwards over till and laminated clay. As at Dunton Bassett, the disruption probably occurred during an advance of the ice responsible for the Oadby till. The area under review also exhibits the effects of subglacial scouring. At a late stage furrows were scored through all the earlier sediments and into bedrock. The largest of these furrows, which is filled with both glacigenic and water-lain materials, runs along the southeastern edge of the south Leicestershire igneous outcrops.

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