Nene Valley
The Nene Valley is located to the northwest of the county and is aligned west-east between Stibbington and Peterborough. To the west it is underlain by Jurassic mudstones, sandstones and limestones including the Whitby Mudstone and the Lower Lincolnshire Limestone. To the east where it adjoins the Fen Edge at Flag Fen and Farcet Fen it is underlain by Oxford Clay. It comprises the Holocene floodplain, peat and adjacent Quaternary river terrace deposits of the River Nene and its tributaries. It is located between the Jurassic Limestone Ridge to the north and the northern arm of the Alconbury Weald and Woodwalton Apron to the south. It is also abutted by the Yaxley and Whittlesey Fen Islands. The elevation ranges from 30 – 5m OD. There are poorly drained soils on alluvium, peat and bedrock clay, and well-drained soils on terrace gravels and limestone geology.
There are significant gravel deposits along the Nene Valley around Peterborough and these date from the Pleistocene (Ice Age).
There is one LGS in this landscape – the Eye/Thorney Area of Search.
More information on the area is given in the Peterborough Geology Audit ‘On This Rock’ – see Local Sites page for details.
The River Nene
The River Nene flows eastward from the ‘uplands’ of Northamptonshire, crosses the Fen Edge at the city of Peterborough, and then crosses the Fen Basin before entering the North Sea at the Wash.
Peterborough Museum has excellent displays on the Jurassic of Peterborough including large marine reptiles, such as the famous Plesiosaurs and Pliosaurs, many of which were found locally. The museum also has the remains of the very large fish Leedsichthys and an excellent accompanying website.
GeoPeterborough is a local partnership promoting geoconservation in the area particularly through the designation and monitoring of Local Geological Sites (RIGS).
The Peterborough Geological & Palaeontological Group runs field trips and other events.
Peterborough also has a Geology Trail around the city centre although the guide now seems to be out of print.
Eye / Thorney Area Quarries
Near Eye and Thorney is a RIGS/LGS named Eye/Thorney Area of Search. It includes two quarries, called Pode Hole Quarry and Eye Quarry.
From the Peterborough Geology Audit ‘Upon This Rock’, 2000
‘Pode Hole Quarry is scientifically important for Pleistocene gravels. Two distinct gravels are present and a clay channel is found at the base, incised into Jurassic rocks beneath, indicating an older, probably Ipswichian channel. Intra-Pleistocene boundaries are definitely present, suggesting that these deposits may span the period of time between the sequences deposited at Maxey and Eye quarries. The gravels contain many types of micro and macrofossils and at least one vertebrate bone has been recovered. The site demonstartes important sedimenatry structures, periglacial features and soil horizons, all of which record past environments. Educationally, the working quarry is relatively new and extrememly dangerous. Worked out areas are currently back filled and returned to agriculture.’
Eye Quarry
From the Peterborough Geology Audit ‘Upon This Rock’, 2000
‘Importnat Pleistocene gravel sequence, but younger than that at Pode Hole. A radiocarbon date (the only one for the Peterborough district) obtained from a mammoth tusk found here demonstrates that the overlying gravels accummulated after about 25,000 years ago. The quarry has proved a rich source of Mammalian bones, many now in the Peterborough Museum. Parts of the Eye Quarry, namely Eyebury Road Pits, are now flooded and identified as a County Wildlife Site. Worked out areas are currently back filled or landfilled and returned to agriculture.’
