Scholarlink

<p>How Stonehenge’s building blocks arrived on Salisbury Plain remains debated, with glacial and human transport mechanisms proposed. Here we test the possibility of Pleistocene glacial sediment input using grain-scale U–Pb fingerprinting of detrital zircon and apatite from modern stream sediments surrounding Stonehenge. Zircon ages span 3396–285 Ma, with age peaks at ~1090, 1690, and 1740 Ma, matching the Laurentian basement of northern Britain. Salisbury Plain detrital zircon ages match those of southern British rocks sourced from the London Basin, implying local sediment recycling rather than glaciogenic transport. Apatite ages of ~60 Ma reflect post-depositional U–Pb resetting, consistent with the distal effects of the Alpine orogeny. Collectively, our data show Salisbury Plain remained unglaciated during the Pleistocene, making direct glacial transport of Stonehenge’s megaliths unlikely.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Detrital zircon–apatite fingerprinting challenges glacial transport of Stonehenge’s megaliths

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月21日

查看全文
  • Anthony J. I. Clarke,
  • Christopher L. Kirkland

摘要

How Stonehenge’s building blocks arrived on Salisbury Plain remains debated, with glacial and human transport mechanisms proposed. Here we test the possibility of Pleistocene glacial sediment input using grain-scale U–Pb fingerprinting of detrital zircon and apatite from modern stream sediments surrounding Stonehenge. Zircon ages span 3396–285 Ma, with age peaks at ~1090, 1690, and 1740 Ma, matching the Laurentian basement of northern Britain. Salisbury Plain detrital zircon ages match those of southern British rocks sourced from the London Basin, implying local sediment recycling rather than glaciogenic transport. Apatite ages of ~60 Ma reflect post-depositional U–Pb resetting, consistent with the distal effects of the Alpine orogeny. Collectively, our data show Salisbury Plain remained unglaciated during the Pleistocene, making direct glacial transport of Stonehenge’s megaliths unlikely.