A detailed account of the geology shown on the complementary 1: 50 000 (or earlier 1: 63 360) geological map(s)

A brief explanation of the geology shown on the relevant 1: 50 000 scale geological map(s).

The district described in this memoir is typical of prosperous, rural East Anglia. The local economy and landscape are dominated by agriculture. Geology, at first glance, appears to be of minor importance as an influence on the scenery and on industry other than agriculture. However, it is the primary control on the nature and distribution of two major resources, aggregate and groundwater.

Little geological research has been carried out previously within this sparsely populated, rural district which lies to the south of Norwich and east of Thetford. The area is almost entirely covered with Drift deposits, the greater part being a gently undulating plateau composed of chalky till. The deposits of Anglian age are recognised as the products of two distinct ice sheets, and older pre-anglian fluvial sands and gravels are considered to represent the deposits of an early ancestral Thames river and its tributaries. The district has a great range of Quaternary deposits which contain a valuable record of rapid changes of climatic and depositional regimes during glacial and post-glacial time, which in turn provide insights into past global change.