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.

This memoir describes the sediments and rocks of central Broadland, the history of their formation and their relationship to the landscape. It also highlights the particular relevance of the geology of the district to a wide range of environmental and economic issues.