Submerged forests

A geological and archaeological survey documents peat beds, rooted tree-stumps, and associated animal remains revealed on British shorelines and offshore banks. The author maps occurrences along the Thames valley, east coast, Dogger Bank, Irish Sea, Bristol Channel, English Channel, Cornwall, and Atlantic coasts, describing plant assemblages, preserved trunks, and faunal bones. He evaluates explanations for their submergence — relative sea-level change, land subsidence from sediment compaction, coastal erosion, and local slips — and outlines criteria for distinguishing these causes. Illustrations, cross-sections, and regional case studies support a synthesis that reconstructs former shorelines and the processes responsible for burial and later exposure.