Aqualate Mere: SJ 770205
Aqualate Mere is important for Quaternary geomorphology. It provides a rare example in the Midlands of an esker system formed by glacial meltwaters during the late Devensian glaciation, about 50,000 years ago. The site is also significant in demonstrating the close association of the esker with fan deposits formed in a proglacial lake, a nationally rare group of land forms. The esker and related fan, kettleholes and ice-contact slopes provide detailed evidence for a type of complex landform development associated with ice margin wastage and retreat. As one of the best examples of an esker system in England and one
with a complex origin revealed in the detailed morphology of its landforms, Aqualate Mere is a particularly instructive site for studies in glacial geomorphology.
Source: SSSI citation, Natural England
GeoConservation Staffordshire 