Fluvial deposits as a record for Late Quaternary neotectonic activity in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands

Abstract

Neotectonic movements have caused differential subsidence in the Lower Rhine Embayment during the Quaternary. The Late Weichselian and Holocene Rhine-Meuse fluvial archive in the central Netherlands was used to quantify neotectonic movements in a setting that was primarily controlled by sea-level rise and climate change. Evidence for neotectonic activity in the central Netherlands is reviewed. Sedimentary evidence shows that fluvial deposits of Late Weichselian and Holocene Rhine and Meuse (Maas) distributaries are vertically displaced along the northern shoulder of the Roer Valley Graben system. Elevation differences in the longitudinal profiles of Late Weichselian terrace deposits were used to quantify tectonic displacements. New results for the southeastern Rhine-Meuse delta (Maaskant area) show that displacements in the top of the Pleniglacial terrace along the Peel Boundary Fault are up to 1.4 m. The maximum displacement between the Peel Horst and the Roer Valley Graben is 2.3 m. This is equivalent to relative tectonic movement rates of 0.09-0.15 mm/yr, averaged over the last 15,000 years.