Palaeoenvironmental changes and vegetation history of the northern Upper Rhine Graben (southwestern Germany) since the Lateglacial

J.A.A. Bos; R. Dambeck; A.J. Kalis; A. Schweizer; H. Thiemeyer

doi:10.1017/S0016774600024057

J.A.A. Bos Palaeoecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Budapestlaan 4, NL-3584 CD Utrecht, the Netherlands.
R. Dambeck Institut für Physische Geographie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, PO Box 11 19 32, D-60054 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
A.J. Kalis Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Abteilung Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Grüneburgplatz 1, D-60323 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
A. Schweizer Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Abteilung Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Grüneburgplatz 1, D-60323 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
H. Thiemeyer Institut für Physische Geographie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, PO Box 11 19 32, D-60054 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016774600024057

Keywords: Lateglacial, Holocene, fluvial sediments, palynology, northern Upper Rhine Graben, Germany

Abstract

The vegetation of the northern Upper Rhine Graben (southwestern Germany) is reconstructed for the end of the Lateglacial and the Holocene by means of palynological analyses in combination with AMS 14c dating. Analogous to adjacent lowland areas, the Younger Dryas climatic deterioration did not result in a complete deforestation of the area and open pine woodlands with locally birch stands and shrubs persisted. A subdivision of the Younger Dryas period, into a humid first phase, followed by a dry second phase was also reflected in our records. For the Holocene, the pollen diagrams show two regionally different vegetation developments, related to substrate and variations in annual precipitation: in the south the ‘classical’ succession of pine then hazel is followed by other deciduous trees, whereas in the northern part, pine kept its dominance far into the Subboreal.