Periglacial environments during the Weichselian Late Glacial in the Maas valley, the Netherlands

Abstract

The sandpit at Bosscherheide, on the east bank of the Maas (= Meuse), provides a detailed record of Late Weichselian palaeoenvironmental changes. The periglacial fluvial, and aeolian processes recorded in its sediments have been studied by means of pollen, macrobotanical and thin section analyses, sedimentological observations and radiocarbon datings. The data reveal a series of processes involving rapid environmental changes, which determined the termination of the Bølling-Allerød interstadial complex. At the transition from Allerød to Late Dryas, ca 10 800 BP, large-scale floodings and deposition of suspension load took place. Prior to these floodings, a short period with (incipient) permafrost occurred. The aeolian sedimentation, leading to the formation of parabolic dunes, took place mainly between 10 500 and 10150 BP.