Remnants of periglacial mounds in the Hautes fagnes (Belgium): structure and age of the ramparts

Abstract

Five new sections were cut through ramparts surrounding depressions of the Hautes Fagnes plateau. When earlier work of 1974 and 1980 is included, a total of seven sections have been studied. For six of the seven, the internal structure of the ramparts is similar to Fig. 3. The other section shows only solifluction lobes (Fig. 6). A polyhedric structure which appears related to the growth of segregation lenses was seen in several sections. A new 14C age determination show that a second mound grew during the last Dryas. The facts suggest a periglacial genesis for the Hautes Fagnes depressions. They are not pingo scars but probably remnants of palsas without peat which are not yet well known today.