Title
Stratigraphy and integrated facies analysis of the Saalian and Eemian sediments in the Amsterdam-Terminal borehole, the Netherlands
Author
Nederlands Instituut voor Toegepaste Geowetenschappen TNO
van Leeuwen, R.J.W.
Beets, D.J.
Bosch, J.H.A.
Burger, A.W.
Cleveringa, P.
van Harten, D.
Herngreen, G.F.W.
Kruk, R.W.
Langereis, C.G.
Meijer, T.
Pouwer, R.
de Wolf, H.
Publication year
2000
Abstract
The Amsterdam glacial basin was a major sedimentary sink from late Saalian until late Eemian (Picea zone, E6) times. The basin's exemplary record makes it a potential reference area for the last interglacial stage. The cored Amsterdam-Terminal borehole was drilled in 1997 to provide a record throughout the Eemian interglacial. Integrated facies analysis has resulted in a detailed reconstruction of the sedimentary history. After the Saalian ice mass had disappeared from the area, a large, deep lake had come into being, fed by the Rhine river. At the end of the glacial, the lake became smaller because it was cut off from the river-water supply, and eventually only a number of shallow pools remained in the Amsterdam basin. During the early Eemian (Betula zone, E1), a seepage lake existed at the site. The lake deepened under the influence of a steadily rising sea level and finally evolved into a silled lagoon (late Quercus zone, E3). Initially, the lagoon water had fairly stable stratification, but as the sea level continued to rise the sill lost its significance, the lagoon becoming well mixed by the middle of the Corylus/Taxus zone (E4b). The phase of free exchange with the open sea ended in the early Carpinus zone (E5), when barriers developed in the sill area causing the lagoon to become stratified again. During the Late Eemian (late E5), a more dynamic system developed. The sandy barriers that had obstructed exchange with the open sea were no longer effective, and a tidally-influenced coastal lagoon formed. The Eemian sedimentary history shown in the Amsterdam-Terminal borehole is intimately connected with the sea-level history. Because the site includes both a high-resolution pollen signal and a record of sea-level change, it has potential for correlation on various scales. Palaeomagnetic results show that the sediments predate the Blake Event, which confirms that this reversal excursion is relatively young. The U/Th age of the uppermost part of the Eemian sequence is 118.2 ± 6.3 ka.
Subject
Energy / Geological Survey Netherlands
Geological Survey Netherlands
Diatoms
Dinoflagellates
Eemian stage
Foraminifers
Late Saalian
Molluscs
Ostracods
Palaeoecology
Palaeomagnetics
Pollen stratigraphy
Radiometric age
Weichselian
Western Europe
basin fill
Eemian
facies analysis
interglacial
Pleistocene
Saalian
stratigraphy
Netherlands
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b0fd8ee6-d144-46fb-a29a-704e8669035e
TNO identifier
235680
Report number
NITG-00-236-P
ISSN
0016-7746
Source
Geologie en Mijnbouw/Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 79 (79), 161-196
Document type
article