The chronology of Late Glacial and Holocene dune development in the northern Central European lowland reconstructed by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating

Hilgers, Alexandra (2007) The chronology of Late Glacial and Holocene dune development in the northern Central European lowland reconstructed by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The study is concerned with the reconstruction of dune formation and reactivation by means of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of dunes developed throughout the last 20,000 years in the central part of the so-called �European Sand Belt� (ESB) in northeast Germany and adjacent areas in Poland. In order to create a data set with regional validity dune sites in five different study areas are investigated which are located in the Elbe-, the Glogow-Baruth-, and in the Torun-Eberswalde-ice marginal valleys and in the glacio-lacustrine basins of the �Ueckermuender Heide� and �Altdarss� area. In total 183 sediment samples from aeolian, fluvial, glacio-fluvial and glacio-lacustrine deposits were sampled at twenty different sites. Fundamental questions were, if several phases of aeolian activity and periods of stabilisation and soil development could be defined and if similarities or differences regarding their intensity, beginning and ending exist on a regional scale. The summary of OSL ages allows conclusions regarding climate driven phases of aeolian activity during the Late Glacial and Late Holocene man made dune remobilisation in accordance with the settlement history. The study demonstrates that by application of a consistent methodical approach to a large data set, OSL dating has the potential to resolve the dune record of the last 20,000 years in northeastern Germany into individual phases of dune sand deposition. The conclusions drawn from this study provide new information for both, the application of OSL dating and the interpretation of the aeolian record of the study area.

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