OSL and 14C chronologies of a Holocene sedimentary record (Garding‐2 core) from the German North Sea coast |
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| Authors: | Jingran Zhang Sumiko Tsukamoto Alf Grube Manfred Frechen |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), S3: Geochronology and Isotope Hydrology, , 30655 Hannover, Germany;2. State Agency for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas (LLUR) of the Federal State Schleswig‐Holstein, Geological Survey, , 24220 Flintbeck, Germany |
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| Abstract: | The history of sea‐level change and sediment accumulation since the last deglaciation along the German North Sea coast is still controversial because of a limitation in the quantity and quality of chronological data. In the current study, the chronology of a 16‐ka coastal sedimentary record from the Garding‐2 core, retrieved from the Eiderstedt Peninsula in Schleswig‐Holstein, northern Germany, was established using OSL and AMS 14C dating techniques. The robust chronology using 14 radiocarbon and 25 OSL dates from the Garding‐2 core is the first long‐term record that covers the Holocene as well as the last deglaciation period in one succession in the German North Sea area. It provides a new insight into understanding the Holocene transgression and coastal accumulation histories. The combined evidence from the sedimentology and chronology investigations indicates that an estuarine environment dominated in Eiderstedt Peninsula from 16 to 13 ka, followed by a depositional hiatus between 13 and 8.3 ka, attributed to erosion caused by the Holocene transgression; the onset of the Holocene transgression at the core site occurred at around 8.3 ka. The sea level continued to rise with a decelerated rate until around 3 ka. Since 3 ka, the shoreline has begun to prograde. Foreshore (tidal flat) sediments have been deposited at the drilling site with a very high sedimentation rate of about 10 m ka?1. At around 2 ka, a sandy beach deposit accumulated in the sedimentary succession, indicating that the coastline shifted landward, which may represent a small‐scale transgression in the late Holocene. At around 1.5 ka, terrestrial clastic sediment started to accumulate, indicating a retreat of the relative sea level in this area, which may be related to local diking activities undertaken since the 11th century. |
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