Middle Weichselian to Holocene palaeoecology in the eastern Kattegat, Scandinavia: foraminifera, ostracods and 14C measurements

Abstract

Examination of a 10 m piston core from the eastern Kattegat revealed marine sediments spanning a period from the late Middle Weichselian to the Early Holocene. The oldest marine unit in the core is 14C‐dated to about 30,000–36,000 years BP. These sediments represent the Middle Weichselian Sandnes/Denekamp‐Hengelo Interstadial (upper part of stable isotope stage 3) and can be correlated to marine deposits from several localities in the Kattegat region by means of foraminifera. The Late Weichselian deposits comprise sediments from the Oldest Dryas Stadial and the Allerød Interstadial. The intervening periods are not represented in the sequence (hiatuses). Sediments from the latest part of the Early Holocene Preboreal period succeeding the Allerod sequence indicate a considerable hiatus spanning 2000–3000 years around the Weichselian/Holocene boundary. The late Preboreal faunas document a high freshwater inflow during this period, and stable conditions seem not to have been reached in the area until a few hundred years later, in the Boreal period. Comparison with boxcore material from the same site documents a reduction of the energy level of the bottom currents some time between c. 8000 and 800 years BP.

Middle Weichselian marine sediments from eastern Kattegat, Scandinavia

“…BOREAS This paper and a paper by Seidenkrantz & Knudsen (1993) are the first to report on cored marine Middle Weichselian sediments in the present offshore Kattegat (Fig. 1).…”

Late Weichselian to Holocene history of the Baltic Sea as reflected in ostracod assemblages

“…In a study from a site located to the north of Site M0060, ostracods were identified from the Upper Weichselian and Boreal sediments (Seidenkrantz & Knudsen 1993). The Upper Weichselian interval contained abundant Cytheropteron pseudomontrosiense.…”

“…). Seidenkrantz & Knudsen () studied a middle Weichselian to Early Holocene site in the eastern Kattegat. The authors indicate Cytheropteron pseudomontrosiense as a major ostracod species in the Upper Weichselian interval.…”

“…Late Weichselian and Holocene ostracod record studies in the Baltic Sea region, on the contrary, are limited and fragmentary; many data sets remain unpublished (Frenzel & Viehberg 2004;Frenzel et al 2010). Seidenkrantz & Knudsen (1993) studied a middle Weichselian to Early Holocene site in the eastern Kattegat. The authors indicate Cytheropteron pseudomontrosiense as a majorostracod species in the Upper Weichselian interval.…”

The Quaternary of the Kattegat area, Scandinavia: a review

“…Marine intervals from the Middle Weichselian are, however, registered in many borings in the entire Kattegat region, e.g. on Lzs0 (Knudsen 1986), on Anholt (Seidenkrantz 1993a), the eastern Kattegat (Bergsten & Nordberg 1993;Seidenkrantz & Knudsen 1993), the southernmost Kattegat (Nielsen & Konradi 1990) and also in onshore cores and outcrops in northern Zealand (Petersen & Buch 1974;Konradi 1992).…”