Response of the Rhine–Meuse fluvial system to Saalian ice‐sheet dynamics

Abstract

August): Response of the Rhine-Meuse fluvial system to Saalian ice-sheet dynamics.A new reconstruction of the interaction between the Saalian Drente glaciation ice margin and the Rhine-Meuse fluvial system is presented based on a sedimentary analysis of continuous core material, archived data and a section in an ice-pushed ridge. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) was applied to obtain independent age control on these sediments and to establish a first absolute chronology for palaeogeographical events prior to and during the glaciation. We identified several Rhine and Meuse river courses that were active before the Drente glaciation (MIS 11-7). The Drente glaciation ice advance into The Netherlands (OSL-dated to fall within MIS 6) led to major re-arrangement of this drainage network. The invading ice sheet overrode existing fluvial morphology and forced the Rhine-Meuse system into a proglacial position. During deglaciation, the Rhine shifted into a basin in the formerly glaciated area, while the Meuse remained south of the former ice limit, a configuration that persisted throughout most of the Eemian and Weichselian periods. An enigmatic high position of proglacial fluvial units and their subsequent dissection during deglaciation by the Meuse may partially be explained by glacio-isostatic rebound of the area, but primarily reflects a phase of high base level related to a temporary proglacial lake in the southern North Sea area, with lake levels approximating modern sea levels. Our reconstruction indicates that full 'opening' of the Dover Strait and lowering of the Southern Bight, enabling interglacial marine exchange between the English Channel and the North Sea, is to be attributed to events during the end of MIS 6.

A high-resolution DEM for the Top-Palaeogene surface of the Belgian Continental Shelf

“…Based on studies from the southern North Sea it can be concluded that both scarps are believed to be remnants of ancient river terraces of the Rhine and Meuse rivers (Bridgland & D'Olier, 1995;Busschers et al, 2005Busschers et al, , 2007Busschers et al, , 2008Gibbard, 1995;Hijma et al, 2012;Peeters, Busschers, & Stouthamer, 2015;Rijsdijk et al, 2013). This conclusion is similar to what Mathys (2009) suggested about the Offshore Platform being the valley floor of an incised river valley.…”

“…This has import implications for future palaeogeographical reconstructions of the area (e.g. Busschers et al, 2005Busschers et al, , 2007Busschers et al, , 2008Hijma et al, 2012;Peeters et al, 2015;Rijsdijk et al, 2013). Farther north the Thornton Valley connects to the Northern Valley (see Main map).…”

Climate-driven fluvial development and valley abandonment at the last glacial-interglacial transition (Oude IJssel-Rhine, Germany)

“…2) the average surface elevation of the Weichselian valley is ca 20 m above mean sea level. The Oude IJssel valley has formed as the product of deglaciation in the Saalian (Thomé, 1959;Van de Meene & Zagwijn, 1978;Klostermann, 1992;Busschers et al, 2008). The valley is located in the hinge zone area of the North Sea Basin (Cohen et al, 2002), on a relative stable block on the very northeastern edge of the Roer Valley Graben Rift System (Van Balen et al, 2005), the tectonic structure that hosts the Lower Rhine Embayment (Boenigk & Frechen, 2006).…”

Timing of massive ‘Fleuve Manche’ discharges over the last 350kyr: insights into the European ice-sheet oscillations and the European drainage network from MIS 10 to 2

“…Although the chronology and the cause of the opening of the Dover Strait is still a matter of debate (e.g. Gibbard, 1995;Meijer and Preece, 1995;Van Vliet-Lanoë et al, 2000;Gupta et al, 2007;Busschers et al, 2008), it is now generally accepted that the North Sea fluvial systems have been on several occasions diverted southwards into the English Channel since the onset of extensive continental glaciations. The invasions of ice masses in the Northern European Lowlands over the last about 600 kyr Ehlers and Gibbard, 2007) strongly modified the fluvial directions of the central European rivers, and forced the present-day Elbe, Rhine and Thames rivers to flow southwards during periods of coalescence of the Fennoscandian (FIS) and British-Irish (BIIS) ice sheets in the North Sea basin (Gibbard, 1988;Sejrup et al, 2000).…”

“…The invasions of ice masses in the Northern European Lowlands over the last about 600 kyr Ehlers and Gibbard, 2007) strongly modified the fluvial directions of the central European rivers, and forced the present-day Elbe, Rhine and Thames rivers to flow southwards during periods of coalescence of the Fennoscandian (FIS) and British-Irish (BIIS) ice sheets in the North Sea basin (Gibbard, 1988;Sejrup et al, 2000). Numerous studies have attempted palaeogeographical reconstructions of drainage directions of the major European rivers (Gibbard, 1988;Bridgland and D'Olier, 1995;Bridgland, 2002;Busschers et al, 2007;Busschers et al, 2008) and of invasions of continental ice in the North Sea basin during glacial periods (Zagwijn, 1973;Ehlers, 1990;Sejrup et al, 2000;Busschers et al, 2008;Sejrup et al, in press). However, the combined erosional effects of the successive alternating ice-advances and sea-level variations have caused scarcity of long-term shallow marine and continental sequences (e.g.…”