Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:07:58.190Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene evolution of a drowned melt-water valley in the Danish Wadden Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jørn B.T. Pedersen ,
Steffen Svinth  and
Jesper Bartholdy
Jørn B.T. Pedersen*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Steffen Svinth
Affiliation:
Danish Ministry of the Environment, National Survey and Cadastre, Rentemestervej 8, DK-2400 København NV, Denmark
Jesper Bartholdy
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +45 35322501.

E-mail address: [email protected] (J.B.T. Pedersen).

Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cores from the salt marshes along the drowned melt-water valley of river Varde Å in the Danish Wadden Sea have been dated and analysed (litho- and biostratigraphically) to reconstruct the Holocene geomorphologic evolution and relative sea level history of the area. The analysed cores cover the total post-glacial transgression, and the reconstructed sea level curve represents the first unbroken curve of this kind from the Danish Wadden Sea, including all phases from the time where sea level first reached the Pleistocene substrate of the area. The sea level has been rising from − 12 m below the present level at c. 8400 cal yr BP, interrupted by two minor drops of < 0.5 m at c. 5500 cal yr BP and 1200 cal yr BP, and one major drop of ∼ 1.5 m at c. 3300 cal yr BP. Sediment deposition has been able to keep pace with sea level rise, and the Holocene sequence consists in most places of clay atop a basal peat unit overlying sand of Weichselian age and glacio-fluvial origin. In its deepest part, the basal peat started to form around 8400 cal yr BP, and reached a thickness of up to 3.5 m. This thickness is about half of the original, when corrected for auto-compaction. The superimposed clay contains small (63–355 μm) red iron stains in the top and bottom units, and foraminifers of the calcareous type in the middle. The fact that iron stains and foraminifers in no cases coexist, but always exclude each other is interpreted as a result of the difference between salt-marsh facies (iron stains) and tidal-flat facies (foraminifers). This represents a novel and easy way to distinguish between these two otherwise often undistinguishable sedimentary facies in the geological record.

Keywords

Salt-marshWadden SeaHolocene stratigraphyIncised valley fillVarde Å
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , July 2009 , pp. 68 - 79
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J.R.L. Morphodynamics of Holocene salt marshes: a review sketch from the Atlantic and Southern North Sea coast of Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews Vol. 19, (2000). 1155–1231.Google Scholar
Bartholdy, J. Sediments and dynamics in the Varde Å Estuary. Geografisk Tidsskrift 80, (1980). 64–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartholdy, J. Transport of suspended matter in a bar-built Danish estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 18, (1984). 527–541.Google Scholar
Bartholdy, J., and Pejrup, M. Introduction to the Ho Bugt area. Geografisk Tidsskrift 80, (1980). 63 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartholdy, J., and Madsen, P.P. Accumulation of fine-grained material in a Danish tidal area. Marine Geology 68, (1985). 121–137.Google Scholar
Bartholdy, J., and Pejrup, M. Holocene Evolution of the Danish Wadden Sea. Senckenbergiana maritime Vol. 24, 1/6 (1994). 187–209.Google Scholar
Bartholdy, J., and Anthony, D. Tidal dynamics and seasonal dependent import and export of fine-grained sediment through a back barrier tidal channel of the Danish Wadden Sea. Alexander, C., Davis, R.A., and Henrym, V.J. Tidalities: Processes and Products, SEPM Special Publication No 61. (1998). 43–52.Google Scholar
Bartholdy, J., and Aagaard, T. Storm surge effects on a backbarrier tidal flat. Geo-Marine Letters 20, (2001). 133–141.Google Scholar
Bartholdy, J., Christiansen, C., and Kunzendorf, H. Long term variations in backbarrier salt marsh deposition on the Skallingen peninsula — the Danish Wadden Sea. Marine Geology 203, (2004). 1–21.Google Scholar
Behre, K.-E. Coastal development, sea-level change and settlement history during the later Holocene in the Clay District of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), northern Germany. Quaternary International 112, (2004). 37–53.Google Scholar
Behre, K.-E. A new Holocene sea-level curve for the southern North Sea. Boreas 36, (2007). 82–102.Google Scholar
Bøtter-Jensen, L. Luminescence techniques: instrumentation and methods. Radiation Measurements 27, (1997). 749–768.Google Scholar
Bøtter-Jensen, L., Bulur, E., Duller, G.A.T., and Murray, A.S. Advances in Luminescence Instrument Systems. Radiation Measurements 32, (2000). 523–528.Google Scholar
Christiansen, C., Bartholdy, J., Hansen, T., Lillie, S., Nielsen, J., Nielsen, N., and Pejrup, M. Salt marsh accretion during sea-level rise and an outlook on the future. Jørgensen, A.M., Fenger, J., and Halsnæs, K. Climate Change Research — Danish Contributions. (2001). Gads Forlag, Copenhagen. 263–276.Google Scholar
Clemmensen, L.B., Richardt, N., and Andersen, C. Holocene sea-level variation and spit development: data from Skagen Odde, Denmark. Holocene 11, (2001). 323–331.Google Scholar
Dronkers, J. Tide-induced residual transport of fine-grained sediment. van den Kreeke, J. Physics of Shallow Estuaries and Bays. (1986). Springer Verlag, New York. 228–244.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, K., and Prins, D. An inexpensive, portable vibracoring system for shallow-water and land application. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Technical Aid No. 81-8. (1981). 15p Google Scholar
Flemming, B.W., and Bartholoma, A. Response of the Wadden Sea to a rising sea level: a predictive empirical model. German Journal of Hydrography 49, (1997). 1–11.Google Scholar
French, J.R., and Spencer, T. Dynamics of sedimentation in a tide-dominated backbarrier salt marsh, Norfolk, UK. Marine Geology 110, (1993). 315–331.Google Scholar
Gehrels, R., and Newman, S.W.G. Salt-marsh foraminifera in Ho Bugt, western Denmark, and their use as sea-level indicators. Danish Journal of Geography 104, 1 (2004). 97–106.Google Scholar
Gehrels, W.R., Szkornik, K., Bartholdy, J., Kirby, J.R., Bradley, S.L., Marshall, W.A., Heinemeier, J., and Pedersen, J.B.T. Late Holocene sea-level changes and isostasy in western Denmark. Quaternary Research 66, 2 (2006). 288–302.Google Scholar
Groen, P. On the residual transport of suspended matter by an alternating tidal current. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 3, (1967). 564–574.Google Scholar
Heiri, O., Lotter, A.F., and Lemcke, G. Loss on ignition as a method for estimating organic and carbonate content in sediments: reproducibility and comparability of results. Journal of Paleolimnology 25, (2001). 101–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horton, B.P., Edwards, R.J., and Lloyd, J.M. UK intertidal foraminiferal distributions: implications for sea-level studies. Marine Micropaleontology 36, (1999). 205–223.Google Scholar
Houghton, J.T., Ding, Y., Griggs, D.J., Noguer, M., van der Linden, P.J., and Xiaosu, D. Climate change 2001. The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC. (2001). Cambridge University Press, 83 pp Google Scholar
Jacobsen, N.K., (1960). Types of sedimentation in a drowned delta region, examples from the salt-marsh area at Tønder. Særtryk af Geografisk Tidsskrift, bd. 59, Copenhagen, Denmark., 58–69.Google Scholar
Kjær, K.H., Sultan, L., Krüger, J., and Schomacker, A. Architecture and sedimentation of outwash fans in front of the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap, Iceland. Sedimentary Geology 172, (2004). 139–163.Google Scholar
Kystdirektoratet, , (2006). Morfologisk udvikling i Vadehavet, Grådybs tidevandsområde og Skallingen. Kystdirektoratet. Transport og Energiministeriet, Denmark. 87 p.Google Scholar
Lanesky, D.E., Logan, B.W., Brown, R.G., and Hine, A.C. A New Approach to Portable Vibracoring Underwater and on Land. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 49, 2 (1979). 654–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madsen, A.T., Murray, A.S., Andersen, T.J., and Pejrup, M. Temporal changes of accretion rates on an estuarine salt marsh during the late Holocene — reflection of local sea level changes? The Wadden Sea, Denmark. Marine Geologi 242 (2007). 221–233.Google Scholar
Murray, A.S., Marten, R., Johnston, A., and Martin, P. Analysis for naturally occurring radionuclides at environmental concentrations by gamma spectrometry. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 115, (1987). 263–288.Google Scholar
Murray, A.S., and Wintle, A.G. Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol. Radiation Measurements 32, (2000). 57–73.Google Scholar
Murray, A.S., and Wintle, A.G. The single aliquot regenerative dose protocol: potential for improvements in reliability. Radiation Measurements 37, (2003). 377–381.Google Scholar
Mörner, N.-A. Eustatic changes during the last 8,000 years in view of radiocarbon calibration and new information from the Kattegat Region and other Northwestern European coastal areas. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 19, (1976). 63–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholls, R.J. Analysis of global impacts of sea-level rise: a case study of flooding. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 27, 32–34 (2002). 1455–1466.Google Scholar
Olley, J.M., Murray, A.S., and Roberts, R.G. The effects of disequilibria in the uranium and thorium decay chains on burial dose rates in fluvial sediments. Quaternary Science Reviews 15, (1996). 751–760.Google Scholar
Pedersen, J.T.P., and Bartholdy, J. Budgets for fine-grained sediment in the Danish Wadden Sea. Marine Geology 235, 1–4 (2006). 101–117.Google Scholar
Pedersen, J.B.T., and Bartholdy, J. Exposed salt marsh morphodynamics: an example from the Danish Wadden Sea. Geomorphology 90, (2007). 115–125.Google Scholar
Pejrup, M. The turbidity maximum in the northern part of Ho Bugt. Geografisk Tidsskrift 80, (1980). 72–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Postma, H. Hydrography of the Dutch Wadden Sea, a study of the relation between water movement, the transport of suspended materials and the production of organic matter. Archives Néerlandaises de Zoologie X, (1954). 406–511.Google Scholar
Ramsey, C.B. Development of the radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 43, 2A (2001). 355–363.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C.J.H., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G.S., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Manning, S., Ramsey, C.B., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., Plicht, J.V.D., and Weyhenmeyer, C.E. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46, 3 (2004). 1029–1058.Google Scholar
Suzuki, T., Hasumi, H., Sakamoto, T.T., Nishimura, T., Abe-Ouchi, A., Segawa, T., Okada, N., Oka, A., and Emori, S. Projection of future sea level and its variability in a highresolution climate model: ocean processes and Greenland and Antarctic ice-melt contributions. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, 19 (2005). L19706 doi:10.1029/2005GL023677 Google Scholar
Streif, H. Sedimentary record of Pleistocene and Holocene marine inundations along the North Sea coast of Lower Saxony, Germany. Quaternary International 112, (2004). 3–28.Google Scholar
Sørensen, T.H., Bartholdy, J., Christiansen, C., and Pedersen, J.T.P. Intertidal surface type mapping in the Danish Wadden Sea. Marine. Geology. 235, 1–4 (2006). 87–99.Google Scholar
Uncles, R.J. Estuarine physical processes research: some recent studies and progress. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 55, (2002). 829–856.Google Scholar
USDA Soil Survey Laboratory Methods and Procedures for Collecting Soil Samples chp.3, (1972). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., USA. 10–13.Google Scholar
van Straten, L.M.J.U., and Kuenen, P.H.H. Tidal action as a cause of clay accumulation. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 28, (1958). 406–413.Google Scholar