Mississippi und Rhein

Abstract. Mississippi and Rhine are both the main drainage systems of the Pleistocene glaciations. Both they have developed big deltas, which are situated in steadily subsiding areas. The mighty Pleistocene succession of the Mississippi Delta, more than 1200 m thick, consists of several cycles. Each begins with a sandy base and ends with silt and clay. They interfinger with marine Gulf-sediments. Each cycle corresponds to the time-span from a glacial maximum to an interglacial. But the terraces which further upstream rise over the alluvial plain of the Mississippi, correspond only to the sandy base of the deltaic accumulations. This can be shown in the Rhine mouth area. So the terraces above the mouth area are glacial, not interglacial, in age.