Articles | Volume 73, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-73-203-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-73-203-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
08 Nov 2024
Research article |
| 08 Nov 2024
| 08 Nov 2024
Age and formation of the presumed Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene Mühlbach formation, High Rhine Valley, southwest Germany
Alexander Fülling
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstr. 23b, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
Hans Rudolf Graf
Dr. von Moos AG, Dorfstrasse 40, 8214 Gächlingen, Switzerland
Felix Martin Hofmann
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstr. 23b, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
Daniela Mueller
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstr. 23b, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
present address: Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Chatham St, Liverpool L69 7ZT, United Kingdom
Frank Preusser
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstr. 23b, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
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We determined 10Be concentrations in moraine boulder surfaces in the southern Black Forest, SW Germany. We applied three independent dating methods to younger lake sediments. With the aid of independent age datasets, we calculated the growth of 10Be concentrations in moraine boulder surfaces.
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The loess sequence of Köndringen, Upper Rhine Graben, comprises several glacial–interglacial cycles. It has been investigated using a multi-method approach including the measurement of colour, grain size, organic matter, and carbonate content. The analyses reveal that the sequence comprises several fossil soils and layers of reworked soil material. According to luminescence dating, it reaches back more than 500 000 years.
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Luminescence properties of samples from the Rinikerfeld, northern Switzerland, are assessed. Reader-specific low preheat temperatures are invesigated to ensure suitable measurement conditions. While quartz is found to be dominated by stable fast components, signal loss is observed for feldspar and polymineral. In general, the ages of the fading corrected feldspar and the fine-grained polymineral fractions are in agreement with coarse-grained quartz, and ages indicate sedimentation during MIS6.
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Short summary
The Mühlbach series has been given as evidence for a Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene Aare–Rhine fluvial system in northern Switzerland and southwest Germany. We show that these deposits represent a variety of different units. At the type location, luminescence dating indicates an age of 55 ka, and we interpret the deposits as slope reworking. Beside methodological implications, our studies recommend caution regarding the interpretation of stratigraphic units for which limited data are available.
The Mühlbach series has been given as evidence for a Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene Aare–Rhine...
