Articles | Volume 73, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-73-239-2024
© 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-73-239-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
09 Dec 2024
Research article |
| 09 Dec 2024
| 09 Dec 2024
Towards a quantitative lithostratigraphy of Pleistocene glaciofluvial deposits in the southern Upper Rhine Graben
Lukas Gegg
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstraße 23b, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
Felicitas A. Griebling
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstraße 23b, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
Nicole Jentz
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstraße 23b, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
Ulrike Wielandt-Schuster
Regierungspräsidium Freiburg, Landesamt für Geologie, Rohstoffe und Bergbau (LGRB), Albertstraße 5, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
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E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 125–127, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-125-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-125-2025, 2025
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Drillings, outcrops, and seismic data provide insights into a glacial basin and a former river channel in northern Switzerland. Both are infilled with diverse (glacial, lacustrine, fluvial, colluvial) sediments attributed to three separate glaciations. The depth of the glacial basin depends strongly on the underlying rock type, which together with (hydro)fractures provides evidence on the conditions and erosion processes at the ice–rock interface.
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The Tannwald Basin, explored by drilling and formed by repeated advances of the Rhine Glacier, reveals key geological insights. Ice-contact sediments and evidence of deformation highlight gravitational and glaciotectonic processes. ICDP DOVE 5068_1_C core data define lithofacies associations, reflecting basin infill cycles, marking at least three distinct glacial advances. Integrating these findings aids understanding the broader glacial evolution of the Lake Constance amphitheater.
Felix Martin Hofmann, Claire Rambeau, Lukas Gegg, Melanie Schulz, Martin Steiner, Alexander Fülling, Laëtitia Léanni, Frank Preusser, and ASTER Team
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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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Geoscientists working with drill cores often struggle with proper photo documentation. We present a simple smartphone-based setup for acquiring high-resolution undistorted core pictures as an alternative to state-of-the-art commercial line scan imaging systems that are typically expensive and inflexible. It makes use of the phone's panoramic picture mode while being guided along the core in question on a rail, and the resulting images are of similar quality to classic line scan photos.
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E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 72, 23–36, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-23-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-23-2023, 2023
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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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Drillings, outcrops, and seismic data provide insights into a glacial basin and a former river channel in northern Switzerland. Both are infilled with diverse (glacial, lacustrine, fluvial, colluvial) sediments attributed to three separate glaciations. The depth of the glacial basin depends strongly on the underlying rock type, which together with (hydro)fractures provides evidence on the conditions and erosion processes at the ice–rock interface.
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The Tannwald Basin, explored by drilling and formed by repeated advances of the Rhine Glacier, reveals key geological insights. Ice-contact sediments and evidence of deformation highlight gravitational and glaciotectonic processes. ICDP DOVE 5068_1_C core data define lithofacies associations, reflecting basin infill cycles, marking at least three distinct glacial advances. Integrating these findings aids understanding the broader glacial evolution of the Lake Constance amphitheater.
Felix Martin Hofmann, Claire Rambeau, Lukas Gegg, Melanie Schulz, Martin Steiner, Alexander Fülling, Laëtitia Léanni, Frank Preusser, and ASTER Team
Geochronology, 6, 147–174, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-147-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-147-2024, 2024
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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.
Lukas Gegg and Johann Gegg
Sci. Dril., 32, 55–59, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-55-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-55-2023, 2023
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Geoscientists working with drill cores often struggle with proper photo documentation. We present a simple smartphone-based setup for acquiring high-resolution undistorted core pictures as an alternative to state-of-the-art commercial line scan imaging systems that are typically expensive and inflexible. It makes use of the phone's panoramic picture mode while being guided along the core in question on a rail, and the resulting images are of similar quality to classic line scan photos.
Lukas Gegg and Frank Preusser
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 72, 23–36, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-23-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-23-2023, 2023
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Erosion processes below glacier ice have carved large and deep basins in the landscapes surrounding mountain ranges as well as polar regions. With our comparison, we show that these two groups of basins are very similar in their shapes and sizes. However, open questions still remain especially regarding the sediments that later fill up these basins. We aim to stimulate future research and promote exchange between researchers working around the Alps and the northern central European lowlands.
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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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Age and formation of the presumed Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene Mühlbach formation, High Rhine Valley, southwest Germany
Subglacial deformation and till formation in a stratigraphic complex Late Pleistocene sequence (Einödgraben/Aurach, Kitzbühel Alps, Austria)
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Lukas Gegg
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 125–127, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-125-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-125-2025, 2025
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Drillings, outcrops, and seismic data provide insights into a glacial basin and a former river channel in northern Switzerland. Both are infilled with diverse (glacial, lacustrine, fluvial, colluvial) sediments attributed to three separate glaciations. The depth of the glacial basin depends strongly on the underlying rock type, which together with (hydro)fractures provides evidence on the conditions and erosion processes at the ice–rock interface.
Felix Martin Hofmann and Frank Preusser
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Previous reconstructions conclude that the southern Black Forest, south-west Germany, temporarily hosted four ice caps during the Late Pleistocene (129 000–11 700 years before present). This work reviews existing studies on glacial landforms north-east of its highest summit, Feldberg (1493 m above sea level), in the light of new observations. Whilst this study largely confirms previous work, we reject and newly describe several glacial landforms.
Philip Leonard Gibbard and Karen Luise Knudsen
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Alexander Fülling, Hans Rudolf Graf, Felix Martin Hofmann, Daniela Mueller, and Frank Preusser
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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.
Jürgen M. Reitner and John Menzies
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Knowledge of subglacial conditions is of great relevance for understanding glacier dynamics. A combination of micro- and macrosedimentological analysis of diamictons and deformation structures can form the basis for the reconstruction of past subglacial conditions. We present the results of such a study on subglacial tills in the Kitzbühel Alps (Tyrol, Austria). Our study demonstrates the need for a reinvestigation of deposits in respect of genesis and importance for the glacial record.
Martin Kehl, Katharina Seeger, Stephan Pötter, Philipp Schulte, Nicole Klasen, Mirijam Zickel, Andreas Pastoors, and Erich Claßen
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Denis Cohen, Guillaume Jouvet, Thomas Zwinger, Angela Landgraf, and Urs H. Fischer
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 72, 189–201, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-189-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-189-2023, 2023
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During glacial times in Switzerland, glaciers of the Alps excavated valleys in low-lying regions that were later filled with sediment or water. How glaciers eroded these valleys is not well understood because erosion occurred near ice margins where ice moved slowly and was present for short times. Erosion is linked to the speed of ice and to water flowing under it. Here we present a model that estimates the location of water channels beneath the ice and links these locations to zones of erosion.
Sonja Breuer, Anke Bebiolka, Vera Noack, and Jörg Lang
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 72, 113–125, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-113-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-113-2023, 2023
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Our work presented here deals with the impact of deep glacial erosion forms and their effect on the safety of a possible repository for highly radioactive waste. In past ice ages, glaciers have formed deep tunnel valleys. We assume that similar depths of erosion can be reached in future ice ages. This must be taken into account in the safety assessment of radioactive waste repositories. We have calculated a new depth zone map from maps and data based on records from the Pleistocene.
Lukas Gegg and Frank Preusser
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 72, 23–36, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-23-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-72-23-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Erosion processes below glacier ice have carved large and deep basins in the landscapes surrounding mountain ranges as well as polar regions. With our comparison, we show that these two groups of basins are very similar in their shapes and sizes. However, open questions still remain especially regarding the sediments that later fill up these basins. We aim to stimulate future research and promote exchange between researchers working around the Alps and the northern central European lowlands.
Arne Lohrberg, Jens Schneider von Deimling, Henrik Grob, Kai-Frederik Lenz, and Sebastian Krastel
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 71, 267–274, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-267-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-267-2022, 2022
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We present an update on the distribution of tunnel valleys in the southeastern North Sea between Amrum and Heligoland based on active seismic data. Our results demonstrate that very dense grids of seismic profiles are needed to understand the distribution and the formation of tunnel valleys in a given region. We also demonstrate that acquiring offshore active seismic data is time- and cost-effective to learn more about the formation and filling of tunnel valleys in different geological settings.
Reinhard Lampe
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 71, 249–265, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-249-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-249-2022, 2022
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The depositional sequences of all types of coastal sediments which accumulated during the Holocene sea-level rise along the NE German coast and in the inner coastal waters are comprehensively described and classified into four formations and two subformations. Their detailed characterisation and chronostratigraphic correlation are an important addition to the only brief definition given in the LithoLex database of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR).
Mubarak Abdulkarim, Stoil Chapkanski, Damien Ertlen, Haider Mahmood, Edward Obioha, Frank Preusser, Claire Rambeau, Ferréol Salomon, Marco Schiemann, and Laurent Schmitt
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 71, 191–212, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-191-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-191-2022, 2022
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We used a combination of remote sensing, field investigations, and laboratory analysis to map and characterize abandoned river channels within the French Upper Rhine alluvial plain. Our results show five major paleochannel groups with significant differences in their pattern, morphological characteristics, and sediment filling. The formation of these paleochannel groups is attributed to significant changes in environmental processes in the area during the last ~ 11 700 years.
Michael A. Schwenk, Laura Stutenbecker, Patrick Schläfli, Dimitri Bandou, and Fritz Schlunegger
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 71, 163–190, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-71-163-2022, 2022
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We investigated the origin of glacial sediments in the Bern area to determine their route of transport either with the Aare Glacier or the Valais Glacier. These two ice streams are known to have joined in the Bern area during the last major glaciation (ca. 20 000 years ago). However, little is known about the ice streams prior to this last glaciation. Here we collected evidence that during a glaciation about 250 000 years ago the Aare Glacier dominated the area as documented in the deposits.
Nicholas J. Conard
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 70, 213–216, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-213-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-213-2021, 2021
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Karl J. Narr's paper on the stratigraphy of Upper Palaeolithic artefact types and cultural groups from 1952 synthesized the state of research in the early 1950s. Narr's singular focus on cultural history is instructive in terms of both the history of research and as a reflection of what the goals of Palaeolithic archaeology could and should be today.
Tobias Sprafke
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 70, 221–224, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-221-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-221-2021, 2021
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This work is an invited retrospective to the seminal paper of Fink (1956). Fink combined field evidence from geology, geomorphology, and soil science to provide a holistic framework of Quaternary stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental evolution in the Austrian Alpine foreland. This paper is an outstanding example of the relevance of interdisciplinary perspectives to understand landscape evolution. With a few exceptions in detail, the findings of Fink remain largely valid until today.
Jürgen Ehlers
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 70, 235–237, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-235-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-235-2021, 2021
Philip L. Gibbard
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 70, 251–255, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-251-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-251-2021, 2021
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This is an appraisal of the article by Wolfgang Boenigk published in Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart in 1978.
Juan-Luis García, Christopher Lüthgens, Rodrigo M. Vega, Ángel Rodés, Andrew S. Hein, and Steven A. Binnie
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 70, 105–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-105-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-105-2021, 2021
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The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) about 21 kyr ago is known to have been global in extent. Nonetheless, we have limited knowledge during the pre-LGM time in the southern middle latitudes. If we want to understand the causes of the ice ages, the complete glacial period must be addressed. In this paper, we show that the Patagonian Ice Sheet in southern South America reached its full glacial extent also by 57 kyr ago and defies a climate explanation.
Robert Huber, Robert Darga, and Hans Lauterbach
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 69, 93–120, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-93-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-93-2020, 2020
Anna Gehrmann
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 69, 59–60, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-59-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-69-59-2020, 2020
Gerhard Schellmann, Patrick Schielein, Wolfgang Rähle, and Christoph Burow
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 68, 141–164, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-68-141-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-68-141-2019, 2019
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This study presents ESR, OSL and C-14 data from Upper and Middle Pleistocene fluvial terraces (Übergangsterrassen, Hochterrassen) and its loess cover in the Bavarian Alpine Foreland. It will be illustrated that the ESR dating of embedded land-snail shells offers a new dating approach with an upper dating limit most probably much older than the penultimate interglacial (MIS 7). Furthermore, it shows that in some areas Hochterrassen gravels are underlain by older interglacial gravel deposits.
Cited articles
Abdulkarim, M., Schmitt, L., Fülling, A., Rambeau, C., Ertlen, D., Mueller, D., Chapkanski, S., and Preusser, F.: Late glacial to Holocene fluvial dynamics in the Upper Rhine alluvial plain, France, Quat. Res., 121, 109–131, https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2024.22, 2024.
Anselmetti, F. S., Bavec, M., Crouzet, C., Fiebig, M., Gabriel, G., Preusser, F., Ravazzi, C., and DOVE scientific team: Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys (ICDP-DOVE): quantifying the age, extent, and environmental impact of Alpine glaciations, Sci. Dril., 31, 51–70, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-31-51-2022, 2022.
Berger, J.-P., Reichenbacher, B., Becker, D., Grimm, M., Grimm, K., Picot, L., Storni, A., Pirkenseer, C., Derer, C., and Schaefer, A.: Paleogeography of the upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse basin (SMB) from Eocene to Pliocene, Int. J. Earth Sci., 94, 697–710, 2005.
Dietze, E., and Dietze, M.: Grain-size distribution unmixing using the R package EMMAgeo, E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 68, 29–46, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-68-29-2019, 2019.
Edel, J.-B., Schulmann, K., and Rotstein, Y.: The Variscan tectonic inheritance of the Upper Rhine Graben: evidence of reactivations in the Lias, Late Eocene–Oligocene up to the recent, Int. J. Earth Sci., 96, 305–325, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-006-0092-8, 2007.
Ehlers, J. and Gibbard, P. L. (Eds.): Quaternary glaciations: extent and chronology, 1st Ed., Elsevier, Amsterdam, San Diego, 1126 pp., ISBN 9780444534477, 2004.
Ellwanger, D., Wielandt-Schuster, U., Franz, M., and Simon, T.: The Quaternary of the southwest German Alpine Foreland (Bodensee-Oberschwaben, Baden-Württemberg, Southwest Germany), E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 60, 22, https://doi.org/10.3285/eg.60.2-3.07, 2011.
Ellwanger, D., Franz, M., and Wielandt-Schuster, U.: Zur Einführung: Heidelberger Becken, Oberschwaben-Oberrhein, Geosystem Rhein, LGRB Informationen, 26, 7–24, https://produkte.lgrb-bw.de/schriftensuche/lgrb-informationen/informationen26/?aid=19 (last access: 5 December 2024), 2012.
FGG Rhein: Überblicksbericht der Flussgebiets-gemeinschaft Rhein zur Bewirtschaftungsplanung nach Wasserrahmenrichtlinie für den 3. Bewirtschaftungs-zeitraum, Flussgebietsgemeinschaft Rhein, https://fgg-rhein.de/servlet/is/4367/ (last access: 10 July 2024), 2020.
Fiebig, M., Ellwanger, D., and Doppler, G.: Pleistocene glaciations of southern Germany, in: Developments in Quaternary Sciences, Vol. 15, Elsevier, 163–173, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53447-7.00014-3, 2011.
Frechen, M., Ellwanger, D., Hinderer, M., Lämmermann-Barthel, J., Neeb, I., and Techmer, A.: Late Pleistocene fluvial dynamics in the Hochrhein Valley and in the Upper Rhine Graben: chronological frame, Int. J. Earth Sci., 99, 1955–1974, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-009-0482-9, 2010.
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Short summary
The subdivision and distinction of gravel units is an important tool in terrestrial Quaternary stratigraphy but can be challenging. Here, we investigate the glaciofluvial infill of the Upper Rhine Graben as an archive of recurring Alpine glaciations. With the help of statistical approaches, we identify differences in petrographic compositions, thereby differentiating two units that are likely representative of the last and penultimate glaciation, which have previously been difficult to pinpoint.
The subdivision and distinction of gravel units is an important tool in terrestrial Quaternary...
