Open AccessNew evidence of the Littorina transgressions in the Kattegat: Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating of a beach ridge system on Anholt, Denmark
Author(s) -
BJØRNSEN METTE,
CLEMMENSEN LARS B.,
MURRAY ANDREW,
PEDERSEN KARSTEN
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
boreas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1502-3885
pISSN - 0300-9483
DOI - 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2007.00008.x
Subject(s) - geology , marine transgression , ridge , beach ridge , optically stimulated luminescence , oceanography , holocene , paleontology , quartz , structural basin
Recent geomorphological and sedimentological investigation of the raised beach ridge plain on Anholt in the Kattegat Sea, Denmark, has demonstrated how these deposits, when combined with Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating, can provide information about past changes in relative sea level. The southwest–northeast trending plain is divided into three topographic levels, one of which has been surveyed using Ground‐Penetrating Radar (GPR). Samples retrieved from the survey line indicate that the initial part of the beach ridge plain formed about 7700 years ago in response to a mid‐Holocene Littorina transgression. The raised marine deposits document a subsequent rise in relative sea level of about 9 m, and OSL dates indicate that this transgression took place about 6650 years ago. The flooding of the Kattegat Sea 7700 years ago might possibly be related to a rapid global sea‐level rise peaking around 7500 years ago.