Further development in cosmogenic radionuclide applications in complex depositional environments : middle pleistocene deposits of the Meuse, NE Belgium
(2022)
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PhD_Nathan_Vandermaelen_Cosmogenic_radionuclide_applicationsincomplexdepositionalenvironments.pdf
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- Cosmogenic radionuclides accumulate at the Earth’ surface as a function of time and depth. They can be used to constrain the age and the deposition mode of fluvial deposits. The (eastern) Campine plateau is a low-lying plateau (NE Belgium) covered by fluvial sediments that were deposited by the braided channels of the Meuse, during the Middle Pleistocene. It resisted the overall erosion that affected the Campine area, and nowadays remarkably stands out of its environment. This singular case makes the Campine plateau an ideal topographic marker to study the geomorphic processes that determined the current landscape of the European Lowlands. In this study, we applied cosmogenic radionuclides on the Zutendaal gravels (eastern Campine plateau) to constrain their depositional and post-depositional history. Main results show that the deposition of the Zutendaal gravels occurred in different phases, interrupted by long hiatuses that correspond to climatic fluctuations. The deposition of the Zutendaal gravels would have lasted at least 2 glacial cycles. The onset post-depositional time likely started somewhere between the last 500 to 600 ka, and was probably characterized by intermittent burial of the fluvial deposits by aeolian coversands. The post-depositional erosion of the Zutendaal gravels has remained limited to a few meters. The first numerical ages of the eastern Campine plateau could be used in the future to better constrain the geomorphological evolution of the Campine region and the European Lowlands in general.
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Vandermaelen, N. (2022). Further development in cosmogenic radionuclide applications in complex depositional environments : middle pleistocene deposits of the Meuse, NE Belgium. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/103260