Loess-paleosol sequences at the northern European loess belt in Germany: Distribution, geomorphology and stratigraphy

Abstract

Abstract Pleistocene loess and loess derivates are distributed along the mountain front of the Central European Mountain Belt in northern and central Germany. Examples from two regions, the Lower Rhine Embayment (LRE) and the Northern foreland of the Harz Mountains (FHM) show that the distribution of loess and the development of loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) are controlled by relief, climate, tectonics, the distance to large river systems, the distance to the Scandinavian ice sheet and the distance to the shelf of the North Sea. In the oceanic LRE higher humidity enhanced the periglacial processes which increased erosion, but also led to preservation in accumulative positions. In contrast, in the more continental FHM the sediments were affected by less intensive periglacial processes and no solifluction can be detected. New loess distribution maps are presented for both key areas, and key sections, especially for the last glacial cycle, are compared and summarized. Both study regions are located in the west – east trending loess belt north of the Central European Mountain belt (in front of the Rhenish Shield = Ardennes-Eifel and Harz Mountains). Finally, a synthesis of typical sediment sequences for both regions is given as an example of paleoenvironmental (landscape) development in northern Central Europe.