Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Lappajarvi meteorite crater in Ostrobothnia, Finland

Abstract

Seventy‐four meters of a 95‐m‐long drill core recovered from the Lappäjarvi crater, a meteoritic impact site in western Finland, consisted of Pleistocene sediments. These sediments refer to two events of glacial deposition (Saalian and Weichselian) interrupted by non‐glacigenic freshwater sedimentation. The sediments contain abundant redeposited Holsteinian and Tertiary microfossils, and possibly represent a pre‐Weichselian interstadial not described from elsewhere in Finland. The pollen flora indicates a mixed primary arctic to subarctic succession that followed deglaciation, i.e. the beginning of an interglacial or interstadial event. The secondary pollen component derives from an eroded interglacial deposit that can be interpreted as Holsteinian, or possibly Eemian, in age. The vegetation succession interpreted from the primary pollen flora reflects a transition from arctic conditions to subarctic birch forests. The diatom flora indicates a primary succession that can be observed clearly in the uppermost gyttja layer in which the rich alkaliphilous diatom flora refers to more or less eutrophic conditions. The diatom flora of sediments below the gyttja layer is composed of a primary component and a secondary, redeposited or relict component. The diatoms encountered are interglacial or Tertiary in origin. The results show that meteorite craters can provide long, representative stratigraphic sequences in glacially eroded Precambrian shield areas such as Finland.