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The Holocene
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The chronology of Holocene alluvial sediments from the Wetterau, Germany, provided by optical and 14C dating

Andreas Lang

Forschungsstelle Archäometrie, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, MPI für Kernphysik, D-69029 Heidelberg, Germany; Geographisches Institut, Universität Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 166, D-53115 Bonn, Germany

Sabine Nolte

Institut für Physische Geographie, Universität Frankfurt, Postfach 111932, D-60054 Frankfurt, Germany; Am Grün 56A, D-35037 Marburg/Lahn, Germany.

Holocene floodplain chronologies are often hard to establish, the principal limitation being the scarc ity of organic remains. In the present study, optical dating of flood loam was carried out in addition to 14C dating of organics. The results show that silty distal alluvial sediments can successfully be dated by means of infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL). Through the use of complementary dating techniques, a detailed chronology was obtained for the floodplain sediments of the Wetter, a small river in central Germany, where Holocene sediments overlay Lateglacial channel fills. The early-Holocene sediments consist of sandy loams, followed by the so-called black meadow soil–a dark layer rich in organic matter. Our chronology puts the soil development in the interval 9.8 ka to 3.5 ka, interrupted only by shorter phases of silt deposition. Considerable sedimentation occurred during the Late Iron Age/Roman Period, when the deposition of the younger flood loam first began. This deposit, which is up to 2.5 m thick, forms the youngest bed, with maximum sedimentation rates occurring 1300 to 900 a ago (Middle Ages), and slowing down since that time.

Key Words: Optical dating • IRSL • 14C dating • alluvium • flood loam • Wetterau • Germany • Holocene

The Holocene, Vol. 9, No. 2, 207-214 (1999)
DOI: 10.1191/095968399675119300
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