PERIGLACIAL ENVIRONMENTS DURING THE WEICHSELIAN LATE-GLACIAL IN THE MAAS VALLEY, THE NETHERLANDS

The sandpit at Bosscherheide, on the east bank of the Maas (= Meuse), provides a detailed record of Late Weichselian palaeoenvironmental cha nges. The periglacial fluvial, and aeolian processes recorded in its s ediments have been studied by means of pollen, macrobotanical and thin section analyses, sedimentological observations and radiocarbon datin gs. The data reveal a series of processes involving rapid environmenta l changes, which determined the termination of the Bolling-Allerod int erstadial complex. At the transition from Allerod to Late Dryas, ca 10 800 BP, large-scale floodings and deposition of suspension load took place. Prior to these floodings, a short period with (incipient) perma frost occurred. The aeolian sedimentation, leading to the formation of parabolic dunes, took place mainly between 10 500 and 10 150 BP.