The Late Weichselian sea level history of the Kullen Peninsula in northwest Skane, southern Sweden

The Kullen Peninsula in northwest Skane. at the time of the Weichselian deg laciation an island surrounded by the Kattegat Sea, is the earliest known d eglaciated area in Sweden. Sediment stratigraphic and mineral magnetic prop erties. combined with radiocarbon dating, were used to determine and date t he isolation of present day lake basins from the sea. Significant environme ntal changes, which reflect the isolations, are supported by previously pub lished palaeoecological data and cannot be related to climate changes. Basi ns situated above the marine limit (ML) have short (in the order of centime tres) minerogenic sequences that are magnetically characterized by low conc entrations of detrital magnetite. In contrast, the pre-isolation sediments in basins below the ML, especially those deposited in sheltered positions i n the landscape, have thick sequences (in the order of metres) of authigeni c greigite-bearing sediments. Age determinations of the isolation level are based on the AMS radiocarbon dating of terrestrial plant macrofossil remai ns and previously published pollen stratigraphical investigations. Supporte d by the upper level of a sandy beach deposit preserved on the generally st eep till covered slopes. the marine limit can be determined to 88-89 m a.s. l., which developed at the regional deglaciation c. 17000 calendar years ag o. The results indicate that the deglaciation shoreline level remained fair ly constant, relative to the sea level. for c. 1000 years and was followed by a gentle regression. The presented shoreline displacement curve from the Kullen Peninsula extends c. 1000 calendar years further back in time than any previously published records from the Swedish west coast.