Drilling into a deep buried valley (ICDP DOVE): a 252 m long sediment succession from a glacial overdeepening in northwestern Switzerland

The modern Alpine landscape and its foreland were strongly impacted by the numerous glacier ad- vance and retreat cycles during the Middle-to-Late Pleistocene. Due to the overall erosive character of each glaciation cycle, however, direct traces of older glaciations tend to be poorly preserved within the formerly glaciated domains of the pan-Alpine area. Nevertheless, sediments of older glaciations may occur hidden un- der the modern surface in buried glacially overdeepened troughs that reach below the normal level of fluvial erosion (fluvial base level). These sedimentary archives, partly dating back to the Middle Pleistocene period, are of great scientific value for reconstructing the timing and extent of extensive Alpine glaciation, paleocli- mate, and paleoenvironmental changes in the past and help to better understand ongoing and future changes in the pan-Alpine area. Therefore, the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) project DOVE (Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys) targets several of these glacial overdeepened sedimentary basins to re- cover their sedimentary infills. In the frame of the DOVE project, a 252 m long drill core of unconsolidated Quaternary sediments was recovered in northern Switzerland from an over 300 m deep glacially overdeepened structure (“Basadingen Trough”) formed by the former Rhine Glacier lobe system. The recovered sedimentary succession was divided into three stratigraphic units on the basis of lithological and petrophysical characteristics. The lowest unit, deposited below the fluvial base level, consists of an over 200 m thick succession of glacial to (glacio)lacustrine sediments and contains remains of possibly two glaciation cycles. Overlying this lowermost succession, an ∼ 37 m thick fluvial-to-glaciofluvial gravel deposit occurs, which correlates to a locally outcrop- ping Middle Pleistocene formation (“Buechberg Gravel Complex”). The sediment succession is capped by an ∼ 11 m thick diamictic succession interpreted as the subglacial till from the later extensive glaciation, including the regional glaciation during the Last Glacial Maximum. The recovered sediment succession thus supports the proposed multi-phase origin of trough formation and its infill

Palaeomagnetic and mineral magnetic analyses of the Deckenschotter of northern Switzerland and southern Germany

The Deckenschotter is a fluvial to glaciofluvial gravel unit in northern Switzerland and southern Germany. The deposits are considered the oldest preserved glacial to interglacial Quaternary deposits in the northern Alpine foreland and are thus important geomorphological markers for landscape evolution. Nevertheless, the age of the deposits is only approximately known and subject to controversial debates. This study presents the results of an extensive palaeomagnetic investigation carried out on intercalated fine-grained sediments at 11 sites of the Höhere Deckenschotter (HDS) and at 5 sites of the Tiefere Deckenschotter (TDS). The HDS show reversed and normal magnetisations, indicating deposition > 0.773 Ma, while the TDS exhibit only normal directions. Age constraints for the different sites are discussed in the light of evidence from other studies. The study therefore clearly supports the efforts to determine the age of the Deckenschotter. As data from previous palaeomagnetic studies on the HDS and TDS have not been published or preserved, this is in fact the only data-based palaeomagnetic study available

Rinikerfeld Palaeolake (Northern Switzerland) – a sedimentary archive of landscape and climate change during the penultimate glacial cycle

While timing and ice extent of the last glacial maximum are generally well known, the courses of earlier glaciations have remained poorly constrained, with one of the main reasons being the scarcity of sedimentary archives. This study introduces a new palaeolake record from a Mid‐Pleistocene glaciofluvial channel system in the Lower Aare Valley (Northern Switzerland). The record of Rinikerfeld comprises a >40 m long succession of Quaternary deposits that are targeted by multi‐method sedimentological analysis. Sedimentary facies together with geochemical and geotechnical parameters, pollen content, as well as luminescence ages allow the reconstruction of the establishment, evolution and infilling of the early Marine Isotope Stage 6‐aged Rinikerfeld Palaeolake. A drastic change in lake sediment composition and structure indicates cessation of the initial glacially derived input, which is explained by landscape modification and drainage rerouting during the Penultimate (Beringen) Glaciation. Geochemical and palynological data further reveal cold, initially periglacial but slightly ameliorating, climate conditions, while the lake was progressively filled up by local runoff, before being buried by periglacial colluvial diamicts, and potentially overridden by ice. It is therefore concluded that the onset of the Beringen Glaciation was an environmentally as well as geomorphically dynamic time period in the Northern Alpine Foreland

The Hasli Formation of the Irchel Plateau – A key record for older Early Pleistocene interglacial sediments in northern Switzerland

In the Alpine region of Central Europe, terrestrial Early Pleistocene deposits with preserved faunal and botanical remains are rare. The predominantly gravelly Höhere Deckenschotter (HDS) deposits of northern Switzerland and adjoining south-western Germany are considered the oldest Quaternary sediments in the northern Alpine Foreland, linked with the first extensive Quaternary Alpine glaciations. This multidisciplinary study investigates the Hasli Formation (HF), a unique silty unit with well-preserved biological remains within an HDS sequence at the Irchel Plateau north of Zürich, providing new climatic and environmental data for these exceptional deposits, as well as crucial information about their age. Systematic mapping of the HF, in addition to the underlying and covering gravel units, has been coupled with sedimentary logging and biostratigraphic analysis at several sites. The HF is present over an area c.4 by up to 1.4 km, and where studied is 1.6–6.2 m thick. The sediments and biological material are indicative of overbank deposits accumulating within the damp floodplain of a large meandering river. The recovered small mammal remains are from eight arvicolid species or genera, including Mimomys pliocaenicus, M. reidi/tigliensis and Clethrionomys cf. kretzoii, which became extinct c.1.8 Ma, and Pliomys episcopalis/simplicior, which first appeared c.2 Ma ago. The over 75k identified molluscs, include c.72k coming from 89 terrestrial species and over 3k from 28 aquatic taxa. The molluscan faunas from all locations where the HF has been studied share important biostratigraphic marker species, and indicate analogous climatic and environmental conditions. The marker species include several that became extinct during the Early Pleistocene, of which Clausilia stranzendorfensis and Cochlostoma salomoni, present throughout the HF, are the most important as they disappeared c.1.8 Ma. Many marker species have modern or palaeo-distributions that lie far to the west, south and east of the Swiss Plateau, showing that the climate was much warmer than today, typical for the Tiglian warm stage. The alluvial floodplain was covered by rather dense, mature woodland. Amino acid (AA) analysis shows that molluscan remains from the HF are among the oldest of the Quaternary shell material studied from across the Swiss Plateau. Palaeomagnetic data shows a change from reversed to normal polarity within the upper part of the HF. When combined, the small mammal and molluscan remains, palaeomagnetic measurements, AA geochronology and sedimentary data, suggest an age of 2.1–1.8 Ma for the HF. Recently produced cosmogenic dates bracket the age of the HDS gravels beneath the HF to depositional periods between 2.6 and 0.9 Ma, with the youngest ages being in disagreement with our findings. The abundance and diversity of the molluscs from the Irchel Plateau, with several rare extinct species, together with a notable small mammal assemblage, make this a key palaeontological site and an important reference point for European Quaternary biostratigraphy

Postglacial evolution of Lake Constance: sedimentological and geochemical evidence from a deep-basin sediment core

The modern, over 250-m-deep basin of Lake Constance represents the underfilled northern part of an over 400-m-deep, glacially overdeepened trough, which reaches well into the Alps at its southern end. The overdeep- ening was formed by repeated glacial advance-retreat cycles of the Rhine Glacier throughout the Middle to Late Pleistocene. A seismic survey of Lake Constance revealed a Quaternary sediment fill of more than 150 m thickness representing at least the last glacial cycle. The stratified sedimentary fill consists at the base of ice-contact deposits on top of the molasse bedrock, overlain by glaciolacustrine to lacustrine sediments. During the successful field test of a newly developed, mid-size coring system ("HIPERCORIG"), the longest core (HIBO19) ever taken in Lake Constance was retrieved with an overall length of 24 m. The sediments recovered consist of a nearly continuous succession of lacustrine silts and sands including more than 12 m of Late Glacial sediment at the base. 14 lithotypes were identified through petrophysical and geochemical analyses. In combination with a 14C- and OSL-based age-depth model, the core was divided into three main chronostratigraphic units. The basal age of ~ 13.7 ka BP dates the base of the succes- sion back to the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, with overlying strata representing a complete and thick Younger-Dryas to Holocene succession. The sediments offer a high-resolution insight into the evolution of paleo-Lake Constance from a cold, postglacial to a more productive and warmer Holocene lake. The Late Glacial succession is dominated by massive, m-thick sand beds reflecting episodic sedimentation pulses. They are most likely linked to a subaquatic channel system originating in the river Seefelder Aach, which is, despite the Holocene drape, still apparent in today’s lake bathymetry. The overlying Holocene succession reveals a prominent, several cm-thick, double-turbiditic event layer representing the most distal impact of the Flimser Bergsturz, the largest known rockslide of the Alps that occurred over 100 km upstream the river Rhine at ~ 9.5 ka BP. Furthermore, lithologic variations in the Holocene succession document the varying sediment loads of the river Rhine and the endogenic production representing a multitude of environmental changes

Overdeepened glacial basins as archives for the Quaternary landscape evolution of the Alps

The Alps and the Alpine foreland have been shaped by repeated glaciations during Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles. Extent, timing and impact on landscape evolution of these glaciations are, however, poorly constrained due to the fragmentary character of terrestrial archives. In this context, the sedimentary infills of subglacially eroded, ‘overdeepened’, basins may serve as important archives to complement the Quaternary stratigraphy over several glacial-interglacial cycles. In this thesis, the infills of deep subglacial basins in the Lower Glatt valley (N Switzerland) are explored to better constrain the Middle- to Late Pleistocene environmental change. Five drill cores gave direct insight into to the up to ~200 m thick valley fill at the study site and allowed for detailed analysis of sedimentary facies, age and architecture of the basin fills. A first focus is set on the sedimentology of coarse-grained diamicts with sorted interbeds overlying bedrock in the trough center, which mark the onset of deposition in many glacial bedrock troughs. Evidence from macro- and microsedimentology suggests that these sediments are emplaced subglacially and reflect deposition, reworking and deformation in response to repeated coupling and decoupling of the ice-bed interface promoted by high basal water pressures. Overlying these subglacial sediments, large volumes of sandy glacio-deltaic, fine-grained glacio-lacustrine and lacustrine sediments document sedimentation during glacier retreat from the basins. On these thick valley fill sequences the applicability and reliability of luminescence dating is investigated in a second step on the basis of experiments with several different luminescence signals, protocols and experiments to assess the signal stability. The valley fill of the Lower Glatt valley is then grouped into nine depositional cycles (Formations A-I), which are related to the Birrfeld Glaciation (~MIS2), the Beringen Glaciation (~MIS6), and up to three earlier Middle Pleistocene glaciations, tentatively correlated to the Hagenholz, Habsburg, and Möhlin Glaciations, according to the regional glaciation history. The complex bedrock geometry and valley fill architecture are shown to be the result of multiple erosion and infilling cycles and reflect the interplay of subglacial erosion, glacial to lacustrine infilling of overdeepened basins, and fluvial down-cutting and aggradation in the non-overdeepened valley fill. Evidence suggests that in the study area deep bedrock incision, and/or partial re-excavation, occurred mainly during the Beringen and Hagenholz Glaciation, while older structures may have existed. Together with the observation of minor, ‘inlaid’ glacial basins, dynamic changes in the magnitude and focus of subglacial erosion over time are documented

Die DOVE-Forschungsbohrung in Basadingen-Schlattingen: Geologische Erkundung einer eiszeitlichen Übertiefung

Glaziale Übertiefungen sind tief eingeschnittene, lang gestreckte Rinnen, die durch Erosion an der Sohle von Gletschern entstehen. Aus dem geologischen Untergrund der Alpen sind imposante Übertiefungen bekannt, die im Zuge der wiederholten Gross-Vergletscherungen im Quartär (letzte 2,56 Mio. Jahre) entstanden. Die Sedimentabfolgen, welche die Übertiefungen heute verfüllen, sind wichtige, aber erst wenig erforschte geologische Archive der Vergletscherungsgeschichte und Landschaftsentwicklung. Das Forschungsprojekt Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys (DOVE) erkundet glaziale Übertiefungen rund um die Alpen mit geophysikalischen Methoden und Bohrungen. Eine der Bohrstellen befindet sich in der Gemeinde Basadingen-Schlattingen (Kanton Thurgau/Schweiz), wo eine 252 m lange Sedimentabfolge aus einer verfüllten Übertiefung erbohrt wurde. Die noch laufende Auswertung soll zu einem besseren Verständnis der quartären Klima- und Umweltgeschichte des Alpenraums und der Entstehung von Übertiefungen beitragen.Les surcreusements glaciaires sont des chenaux allongés et profondément incisés qui se forment par érosion au fond des glaciers. On connaît d’imposants surcreusements du sous-sol géologique des Alpes, qui se sont formés au cours des grandes glaciations répétées du Quaternaire (dernières 2,56 millions d’années). Les séquences sédimentaires qui comblent aujourd’hui ces surcreusements sont des archives géologiques importantes, mais encore peu étudiées, de l’histoire des glaciations et de l’évolution du paysage. Le projet de recherche Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys (DOVE) explore les surcreusements glaciaires autour des Alpes à l’aide de méthodes géophysiques et de forages. L’un des sites de forage se trouve dans la commune de Basadingen-Schlattingen (Canton Thurgovie/Suisse), où une séquence de sédiments de 252 m de long a été forée à partir d’une surprofondeur comblée. L’évaluation encore en cours doit contribuer à une meilleure compréhension de l’histoire climatique et environnementale quaternaire de l’espace alpin et de la formation des surcreusements.Glacial overdeepenings are deeply incised, elongated channels that are formed by erosion at the sole of glaciers. Impressive overdeepenings are known from the Alps, which result from the repeated extensive glaciations during the Quaternary (last 2,56 million years). The sedimentary sequences that fill the overdeepenings today are important but poorly explored geological archives of glaciation history and landscape evolution. The research project Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys (DOVE) explores glacial overdeepenings around the Alps using geophysical methods and drilling. One of the drill sites is located in Basadingen-Schlattingen (Canton Thurgau/Switzerland), where a 252 m long sediment sequence was drilled out of a backfilled overdeepening. The still ongoing research will contribute to a better understanding of the Quaternary climate and environmental history of the Alps and the formation of glacial overdeepenings

Luminescence dating of glaciolacustrine silt in overdeepened basin fills beyond the last interglacial

Abstract {OSL} and {IRSL} dating are applied to samples from a 152 m-long drill core to constrain the timing of three glaciolacustrine depositional periods within the infill of an overdeepened bedrock trough in the Lower Glatt valley, N Switzerland. The characterisation of the dose-response suggests that the polymineral {IRSL50} and pIRIR180/225 signals are close to saturation, while quartz {OSL} ages are within the range of reliable dating. The demarcation of the upper quartz {OSL} dating limit, however, remains challenging. Dose-recovery tests performed with long storage periods were used to investigate the reliability of the high region of the dose-response curve. They suggest an upper limit for reliable dating of ~400 Gy for these samples, which was considerably lower than the commonly used 2D0 criterion. Lifetimes were calculated for the quartz {OSL} and the thermal stability of the signal is not considered as problematic for the determined ages. Allowing for a contribution from inherited dose due to partial bleaching, places the infill of the overdeepened valley within the penultimate glacial cycle (MIS6)

Luminescence properties and dating of glacial to periglacial sediments from northern Switzerland

Abstract. Luminescence dating has become a pillar of the understanding of Pleistocene glacial advances in the northern foreland of the Swiss Alps. However, both quartz and feldspar from the region are equally challenging as dosimeters with anomalous fading and partial bleaching being some of the obstacles to overcome for the establishment of decisive chronologies. In this study, luminescence properties of coarse- and fine-grained quartz, feldspar, and polymineral fractions of eight samples from a palaeovalley, Rinikerfeld in northern Switzerland, are systematically assessed. Standard performance tests are conducted on all four fractions. Deconvolution of luminescence signals of the quartz fractions is implemented and shows the dominance of stable fast components. Reader-specific low preheat temperatures are investigated on the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signal of feldspar. Thermal stability of this signal is found for low preheats, and thermal quenching could be excluded for higher preheats. However, anomalous fading is observed in the feldspar and polymineral IRSL signals and two correction approaches are applied. For one approach, fading corrected coarse-grained feldspar ages are consistent with those derived from quartz. In general, coarse-grained quartz and feldspar, as well as the fine-grained polymineral fraction of one sample, are in chrono-stratigraphic agreement and present negligible evidence for partial bleaching. However, ages derived from fine-grained quartz are found to underestimate those of the coarse-grained quartz fractions. Hence, the impact of alpha efficiency and water content on the dose rate and thus the ages are assessed. A finite explanation for the observed discrepancies remains lacking, but this systematic investigation of different luminescence signals allows for the establishment of a chronology for the palaeovalley fill dating back to at least Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6). </jats:p

3D morphology of a glacially overdeepened trough controlled by underlying bedrock geology

Subglacial overdeepenings are common elements of mountain forelands and have considerable implications for human infrastructure. Yet, the processes of overdeepening by subglacial erosion and especially the role of bedrock geology are poorly understood. We present a case study of the Gebenstorf-Stilli Trough in northern Switzerland, a foreland overdeepening with a regionally unique, complex underlying bedrock geology: in contrast to other Swiss foreland overdeepenings, it is incised not only into Cenozoic Molasse deposits, but also into the underlying Mesozoic bedrock. In order to constrain the trough morphology in 3D, it was targeted with scientific boreholes as well as with seismic measurements acquired through analysis of surface waves. Our results reveal an unexpectedly complex trough morphology that appears to be closely related to the bedrock geology. Two sub-basins are incised into calcareous marls and Molasse deposits, and are separated by a distinct ridge of Jurassic limestones, indicating strong lithological control on erosional efficiency. We infer generally relatively low glacial erosion efficiency sensu stricto (i.e. quarrying and abrasion) and suggest that the glacier’s basal drainage system may have been the main driver of subglacial erosion of the Gebenstorf-Stilli Trough