A Holocene coastal aeolian system, Vejers, Denmark: landscape evolution and sequence stratigraphy

Stratigraphical studies of Holocene aeolian strata formed at the inner margin of the Vejers dunefield on the west coast of Jutland have contributed to an understanding of aeolian landscape evolution in a storm-influenced temperate climate belt. The aeolian system was characterized by alternating periods of activity and stabilization. Intense inland sand transport occurred just after 4000 BC, 2300 BC, 600 BC and AD 300-500. Periods of sand movement were apparently initiated during climatic shifts towards more stormy conditions, and they may be linked to a millennial-scale cycle in North Atlantic Holocene climate. Preservation of the accumulated aeolian sand records a long-term rise in ground-water level. Water table behaviour was initially controlled by sea level, but after about 2300 BC water table rise was linked to coastal outbuilding and to an overall change towards a more humid climate.