Early Holocene environmental history of sunken landscapes: pollen, plant macrofossil and geochemical analyses from the Borkum Riffgrund, southern North Sea

A vibrocore from the sea floor of the southern North Sea provides a similar to 1,500-year record of early Holocene vegetation history and mire development in a landscape now 33 m below sea-level Pollen, plant macrofossil and geochemical analyses of an AMS C-14 dated sand peat marine mud sequence document the paludification on Pleistocene sands similar to 10,700 cal BP, the subsequent development of eutraphentic carr vegetation and the gradual inundation by the transgressing sea similar to 9,350 cal BP Punts Corylus woodland prevailed on terrestrial grounds after hazel had immigrated similar to 10,700 cal BP Salix dominated the carr vegetation throughout 1,300 years of peat formation, because Alnus did not spread in the Borkum Riffgrund area until 9,300 BP Brackish reed vegetation with Phragmites established after inundation and siliciclastic marine sediments were being deposited This article also examines the detection and suitability of key horizons indicative of marine Influence XRF-Scanning provides the most detailed results in the briefest possible time to pinpoint spectra best suitable for AMS C-14 dating of classical key horizons such as start of peat formation and transgressive contact The combined application of botanical and geochemical methods allows determining new key horizons indicative of marine influence, namely the earliest marine inundation and the onset of sea-level influence on coastal ground water level