Excursion Waasland Scheldt Polders and Land Van Saeftinghe
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EXCURSION WAASLAND SCHELDT POLDERS AND LAND VAN SAEFTINGHE 19/03/2013 Afternoon Program Katrien Heirman - Iason Jongepier - Tine Missiaen - Peter Vos 1 1. Drowned Land of Saeftinghe 2 Coastal evolution of the Province of Zeeland Regional coastal evolution of Zeeland The coastal landscape of the southwestern Netherlands has been formed during the present interglacial time period – the Holocene. Due to extensive geological, archaeological and historical research which has been carried out in the southwestern part of the Netherlands during the past few decades, it has become possible to reconstruct the coastal landscape evolution and the increasing role of man in the landscape development. The sources of this reconstruction are the publication on the coastal genesis history of the province of Zeeland by Vos & Van Heeringen (1997) and the TNO report on the coastal delta in the southwestern Netherlands, 5000 years and retrospective (Vos et al., 2002). The Holocene started about 11.500 years ago. The major driving force in the coastal genesis in this region was the relative rise in the sea level. In addition, the morphology (or geometry) of the early Holocene landscape (Pleistocene valleys and ridges), the locations of the tidal inlets and the courses of the rivers, the availability and supply of sediments, and human interference have played important parts in the shaping of the coastal landscape of the Netherlands. The Holocene drowning history of the southwestern Netherlands has been visualized in a series of 12 palaeogeographic maps for the period 5500 BC till present. The palaeolandscape maps could be reconstructed by using geological, archaeological and historical data. 10000-8000 BP (9000-7000 BC): Continental phase (before the marine inundation) At the beginning of the Holocene the sea level was very low (over 35 m below the current mean sea level). England was still connected to northwestern Europe through a land bridge. Sea-driven flooding did not yet occur in the coastal areas of the western Netherlands and Belgium those days. As a result of the rapid rise in the sea level at the beginning of the Holocene – which was due to the warming of the climate which caused large masses of land ice to melt off from the ice caps at the North Pole and the South Pole – the area of the North Sea area was flooded. The first drowning in the lower parts of the western Netherlands - the Rhine-Meuse Valley - took place about 9000 years ago. 8000-5500 BP (7000-4400 BC): Inundation 9000 BP and development of the tidal basin During the first half of the Holocene the rise Holocene sea-level curve of the Rhine – Meuse area in the sea level in particular was the driving (after Hijma & Cohen, 2011) 3 force in the evolution of the coastal landscape. As a result of the rapid rise in the sea level the major part of the southwestern Netherlands was drowned. About 5500 BC this area had been 9000 BP changed into an extended tidal landscape with tidal channels, mud flats, and salt marshes. The peat areas lay in the transition area between the tidal area and the higher Pleistocene sands in 10.500 BP Brabant and Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. The Scheldt River merged during that time into the lower lying Rhine and Meuse fluvial flood basin. At about 4500 BC the sea reached the most far inland position in Zeeland. 4500-2500 BP (3100-600 BC): regressive coastal development, the largest extent of the “ Holland P eat” From that time onwards the coastal evolution took a turn from transgressieve to regressive development. The decline of the rise in the sea level was the Drowning of the North Sea. Lines with arrow: location of the reason. The raising (elevation) of the coastline at 10.500 and 9000 BP. coastal area due to sedimentation Black box: Territory of the Province of Zeeland outpaced the rise in the sea level. About 3000 BC this resulted in a strong silting- Purple box: Saeftinghe / Doel area up of the tidal areas. This process caused that intertidal mud-flats, salt marshes and peat areas to expand seaward. During the next period the storage area - water storing capacity of the tidal area during high tide - decreased further due to sediment accretion and this led to considerable reductions in the tidal channels and the tidal outlets. Due to these reductions extended coastal barriers and dunes formed along the coastline. In the course of the next millennia these coastal barriers increasingly protected the tidal area in the hinterland from the sea. An almost closed coastline was formed between 2000 and 1500 BC with coastal barriers and dunes. Only at those places where rivers such as the Scheldt flew out into the sea openings in the coastline (tidal inlets) remained. Due to this closing off the back-barrier coastal area became isolated from the sea and the coastal peat areas could expand strongly. 300-1000 AD: Inundation of the peat landscape and, for the second time, the formation of a tidal basin The situation of an almost closed coastline with a couple of river outlets remained until about 500 BC. Between 500 BC and the beginning of our era the coastline in the present Zeeland gradually broke down and in the hinterland small “slufter-like” tidal areas developed . The breaking down of the coast line in Zeeland was connected with the deficiency of sediment which started to occur before the coast of Zeeland in those days. A Pleistocene headland which had been present before the coast of Belgium during a long time had supplied the sand for the coast of Zeeland until those days. In the course of the Iron Age this stock of sand got depleted. Before the coast of Zeeland a deficiency arose because sand was moved to the central part of the coast of Holland through tidal-driven 4 Palaeogeographical maps of the Province of Zeeland 8000-5500 BP (7000-4400 BC): Inundation and development of the tidal basin 5500 BC 4500 BC 4500-2500 BP (3100-60 0 B C) : r eg r es si v e c oas tal dev el opment, the l ar g est extent of the “Hol l and Peat” 3000 BC 1500 BC 500 BC 100 AD Legend Beige: Pleistocene outcrop, sand Yellow: Barrier ridges / dunes Blue: North Sea, tidal channel, river channels Light Green: Intertidal area, sand and mudflats Purple box: Saeftinghe / Doel area Green: Supratidal area, salt marshes Grey area: Belgium Brown: Peat bog 5 300-1000 AD: Inundation of the peat landscape and, for the second time, the formation of a tidal basin 500 AD 1000 AD 1000 AD – present: Period of human influence 1250 AD 1500 AD 1750 AD 2000 AD Legend Beige: Pleistocene outcrop, sand Yellow: Barrier ridges / dunes Purple: Embanked areas (‘’polders’’) Light Green: Intertidal area, sand and mudflats Blue: North Sea, tidal channels, river channels Green: Supratidal area, salt marshes Purple box: Saeftinghe / Doel area Brown: Peat bog Grey area: Belgium 6 coastal currents. The coastal barriers and dunes before the coast of Zeeland were used to meet this deficiency of sand. Because of this coastal erosion occurred, the coastal barrier breached and the sea could locally penetrate the peat areas in the hinterland. The sea did not yet reach far because the peat in the hinterland had grown up to 1 m or more above the maximum storm surge level. Man took advantage of new situation of the landscape in Zeeland. During the Iron Age, but in particular during the Roman times (around 100 AD) the tidal channels through the coastal barriers were used to drain the high peat areas in the hinterland. Ditches and channels were connected to the tidal channels such that the higher elevated peat areas in the hinterland were drained and became habitable. The drained peat was also extracted at a large scale for industrial purposes. Thus the peat was used among others as fuel for cooking seawater or the purpose of salt production. The draining of the peat resulted in subsidence causing the peat surface to get lowered. Also the extraction of peat contributed to the lowering of the peat surface. Due to the anthropogenic lowering of the surface the sea could enhance its hold on the peat area. This process was reinforced because of the fact that through the channels and the ditches the sea could penetrate the heartland of the peat areas where the surface was lowered artificially as well. The process of lowering of the peat surface occurred in particular during the second and third centuries of our era, due to the large- scale pear extractions which took place in those times in the peat areas of Walcheren, the western parts of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Zuid-Beveland and Schouwen. The consequences of these large-scale Roman extractions were disastrous. Because of the lowering of the surface major parts of the peat areas were flooded and the tide storage area increased considerably. In turn the tidal channels adjusted to the increased tide storage areas en increased strongly in size. Because of this the erosive force of the tidal channels increased and the peat near the tidal outlets was eroded away completely. In contrast to e.g. sand, peat gets largely lost for the sediment balance. Sand which is eroded remains largely in the tidal system and just shifts to different places. Peat, on the other hand, vanishes to a large extent because it contains a relatively large rate of water whereas the organic material decays. Thus the peat that is cleared through the tidal channels “vanishes” from the sediment balance system. This process of ‘’peat disappearing’’ led to a further increase in the tidal storage capacity and connected thereto a further expansion of the tidal channels.