Netherlands Journal of Geosciences —– Geologie en Mijnbouw |93 – 1/2| 7-29| 2014 doi: 10.1017/njg.2014.12 North Sea palaeogeographical reconstructions for the last 1 Ma K.M. Cohen1,2,3,*,P.L.Gibbard4 & H.J.T. Weerts5 1 Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands 2 Department of Applied Geology and Geophysics, Deltares, Unit BGS, Princetonlaan 6, Utrecht 3 Department of Geomodelling, TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands, Princetonlaan 6, Utrecht 4 Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN, United Kingdom 5 Cultural Heritage Agency, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, P.O. Box 1600, 3800 BP Amersfoort, the Netherlands * Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected] Manuscript received: 3 February 2014, accepted: 2 May 2014 Abstract The landscape evolution of the southern North Sea basin is complex and has left a geographically varying record of marine, lacustrine, fluvial and glacial sedimentation and erosion. Quaternary climatic history, which importantly included glaciation, combined with tectonics gave rise to cyclic and non-cyclic changes of sedimentation and erosion patterns. Large-scale landscape reorganisations left strong imprints in the preserved record, and are important for the detail that palaeogeographical reconstructions for the North Sea area can achieve. In the spirit of the North Sea Prehistory Research and Management Framework (NSPRMF; Peeters et al., 2009), this paper provides background geological information regarding the North Sea. It summarises current stratigraphical and chronological frameworks and provides an overview of sedimentary environments. As we go back in time, the understanding of Quaternary palaeo-environmental evolution in the North Sea basin during the last 1 million years becomes decreasingly accurate, with degree of preservation and accuracy of age control equally important controls.