Journal of Maps ISSN: (Print) 1744-5647 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjom20 Loess and other Quaternary sediments in Germany Frank Lehmkuhl, Stephan Pötter, Annika Pauligk & Janina Bösken To cite this article: Frank Lehmkuhl, Stephan Pötter, Annika Pauligk & Janina Bösken (2018) Loess and other Quaternary sediments in Germany, Journal of Maps, 14:2, 330-340, DOI: 10.1080/17445647.2018.1473817 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2018.1473817 © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of journal of Maps View supplementary material Published online: 21 May 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 150 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tjom20 JOURNAL OF MAPS 2018, VOL. 14, NO. 2, 330–340 https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2018.1473817 Science Loess and other Quaternary sediments in Germany Frank Lehmkuhl , Stephan Pötter , Annika Pauligk and Janina Bösken Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Geo- and palaeoecological studies focusing on the late Pleistocene require a detailed Received 22 March 2018 knowledge of the spatial distribution of aeolian sediments. In Germany, existing maps are Revised 2 May 2018 either on large scales, have a regional focus or show significant inaccuracies such as artificial Accepted 3 May 2018 boundaries within different geological units. To obtain a more detailed, seamless map of the KEYWORDS distribution of aeolian sediments and their potential source areas, we combined and Aeolian sediments; dust reanalysed available geodata, using a Geographical Information System. The resultant maps sources; spatial data; GIS; (scale: approx. 1:2,600,000) show the link between source areas and the late Quaternary central Europe aeolian deposits in Germany and can provide one context for further work on, e.g. palaeogeographical studies. This work was compared with other already published datasets and the problems of sediment mapping at a small scale were discussed. 1. Introduction Haase, and Ruske (1977) created a map for Western, The deposition of aeolian sediments depends on Central and Eastern Europe at a scale of 1:2,500,000 specific geographic conditions (Pécsi, 1990, 1991). in collaboration with researchers from various Four factors are required for the formation of aeolian countries. This map was completed and digitised by sediment bodies: (1) a dust source, from which the Haase et al. (2007). Other maps published in scientific sediment is deflated, (2) sufficient wind energy, (3) a studies during the last decades are characterised by sink, where the topographic and environmental con- either a regional (Antoine et al., 2003; Lill & Smalley, ditions favour the sediment deposition and (4) a suffi- 1978) or a global scale (Muhs & Bettis, 2003; Pécsi, ciently long period of time (Pye, 1995; Smalley, 1990). Marković, & Svirčev, 2011). Since loess in Europe Maps at a small scale often lack accuracy or show was mainly accumulated during the cold stages of the inconsistencies such as artificial breaks at administra- Quaternary (Marković et al., 2015; Muhs & Bettis, tive boundaries. This is related to different terminolo- 2003), the distribution pattern of aeolian sediments gical and methodological foci of the contributors and their potential source areas give important infor- (Haase et al., 2007). Most researchers accept these pro- mation about palaeogeographical conditions (Sprafke blems, so that the map according to Haase et al. (2007) & Obreht, 2016). Moreover, the relevance of loess is is widely accepted in Quaternary science. Recently, manifold: the world’s most fertile soils are developed however, there were some attempts to create more pre- in loess (Catt, 1988, 2001; Pécsi & Richter, 1996; Smal- cise maps of loess distribution. For instance, Lindner, ley, Jefferson, Dijkstra, & Derbyshire, 2001); and well- Lehmkuhl, and Zeeden (2017) used paedological infor- preserved Palaeolithic and Neolithic artefacts can be mation to fill gaps in the Haase map in western Roma- found in loess or loess-like sediments (Antoine, Catt, nia. Bertran, Liard, Sitzia, and Tissoux (2016) used Lautridou, & Sommé, 2003; Einwögerer et al., 2006; topsoil textural data from the Land Use and Cover Gerlach, Baumewerd-Schmidt, van den Borg, Eckme- Area frame Statistical survey database (LUCAS, ier, & Schmidt, 2006; Händel, Simon, Einwögerer, & Orgiazzi, Ballabio, Panagos, Jones, & Fernández- Neugebauer-Maresch, 2009; Neugebauer-Maresch, Ugalde, 2018; Tóth, Jones, & Montanarella, 2013)to Einwögerer, Richter, Maier, & Hussain, 2016; Pécsi & create a map of aeolian sediments in Europe, with a Richter, 1996; Rensink, 2010; Tasić, Penezić, Marković, focus on France. & Catto, 2017; Terhorst et al., 2013). To follow-up on the recent research, both methodo- ‘Loess maps’ have a long history in Quaternary logically and geographically, the aim of this study is the science. Grahmann (1932) developed the first map of creation of a detailed, seamless map of the distribution loess distribution in central Europe, which was adapted of aeolian sediments and their potential source areas in and compiled with source areas by Flint (1971). Fink, Germany. In further studies, these maps could be used CONTACT Frank Lehmkuhl [email protected] Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of journal of Maps This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. JOURNAL OF MAPS 331 for palaeolandscape modelling. For these objectives, we partly covering sedimentary bedrock; (c) the south reanalysed and combined free, online available data of German scarplands, which are dominated by cuestas the Federal Institute for Geoscience and Natural of sedimentary bedrock; (d) the Tertiary molasse sedi- Resources of Germany (Bundesanstalt für Geowis- ment basin including remnants of piedmont glacia- senschaften und Rohstoffe, BGR), to get a detailed tions south of the Danube River and in the foreland overview of the distribution of aeolian sediments of the Alps; and (e) the Alps with their high mountain within Germany. environment in the south. Regarding its geography, the loess distribution in Germany follows a specific pattern, which allows the 2. Study area division in four main loess regions (cf. Lehmkuhl, Germany is located in Central Europe and according to Zens, Krauß, Schulte, & Kels, 2016)(Figure 1): Liedtke and Marcinek (2002) it can be divided into five main parts: (a) the north German lowlands, which are (1) The northern Central European loess belt between dominated by a low relief formed by Pleistocene glacial the former ice marginal position of the Weichse- and periglacial processes; (b) the central part with lian ice sheet in the north and the German uplands mountains composed of folded Palaeozoic rocks and (e.g. Rhenish shield, Harz Mountains and Ore Figure 1. Study area, modified according to Lehmkuhl et al. (2016). The distribution of aeolian sediments is according to Haase et al. (2007). The numbers refer to the main loess regions and the letters to the subregions listed in the text. Ice extent modified accord- ing to Ehlers, Eissmann, Lippstreu, Stephan, and Wansa (2004) and Ehlers, Grube, Stephan, and Wansa (2011). 332 F. LEHMKUHL ET AL. Mountains) in the south. Lehmkuhl et al. (2016) Quaternary sediments were exported from the attribute subdivided this region into six subregions: (1a) table of each shapefile. In the second step, the aeolian the Lower Rhine Embayment; (1b) the southern sediments were extracted. Hereinafter, those were sub- part of Westphalia, including the Westphalian divided into three major classes: loess and loess deri- Lowlands and the Soest Börde; (1c) the southern vates, sandy loess, and dunes and aeolian sand (for a parts of Lower Saxony including Hildesheim more detailed description of the classification, see Sec- Börde; (1d) Saxony-Anhalt including the foreland tion 3.2 and Table 1). The resulting shapefiles were of the Harz Mountains; (1e) the basins of Thurin- merged to obtain coherent datasets. gia and (1f) loess regions in Saxony. Generalisation of the data, especially for the detailed (2) The Upper Rhine Valley (Upper Rhine Graben) loess map, was conducted by using a self-built model including the Mainz basin at the southernmost (Figure 3). The model performs an automated aggrega- margin of the Rhenish shield. tion, simplification and smoothing to adjust the (3) The basins of the German uplands in central and obtained data to the smaller scale of the resultant southwestern Germany. These can be subdivided maps. The shapefiles were aggregated three times, into: (3a) the basins in Lower Saxony and Hesse; whereby different values for the minimum hole size (3b) the basins in Franconia and (3c) the Kraich- and the minimum area were applied. Therefore, the gau area. aggregation algorithm scans the shapefile in order to (4) Along the German stretches of the Danube River, detect all polygons and holes in the shapefile (ESRI, mainly in the southern part of Bavaria. 2016a). Shapefiles smaller