Lateglacial and early Holocene vegetation development and fluvial system changes in the northern Meuse valley, the Netherlands: A review of palynological data

Abstract

This study provides an overview of existing palynological and chronological data of the northern Meuse valley which have been collected over recent decades. The palynological data were used to make a vegetation reconstruction in time and space for the Lateglacial and early Holocene. The vegetation development is strongly influenced by the rapid climate changes that occurred during this time period. It is shown that the biostratigraphy can be used to provide better age estimates for the abandoned channel fills, which have been dated in most cases using conventional bulk 14C dates. Furthermore, the combination with a geomorphological reconstruction based on AHN (actual height model of the Netherlands) lidar data has been used to evaluate the interactions between fluvial terrace formation and vegetation development. It appears that, although the vegetation development is comparable to the general vegetation development in the Netherlands, slight differences occur, in particular of the vegetation composition, presumably linked to the dynamic geomorphological activity in the Meuse valley. Finally, the spatial distribution of sites may give indications for the migration routes of pine (Pinus) and poplar (Populus) during this period of rapid vegetation development over the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition.