The role of a proto-Schelde River in the genesis of the southwestern Netherlands, inferred from the Quaternary successions and fossils in Moriaanshoofd Borehole (Zeeland, the Netherlands)

Abstract

AbstractWe investigated the Quaternary lithological succession and faunas in a borehole near Moriaanshoofd (Province of Zeeland, SW Netherlands), in order to improve our understanding of the depositional context of classical Gelasian mammal faunas from the region. The fossils mostly derive from the base of a fossil-rich interval between 31 m and 36.5 m below the surface, that was initially interpreted as a Middle or Late Pleistocene interglacial marine unit, but turned out to be a Late Quaternary fluvial unit with large amounts of reworked fossils and sediments. Eocene mollusc taxa pinpoint Flanders (Belgium) as the source region for this river. Within the base of this paleo-Schelde River fossil material of various stratigraphic provenance became incorporated.