Age and sedimentary record of inland eolian sediments in Lithuania, NE European Sand Belt

Abstract

We present a study based on four inland eolian locations in Eastern, Central and Southeastern Lithuania belonging to the northeastern part of the ‘European Sand Belt’ (ESB). Although there have been several previous studies of the ESB, this north-eastern extension has not been investigated before in any detail. The sedimentary structural–textural features are investigated and a chronology was derived using optically stimulated luminescence on both quartz and feldspar. The sedimentary structures and the rounding and surface characteristics of the quartz grains argue for a predominance of eolian transport. Additionally, some structural alternations and a significant contribution of non-eolian grains are interpreted as inherited local glacial/glaciofluvial-bearing lithologies.Three main (glaciolacustrine–) eolian phases are distinguished based on the position in the landscape and the luminescence ages: (1) Anolder eolian seriesaround 15 to 16 ka, possibly correlated with the cold GS-2a event according to the GRIP stratigraphy, and (2) ayounger eolian seriesaround 14.0 ka, possibly representing the GI-1d and 1c events. Theolder eolian seriesis underlain by (3) aglaciolacustrine–eolian seriesfor which the period of deposition remains uncertain due to the significant discrepancy between the ages based on quartz and feldspar.