Quaternary terraces of the Želivka River

Abstract

This article presents the results of a geomorphological analysis of localities of Quaternary river terraces along the Želivka River and its historical-genetic interpretation in light of the formation of the Sázava terrace system. In addition, the morphogenetic characteristics of the Želivka Valley are presented and the fluvial sediments and terrace system of its river are described, including a chronostratigraphic correlation with other river terraces of the Bohemian Massif. Situational data concerning the Neogene sediments and Quarternary terraces of the Želivka River, including correlation with the Sázava River’s terrace system, are presented in Table 1. In accordance with current Quaternary stratigraphic classification, the entire system of terraces along both the Želivka and Sázava Rivers corresponds mainly with the Middle and Late Pleistocene, since the Cromerian Complex up to the Weichsel periods. The erosion phase previous to the accumulation of the first terrace in the Želivka and Sázava valleys belongs to the end of the Early Pleistocene. Older levels of fluvial sediments in the studied area, which are situated in a higher morphological position and which had previously been classified as Pliocene, have, therefore, been stratigraphically shifted into the Early Pleistocene.