Loess and palaeosols on the High Terrace at Sierentz (France), and implications for the chronology of terrace formation in the Upper Rhine Graben

Pedological investigations in combination with luminescence dating have been used to reconstruct the genesis and chronology of a sediment succession at Sierentz, France. The sequence comprises loess and palaeosols on top of gravel attributed to the High Terrace of River Rhine. According to the dating results, three phases of soil development occurred during different warm phases of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 (245–190 ka). Soil development on top of the gravel occurred either during early MIS 7 or during an earlier warm phase, possibly MIS 9. The results imply a minimum age of 250 ka for the formation of the High Terrace in this part of the Upper Rhine Graben, contrary to previous assumptions that correlated gravel sheet deposition with MIS 6 (ca. 150 ka). These results and recent findings at other sites suggest that the chronological setting of terrace formation north of the Alps is much more complex than previously assumed.