Pleistocene river valleys and ice sheet limits in the Southern Mazovian Lowland,central Poland

Abstract

The buried and present-day Vistula valleys has developed along tectonic linear structures of NW-SE trend. The Vistula river valley and its tributaries essentialy maintained their courses during the Małopolanian, Ferdynandovian, Mazovian and Eemian interglacials. During the Małopolanian, Mazovian, Ferdynandovian interglacials the gradient of the buried Vistula valley was 0.57, while during the Eemian Interglacial and during deposition of Vistulian terraces and Holocene flood plain deposits it was about 0.34, due to from tectonic movements. The width of the buried Vistula valley was the greatest during the Eemian Interglacial (15 km) and during the Vistulian (17 km) when strong lateral erosion occurred. The stratigraphy of the Quaternary deposits is based on palynologically documented sites of the Ferdynandovian, Mazovian and Eemian interglacials. This region was covered by ice sheets of the Nidanian, Sanian, Wilgian, Liviecian, Odranian and Wartanian glaciations during eight advances. Liviecian and Wartanian Glaciation maximum limits were determined in the study area. Interstadial fluvial deposits, between the premaximum and maximum stadials of the Odranian Glaciation, were recognised and termed sediments of the Gniewosznian Interstadial. The deposits of the Wartanian Glaciation have been TL dated at 146-203 ka BP and the Odranian at 212-280 ka BP