The Late Weichselian - Early Holocene Lindhov clay sequence in the Varberg area, southwestern Sweden

Abstract

A clay sequence with spacific depositional characteristics has been found, both on land and in the sea, in the area surrounding the town of Varberg and extending north along the coast. The clay sequence, here provisionally referred to as the 'Lindhov clay', has been identified and investigated by reflection seismics and sub-bottom profiling at sea and by mapping on land. On land, the Lindhov clay is found at altitudes below 10 m above the present sea level, and in the sea in a c.10 km wide zone outside the present coastline. The Lindhov clay is lithostratigraphically situated in the transition zone between glacial and postglacial deposits. Foraminiferal analyses of the clay sequence show that the deposition occurred in low-salinity waters during arctic-boreal to boreal conditions. The 5-20 m thick clay sequence may have been formed by redeposition during the regression when large land areas were exposed and subjected to erosion. The subsequent redeposition of the material resulted in the formation of the clay.