Unraveling the characteristics of the Early and Middle Pleistocene Meuse River : study of the Zutendaal Gravels on the Campine Plateau
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- The Zutendaal Gravels were deposited by the Meuse, which was then a braided river in the Campine (North-East of Belgium). Braided rivers are characterised by multiple intertwined channels between bars and ephemeral islands (Ashmore 2003; Miall 2014). Miall (1996) reviewed and classified river styles, including 6 styles for braided rivers. The classification relies on 18 clastic lithofacies, based on the grain size and sedimentary structure, and architectural elements, which are recognised based on facies association and geometry. Finally, Miall (1996) classified rivers based on constituent architectural elements. The Zutendaal Gravels were deposited between 0.5 and 1 Ma ago (Beerten et al. 2018), but age control and knowledge on the timing of deposition of the gravels remain poor. This thesis aimed to gain new insights into the palaeoenvironmental characteristics of the Campine and the characteristics of the depositional environment of the River Meuse when it deposited the Zutendaal Gravels. Therefore, this thesis is focused on two elements: (i) the application of Miall’s classification to the study of the Zutendaal Gravels, (ii) the link between variations in grain size and geometry in the gravel sheet and the glacial and interglacial cycle. The study relied on observations and data from two quarries in the south of the Campine Plateau (Berg and MHZ quarries). Data included field observations, sampling, and UAV images. Sampling was used to study the grain size and supervised classification was applied to the orthofacades obtained from the UAV images. The Zutendaal Gravels showed resemblance with two braided river types described by Miall: gravel-bed braided river with sediment-gravity flow deposits and shallow, gravel-bed braided river. However, the deposits observed in the middle section of the sequence are not represented in any of Miall’s braided river types. Alternation of coarser and fine deposits in the Zutendaal Gravels was observed. However, the geometry and the grain size only did not allow us to interpret it as an indication of a climatic transition as it may also result from channel abandonment. Further insight into the timing and duration of deposition of the Zutendaal Gravels sequence could be gain with additional geochemical and dating analyses.
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Dehaen, E. (2021). Unraveling the characteristics of the Early and Middle Pleistocene Meuse River : study of the Zutendaal Gravels on the Campine Plateau. https://dial-mem.test.bib.ucl.ac.be/handle/2078.2/24921