No abstract

Seismic profiles and numerous sediment cores of a planned offshore wind farm area northeast of Rügen Island provide a unique insight into the distribution and thickness of glacial deposits in the southern Baltic Sea. Fine gravel analysis enabled recognition of five tills that correspond to different ice advances. On the basis of a 3D structural model, the main Pleistocene events could be reconstructed and correlated with stratigraphical records in the circum‐Baltic area comprising Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 6 to 2. The oldest till was deposited during the Late Saalian Warthe advance (qs2; c. 150–130 ka). It is only preserved in ENE–WSW trending subglacial channels incised into Upper Cretaceous soft chalk. Isolated rafts and remnants of two Middle Weichselian tills occur locally, whereas Eemian interglacial sediments are missing. The older till (qw*) has an unusual fine gravel composition and might have formed during ice advances known only from northern Denmark and northern Poland (c. 65–60 ka). The younger till represents the Warnow advance (qw0) in NE Germany that can be correlated with the Danish Ristinge advance (c. 55–50 ka). Furthermore, two tills deposited during the Late Weichselian Last Glacial Maximum (c. 24–16 ka) occur. One can be correlated with the Pomeranian advance (qw2), while the other has characteristics typical for the Mecklenburg advance (qw3). These advances eroded older Pleistocene deposits, thus probably also removing the till of the Brandenburg/Frankfurt advance (qw1) – in contrast to the onshore areas. The Pomeranian till is limited to the southeast, close to the shallow Adlergrund, but the Mecklenburg till covers the whole study area. This first detailed lithostratigraphical classification of till units from the Arkona Basin allows for the identification and correlation of Pleistocene successions in other parts of the southern Baltic Sea.