Storms in a lagoon: Flooding history during the last 1200 years derived from geological and historical archives of Schokland (Noordoostpolder, the Netherlands)

Abstract

Flevoland (central Netherlands) is an area of long-term discontinuous deposition that has been reclaimed from the Zuiderzee in the 20th century. Before the reclamation, the Zuiderzee had been in a phase of enlargement, threatening inhabitants on the islands and the shores, since the Medieval Period. During this phase, a surficial clay cover was deposited on the island of Schokland (World Heritage Site: Noordoostpolder, northern Flevoland). We have studied the clay sequence in order to reconstruct the island’s flooding history during the last 1200 years. The depositional history of the youngest clay deposit on Schokland is inferred from a literature study, analyses of a digital elevation model, six coring transects, three new 14C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates and laboratory analyses. The laboratory analyses include thermogravimetric analysis, grain-size end-member modelling (unmixing grain-size distributions), foraminifera, bivalves and ostracods. The geological data were combined with information from historical archives. Together, the results show that a combination of embankments and proximity to the coastline determined the sedimentation history and spatial distribution pattern of the sediment. The results also indicate that sedimentary remains of Late Holocene storm events are still present in the clay deposit on Schokland.

Quartz grains reveal sedimentary palaeoenvironment and past storm events: A case study from eastern Baltic

“…One of them can be recognized as a shallow-sourced marine, beach or coastal dune sediment with a stratigraphically narrow band and a large lateral extension (Costa et al 2012). Consequently, the coastal lakes, lagoons and maritime bogs at the back of coastal barriers provide a relevant geomorphic setting to track palaeostorm activity (Degeai et al 2015;de Jong et al 2006;Dezileau et al 2011;Lane et al 2011;Otvos 2011;Sabatier et al 2010;Tweel and Turner 2012;Van den Biggelaar et al 2014).…”

Maritime Culture in the Netherlands: accessing the late medieval maritime cultural landscapes of the north‐eastern Zuiderzee

“…Then, in the late Middle Ages, dykes were built along large parts of the Dutch coastline, providing supplementary and better protection against regular floods for the increased population of the Netherlands. However, the first dykes did not constitute an efficient barrier against the many heavy storm floods that scourged the land from the 12th century onwards (for example Gottschalk, 1971;Buisman, 1995;Jongmans et al, 2013: 682;Van den Biggelaar et al, 2014;Pierik et al, 2016: 10). Residents of the coastal zones were struck hard by the many floods, as cultivated land was washed away, complete settlements were inundated and thousands of people died.…”

Landscape potential for the adoption of crop cultivation: Role of local soil properties and groundwater table rise during 6000–5400 BP in Flevoland (central Netherlands)

“…Renewed tidal influence occurred since circa 2000 BP, related to an inlet east of Texel (Beets and Van der Spek, 2000). Subsequent widening of this inlet resulted in the deposition of the Medieval and Modern Period clay sediments (Van der Heide and Wiggers, 1954;Wiggers, 1955;Ente, 1971;Ente et al, 1986;Van den Biggelaar et al, 2014).…”