Late Vistulian and Holocene inland dunes in the central part of the former GDR

Abstract

The inland dunes of the young moraine area (=area formerly covered by the Weichselian ice cap) of the former GDR, south of the Pomeranian terminal moraine, have never been the subject of an overall treatment, that means, a review of existing publications is missing. In this article a review of literature from 1945 onwards is presented, with emphasis on the dating of the inland dunes due to a lack of knowledge on this subject. Most authors accept a periglacial genesis of the majority of the inland dunes ("Altdünen"). During the Holocene a transformation of a part of those Late Glacial continental dunes took place ("Jungdünen mit Altdünenkern"), and also new forms developed ("Jungdünen"). The grain-size distribution, forms and geographical distribution of the inland dunes in the study area are relatively well described by Seeler (1962), Noack (1965) and others. The inland dunes were mainly formed by westerly winds. They can reach heights from 15 up to 25 m.