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RESEARCH PRODUCT

10. Holocene and Eemian varve types of Eifel maar lake sediments

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Abstract Varves of the Holocene and of the last interglacial were investigated in two sediment sequences from Eifel maar lakes. The modern maar with Schalkenmehrener Maar Lake and the dry maar lake West Hoher List have the same size, are two kilometres apart at the same altitude, but the Eemian lake was much deeper. The sediments of both lakes are dominated by autochthonous sediments, mainly from diatom-dominated algae. Differences in the palaeoproductivity and in calcite precipitation are probably not climatically controlled but due to lake basin morphometry and the carbonate reservoir in the catchment areas. The occurrence of dry periods with aeolian dust deposition during the last interglacial is the major difference of the last interglacial to the Holocene sedimentation. The discrimination of natural sedimentation processes versus human-controlled clastic input during the last 3000 years is however poorly understood and complicates the interpretation of the clastic sediments during the time of the Little Ice Age and their comparison with the sedimentation during the Late Eemian Aridity Pulse (LEAP).