Exploring the Plio/Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Upper Rhine Graben from a core taken at a Riedstadt/Hesse

The past subsidence episodes of the northern Upper Rhine Graben allowed the accumulation of thick sedimentary sequences that can function as excellent data source for paleoclimate reconstructions. A 323 m long sediment core drilled in 2020-2021 near Riedstadt-Erfelden (~14 km WSW of Darmstadt) is therefore likely a high-resolution geoarchive documenting climate dynamics during the Plio-Pleistocene epochs. So far, the chronostratigraphic framework is based only on lithostratigraphic assignments. This study presents inclination values and magnetic susceptibility obtained from whole-core measurements and discusses initial stratigraphic ideas based on the resulting preliminary magnetic polarity stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphic assessments of the ‘Riedstadt-Erfelden’ core.

Here, we highlight on the quasi-cyclic components of the core, and provide an interpretation in the light of paleomagnetic dating.