A multi-staged drift sand geo-archive from the Netherlands : New evidence for the impact of prehistoric land use on the geomorphic stability, soils, and vegetation of aeolian sand landscapes

The drift sand area near Hilversum, the Netherlands, holds a geo-archive with multiple drift sand phases and intercalated palaeosols. We studied this area to test earlier theories on the development of podzols in such aeolian sands, the occurrence of sand drifting, and the contemporary vegetation development, and to gain insight into the early human impacts on these fragile ecosystems. Based on OSL and radiocarbon datings, palaeoecological studies, and soil chemical analyses, the age and origin of the drift sand phases and palaeosols were established. Sand drifting started around 6000 BCE (Lat... Mehr ...