Geochronological investigations at the maximum extent of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet during the Late Weichselian glaciation in northern Germany

This paper investigates the time-transgressive evolution of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet (FIS) during the Late Weichselian glaciation. Recent models of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) strongly challenge a synchronous development of the FIS in the SW Baltic Sea area. Especially in northern Germany, a time-transgressive LGM is controversial. We present a new set of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages, from sediments deposited at locations previously ascribed to the LGM main stationary line, from which numerical age data have not been published so far. The aim of this study was to contribute to the research on the maximum Weichselian ice extent in northern Germany, and to close the gap between Denmark in the north and the area in Germany and Poland in the SE, for which numerical age data of the LGM extent of the FIS are available. Samples were taken from sandur deposits proximal to the former ice margin. In total nine OSL samples were taken and analysed on quasi-single-grain level, taking into account possible effects of insufficient bleaching of sample material. With an average age of ~23±1 ka, the samples indicate LGM sandur formation during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2. Our dating provides new insights into Late Weichselian (MIS 2, 27–11.7 ka) ice-sheet dynamics and strongly challenge a synchronous development of the FIS in the SW Baltic Sea area. The integration of our results into regional models argues for a small-scale asynchronous extent of the last FIS in northern Germany.