Zur zeitlichen einordnung der jüngsten periglazialen Aktivitätsphase im Hangrelief zentraleuropäischer Mittelgebirge

The Younger Dryas, a phase of cooling that interrupted the general warming trend of late glacial times, is considered to be a period of pronounced geomorphic activity that included widespread periglacial processes. A product of these processes is the 'Hauptlage' (English: Upper Head), the youngest stratigraphic unit of the periglacial slope deposits that are found throughout the Central European Highlands. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the existence of the Hauptlage beneath late-glacial peats and thereby obtain a minimum age for the deposit. The study sites selected (Harz/Rhön/Fichtelgebirge/Bayerischer Wald) provide a broad cross-section of the German Central Highlands. The results show that the Hauptlage was not formed during the Younger Dryas, but was older. In the Rhön and the Bayerischer Wald the minimum age of the Hauptlage is pre-Bölling, while for the Harz and the Fichtelgebirge it is pre-Alleröd.