Late Weichselian–Early Holocene shore displacement west of Mt. Billingen, within the Middle Swedish end‐moraine zone

Abstract

Fourteen lake basins on and west of Mt. Billingen have been analysed with respect to different stratigraphic methods: pollen, diatoms, other microfossils, 14 C datings, lithology, grain‐size distribution and chemical characteristics. The aim has been to establish a well‐dated pollen stratigraphy for the area in order to date when lakes west of Mt. Billingen were raised above sea level. Previous studies and results from the area have also been included in the study. Distance diagrams, with different tilting directions, have been constructed. A shore displacement curve from c . 11,300 to c . 9,300 B.P., based on the most probable tilting direction, shows a complex uplift picture. A rather low regression gradient (3–4 m/100 years) during c . 1,000 years was, at c . 10,200 B.P., followed by a distinctly increasing gradient (8–9 m/100 years) followed by a marked gradient decrease at c . 9,500 B.P. The latter was possibly caused by a distinct sea level transgression on the Swedish West Coast. Indications of a short transgression around 10,000 B.P. as well as the possibly complicated course of isolation of Lake Vänern from the sea are also discussed. Finally the shore displacement is related to the deglaciation of the area and the supposed two drainages of the Baltic Ice Lake.