Reconstructing Quaternary Rhine– M euse dynamics in the southern North Sea: architecture, seismo‐lithofacies associations and malacological biozonation

Abstract

Mapping the Middle to Upper Pleistocene Rhine–Meuse sequence in the southern North Sea based on new core and seismic data has allowed a detailed palaeoenvironmental re‐assessment. An integrated seismo‐lithostratigraphic and malacological biostratigraphic framework is correlated with the optically stimulated luminescence‐dated Rhine–Meuse sequence onshore. The data point to a dynamic interplay of fluvial and marine systems in the southern part of the North Sea driven by longer‐term (>100 ka) tectonic and epeirogenic processes and shorter‐term ( 100 ka) uplift of the Wealden–Artois synclinorium and compaction‐driven subsidence of Tertiary shales within the Voorne Trough. The dominant erosive sedimentary signatures within the Rhine–Meuse sequence resulted through shorter‐term (

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