04 Jul 2013
As part of FWF and ÖAW-funded research projects we study sediments known as Bändertone (banded clays) which are remnants of a large lake which occupied the central Inn Valley prior to the last ice age. These sediments hold important clues for the understanding of the impact of large and abrupt climate swings (Dansgaard-Oeschger events) on the environment of the Eastern Alps.
In 2010 we cored 150 m of these lake sediments in the former Baumkirchen clay pit, but did not reach the base of this succession. This summer we went back and drilled a new hole down to 200 m depth. We encountered more sandy layers but still remained within banded clays at the final depth ca. 69 m below the level of today´s Inn Valley. We also cored the uppermost section of the banded clays and their transition into sands and finally proglacial gravel documenting for the first time a minimum of 250 m of lake sediments preserved within this inneralpine valley.
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