Exploring the Plio/Pleistocene stratigraphy of a core from Riedstadt/Hesse (Upper Rhine Graben)

The last of a total of three main subsidence episodes of the northern Upper Rhine Graben took place during the Pliocene to Quaternary and allowed the accumulation of thick sedimentary sequences that can function as excellent data source for paleoclimate reconstructions. A 323 m long sediment core drilled in 2020-2021 near Riedstadt-Erfelden (~14 km WSW of Darmstadt) is therefore likely a high-resolution geoarchive documenting climate dynamics during the Plio-Pleistocene epochs. However, so far, the chronostratigraphic framework is based only on lithostratigraphic assignments. This study presents inclination values and magnetic susceptibility obtained from whole-core measurements and discusses initial stratigraphic ideas based on the resulting preliminary magnetic polarity stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphic assessments of the ‘Riedstadt-Erfelden’ core. Our results will be used to study the completeness of the geological record and will enable comparisons to be made with the cores investigated through the Heidelberg Drilling Project. Our aim is to verify the suitability and significance of the ‘Riedstadt-Erfelden’ core as geoarchive for Plio-Pleistocene climate dynamics in Central Europe.