Die Burgkemnitzer Glaziärrinne bei Gräfenhainichen

Abstract

The upper part of the northern marginal zone of the Burgkemnitz channel, one of the deep glacial channels of the Saale-Elbe area, was exposed in the former lignite open-cast mine Gröbern near Gräfenhainichen. The channel was formed by subglacial-hydromechanical processes during the first Elsterian glaciation. In the research area the channel was almost completely filled with sediments by the end of the Miltitz interval, but the area above the channel acted as a sediment trap until the end of the Elsterian glacial stage and locally until the Holsteinian. The exposed channel sediments indicate facial changes between glaciofluvial and glaciolimnic environments. The bedding conditions show that dead ice survived locally in the channel until at least the end of the Miltitz interval.