Sedimentary facies and architecture of the Holocene to Recent Rømø barrier island in the Danish Wadden Sea

Abstract

This paper describes an ongoing multidisciplinary study on the development of the barrier islands in the Danish Wadden Sea (Vadehavet), carried out by the Department of Geography and Geology at the University of Copenhagen and the Geolo gical Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Nine sediment cores each c. 25 m long and a total of c. 45 km ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiles have been acquired on the islands of Rømø and Fanø. Geochemical and palaeontological analyses and dating of 150 core samples using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) are in progress. This multidisciplinary approach has given new insights into the sedimentary architecture and development of the island, and the study is expected to result in a new detailed facies model. Such models are essential for an assessment of the effects of rising sea level associated with global warming. The new facies model can also be used as an analogue for subsurface oil or water reservoirs in similar sedimentary settings. This article presents selected core and GPR data from the Rømø barrier island.