Applying the cosmogenic radionuclide dating technique to estimate rates of landscape development in the Campine area (NE Belgium): first results

The Campine area, NE Belgium, is a relatively flat region, suggesting that geodynamic processes are operating at a small pace. However, topographic height differences of up to 50 m between erosion-resistant landforms and valley floors indicate that a significant amount of erosion must have taken place during the Quaternary, or even during the last 1 Ma. So far, there is no evidence from numerical dating techniques to confirm or reject the hypothesis of accelerated landscape development during the Quaternary. Here we present the first results of cosmogenic radionuclide measurements (10Be) on samples taken from Early to Middle Pleistocene fluvial sands (Rhine sands, Sterksel Formation) that cover the northern part of the Campine Plateau. The apparent exposure age of the fluvial sands is almost two orders of magnitude smaller than what would be expected from chronostratigraphical correlations, and suggests that an important amount of erosion has taken place at the sampling location. The results shed a first light on numerically obtained rates of erosion and landscape development in the sandy Campine area during the last 1 Ma.