Late Quaternary (15 ka to present) development of a sandy landscape in the Mol area, Campine region, north-east Belgium

The geomorphological analysis of two sections cut into a sandy landscape in north-east Belgium enabled the establishment of a chronology for a sequence of events during the last 15 ka that illustrate the polycyclical nature of the evolution of such landscapes. Field descriptions, analytical sediment and soil characterization, and pollen analysis are combined with the optically stimulated luminescence dating method to unravel the recent geomorphological history of the investigated site. The principal results include apparently discontinuous sand deposition between 15 and 12 ka, landscape stabilization and Podzol formation between 12 and 1 ka, the development of a drift sand landscape between 650 and 200 a, and renewed stabilization over the last two centuries. The results are discussed in the light of climate, land-use and vegetation changes and compared with findings at similar sites in the European Sand Belt.