Figure 2

Lithostratigraphy of the fluvial units exposed at Schladebach/Wallendorf, Rehbach, Zwenkau and Markkleeberg including pIRIR₂₉₀ luminescence ages. A summary of all luminescence ages is given in Supplementary Table S2. The green-colored ages are infrared-radiofluorescence ages formerly presented by Krbetschek et al.⁶¹ (see results chapter). At Schladebach and Rehbach, the Saalian Main Terrace is visibly capping the Elsterian till. Only the first Elsterian till is preserved whereas the upper Elsterian till was eroded and only a boulder pavement as a till-residuum is found. At Markkleeberg, only the boulder pavement is preserved. At Schladebach and Rehbach, fragments of the ice-dammed lake sediments of the Dehlitz-Leipzig warved clay⁴¹ are preserved below the SMT. The SMT itself is mostly horizontally bedded but also shows some cross-beddings. The upper fluvial sand and gravel are characterized by permafrost features such as ice wedges, and at Rehbach and Markkleeberg, the “Markkleeberg cryoturbation horizon” is preserved. The Markkleeberg cryoturbation horizon is a wide-spread, silt-rich unit that was not found at the outcrop at Zwenkau. The SMT is concordantly capped by the Böhlen warved clays and the up to 2 m thick Saalian till (Drenthe). The fluvial sequence in Markkleeberg was formed by the Pleiße/Gösel-river system. The gravel of the SMT at Rehbach and Zwenkau were deposited by the Weiße Elster river and the petrographic composition shows a high percentage of Nordic material (e.g. flint) as well as quartz, greywacke and chert (Kieselschiefer) documenting the catchment area of the Weiße Elster river in eastern Thuringia and the Vogtland. The SMT deposits at Schladebach correlate to the Saale-Unstrut river system¹⁴. The gravel composition of these deposits is characterized by high percentages of limestone originating from the Triassic sediment formations located south of the section in addition to Scandinavian rock components including flint.