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Opaline concretions in Weichselian Late-glacial lake marl from Flanders, northern Belgium

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Abstract

Macroscopic opal-A concretions were observed in lake marl deposited in a small Flemish lake (Belgium) during the Allerød biozone of the Weichselian Late-glacial (ca. 12–11 ka BP). The silica from these concretions was derived within the profile, by the leaching of siliceous microfossils – mainly diatom frustules. Formation of the concretions probably resulted from pH- and/or evaporation related precipitation of the silica at a lower stratigraphic level, presumably corresponding more or less to a former low position of the groundwater table. The presence of these concretions is probably related to alternatingly wet and dry local conditions during the middle and later part of the Allerød.

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Denys, L., Kiden, P. & Verbruggen, C. Opaline concretions in Weichselian Late-glacial lake marl from Flanders, northern Belgium. Journal of Paleolimnology 20, 91–98 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007900315210

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