The Ancylus Lake stage of the Baltic Sea in Fehmarn Belt: Indications of a new threshold?

The Baltic Ice Lake, Yoldia Sea, Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea stages of regression and transgression controlled the history of the Baltic Sea since the last glacial period. Many details regarding their development remain unknown, including the question whether the regression of the Ancylus Lake (between 10,700 and 10,200 cal yr BP) took place west of the Darss Sill, or elsewhere. This study addresses whether a drowned river system in Fehmarn Belt (SW Baltic Sea) can be related to the drainage of the Ancylus Lake. The river channel is cut into glacial till in the western part of Fehmarn Belt. Here, the channel reaches an incision depth of up to 12 m at a base level of 40 m b.s.l. (below sea level). Near Mecklenburg Bay, the buried channel is incised down to 60 m b.s.l. and widens rapidly from several hundred meters to more than 1 km, fading towards east. It was mainly shaped as part of a glacial meltwater system at a maximum water level of 30 m b.s.l., and is therefore not related to the Ancylus Lake drainage. During the lowstand of the Baltic Ice Lake, local shallow water bodies covered the study area. A previously reported westward directed drainage of a lake in the eastern Fehmarn Belt could be restricted to a time interval between the highstand of the Ancylus Lake and prior to the Littorina Transgression. Timing, water level and potential water discharge of this event suggest a connection to a partial drainage of the Ancylus Lake. It is concluded that the threshold separating the Ancylus Lake from the North Sea needs to be located west of Fehmarn Belt.