Patterned ground development and its implications for the Quaternary environment in central Europe

Identification data, head of the project

Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR), 17-21612S, time of solution 2017-2019, principle investigator Marek Křížek

Project annotation

Most of patterned ground in the Czech Republic, where the research will be done, is relict, but its age remains undetermined. Thus, it is not possible to fully use these landforms in palaeogeographic reconstructions, which limits the understanding of the Quaternary environmental conditions in central Europe. The substance of the project is to establish the age of patterned ground in the Czech Republic using numerical dating and to determine its spatial distribution, morphology and sedimentary characteristics and to integrate these data to create an innovative palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Quaternary landscape history. The project will: bring new information about the relationship between the lowland and upland periglacial environment (about which currently no information exist), refine the palaeogeographic records of the Quaternary periglacial zone in central Europe including permafrost distribution, show new dating approaches applied on sorted patterned ground, and contribute to general concepts of climate and periglacial dynamics.