The area ‘Het Gooi’ in the Netherlands is part of a Pleistocene ice-pushed ridge system that partially drowned during the Holocene upon sea level and associated groundwater rise. As a result, the ridge system was gradually encroached by peat. From the late Middle Ages onward, man reclaimed the peatlands surrounding Het Gooi, heavily reducing their extension and lowering the regional groundwater level by increasingly intensive drainage. Based on historical and archaeological arguments, several authors assume that the Holocene peat cover in the border zones of ‘Het Gooi’ formed the extension of large raised peat bogs that formed further to the west and east, respectively. They presume that in the late Middle Ages these extensions reached ‘upslope’ to a maximum altitude of 3 m + NAP (Dutch Ordnance Datum – approximating mean sea level). However, the original extension is difficult to reconstruct, as this peat has disappeared as a result of its exploitation and oxidation, if having been present at all. In this study, the maximum extension of the Holocene peat cover on the ice-pushed ridge system was reconstructed based on soil characteristics. Used soil characteristics concerned the presence of iron coatings around sand grains and the upper boundary of gleyic features, because these are indicators for the mean highest groundwater level (MHG). For peat to form, this MHG needs to be at or just above the ground surface for most of the year. Based on study of a number of soil transects, we reconstructed to what maximum altitude peat encroachment may have occurred. This ‘maximum extension’ can alternatively be described as the maximum altitude of the bottom of the peat onlapping the ridge system. In the western border zone, this peat cover was found to have reached to c. NAP or just above, near Hilversum. No indications were found for the occurrence of raised bogs. We conclude that the phreatic groundwater level in this zone was controlled by the sea level and associated lake levels (Naardermeer and Horstermeer), a dominant role being played by the shallow presence of Pleistocene formations with a high hydraulic conductivity. In the eastern border zone, altitudes were more variable and in places reached 2 m + NAP. Peat at this higher elevation probably formed under the influence of a higher phreatic groundwater level, induced by the presence of a clayey Eemian fill with low hydraulic conductivity in the adjacent glacial basin (the Eem valley). This study demonstrates the value of detailed soil transect studies for palaeogeographical reconstructions of the former Holocene peat cover in Pleistocene landscapes of NW Europe. It also provides independent data for validation of geohydrological models for such landscapes.

中文翻译：

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“Het Gooi”（荷兰）边界地区全新世最大地下水位和泥炭的相关延伸：基于土壤横断面研究的重建

荷兰的“Het Gooi”地区是更新世冰推山脊系统的一部分，在全新世海平面和相关地下水上升期间部分淹没。结果，山脊系统逐渐被泥炭侵蚀。从中世纪晚期开始，人类开垦了 Het Gooi 周围的泥炭地，大大减少了它们的延伸，并通过日益密集的排水降低了区域地下水位。基于历史和考古论证，几位作者假设“Het Gooi”边界地区的全新世泥炭覆盖形成了分别向西部和东部进一步形成的大型隆起泥炭沼泽的延伸。他们推测，在中世纪晚期，这些延伸达到“上坡”，最高高度为 3 m + NAP（荷兰军械基准——近似平均海平面）。然而，最初的扩展很难重建，因为这种泥炭由于它的开采和氧化而消失了，如果它存在的话。在本研究中，基于土壤特征重建了冰推山脊系统上全新世泥炭覆盖的最大延伸。使用过的土壤特征涉及砂粒周围的铁涂层和 Gleyic 特征的上边界，因为这些是平均最高地下水位 (MHG) 的指标。为了形成泥炭，该 MHG 需要在一年中的大部分时间处于或仅高于地表。基于对一些土壤样带的研究，我们重建了可能发生的最大高度泥炭侵占。这种“最大延伸”也可以被描述为覆盖山脊系统的泥炭底部的最大高度。在西部边境地区，发现这种泥炭覆盖已达到C. NAP 或以上，在希尔弗瑟姆附近。没有发现任何迹象表明出现了凸起的沼泽。我们得出的结论是，该区域的潜水地下水位受海平面和相关湖泊水位（Naardermeer 和 Horstermeer）控制，主要作用是由具有高水力传导率的更新世地层的浅层存在所起的作用。在东部边境地区，海拔变化更大，有些地方达到了 2 m + NAP。这一较高海拔的泥炭可能是在较高潜水地下水位的影响下形成的，这是由于相邻冰川盆地（Eem 山谷）中存在具有低导水率的粘土 Eemian 填充物引起的。这项研究证明了详细的土壤横断面研究对欧洲西北部更新世景观中前全新世泥炭覆盖的古地理重建的价值。它还为验证此类景观的地质水文模型提供独立数据。