The hydrology in huge burial mounds built of loamy tills : a case study on the genesis of perched water tables and a well in a Viking Age burial mound in Jelling, Denmark

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
The aim of this paper is to explain the formation of the perched water table in the mounds and the formation of a well on top of the North Mound. In order to do so, a series of borings into the two Viking Age royal mounds was carried out in 2009 offering insight into the soil composition and hydrology of the two mounds. Two of the boreholes were used for an in situ experiment to test the formation of the perched water tables and the well. The analyses of the borings and the in situ experiment indicate that a perched water table has developed at the bottom of the bioturbation zone in both of the two mounds and that the well was formed in an unrepaired intrusion into the mound as the result of the perched water table feeding the well with water. Despite large-scale excavations, the conditions for forming a well are still present in the mounds.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Geografisk tidsskrift, issn : 1903-2471, 2012, vol. 112, n°. 1, p. 40-51, nombre de pages : 12, Références bibliographiques : 29 ref.

Date :
2012

Identifiants :
eurl : http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00167223.2012.707797, doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00167223.2012.707797

Editeur :
Pays édition : Danemark, Kobenhavn, Det Kongelige Danske Geografiske Selskab