A method used to determine the age of a particular sediment and of the fossils that it contains. A varve is a layer of sediment that has been deposited in a glacial lake by the melt waters in spring and summer. Because the particles brought down in the spring are much coarser than those deposited later in the year, annual layers can be distinguished. Varves were formed in the Pleistocene when the ice was retreating, and by counting them, the chronology for parts of northern Europe has been established. See also dendrochronology. |
