Geology of the Baltic Sea
| Evolution of the Baltic Sea |
|---|
| Pleistocene |
|
Eemian Sea (130,000–115,000 BCE) Ice sheets and seas (115,000–14,000 BCE) |
| Holocene |
|
Baltic Ice Lake (14,000–9,670 BCE) Yoldia Sea (9,670–8,750 BCE) Ancylus Lake (8,750–7,850 BCE) Mastogloia Sea (Initial Littorina Sea} (7,850–6,550 BCE) Littorina Sea (6,550–2,050 BCE) Modern Baltic Sea (2,050 BCE–present) |
| Sources. Dates are not BP. |
The geology of the Baltic Sea is characterized by having areas located both at the Baltic Shield of the East European Craton and in the Danish-North German-Polish Caledonides. Historical geologists make a distinction between the current Baltic Sea depression, formed in the Cenozoic era, and the much older sedimentary basins whose sediments are preserved in the zone. Although glacial erosion has contributed to shape the present depression, the Baltic trough is largely a depression of tectonic origin that existed long before the Quaternary glaciation.