Pleistocene land—sea correlations I. Europe
In: Earth-Science Reviews. Elsevier: Amsterdam; Lausanne; London; New York; Oxford; Shannon. ISSN 0012-8252; e-ISSN 1872-6828, more
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| Abstract |
At least seventeen glacials and seventeen interglacials occurred in Europe over the last 1.7 million years. Eight glacials and eight interglacials are of Brunhes age. Only four glacials and three interglacials are recognized by classical Alpine and north European subdivisions of the Pleistocene. The classical units are correlated with continuous oxygen isotope records from the oceans using loess sections and terraces as a link (cf. Fig. 21). It is found that: (1) the terraces representing the four Alpine “glacial” stages fully cover the last 0.8 million years but correspond to both glacial and interglacial climates; (2) the Alpine “interglacial” stages do not represent episodes of interglacial climate but probably intervals of accelerated crustal movements; (3) the physical evidence on which the north European classical subdivision is based accounts for only about 15% of the time represented. This has led to serious miscorrelations. It is urgently recommended to abandon the classical terminology in all interregional correlations and to base the chronostratigraphic subdivision of Pleistocene on the18O record of deep-sea sediments |
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