The vegetational and climatic developments during the Riss-Würm interglacial in the area on the northern flank of the Alps are reviewed. Reforestation seems to have begun over the whole region with a dwarf-shrub and ensuing shrub phase, leading to birch and/or pine woodland. The rise in summer temperatures, which δ180 values suggest to have been a two-stage event, permitted the immigration and expansion of more demanding trees (elm, oak, lime, ash, ivy, hazel, yew, etc.). Following the thermal maximum, which took place during the hazel and yew biozones, hornbeam dominated the forests in the alpine foreland, whilst fir/spruce forests formed the dominant vegetation at sites closer to the Alps or at a higher altitude. A marked climatic deterioration can only be recognised towards the end of the interglacial, which led to extensive spruce/pine and, finally, almost pure pine forests.

Shells belonging to the bivalve genus Corbicula occur commonly in Pleistocene interglacial deposits in NW Europe. These have usually been identified as C. fluminalis, a modern species described from the Euphrates river, although the veracity of this specific attribution remains equivocal. Corbicula has nowadays a southern distribution, and laboratory studies indicate that it is thermophilous. It is also tolerant of brackish water, one of several attributes that make this an effective colonizer.

In NW Europe, Corbicula is known from the Lower Pleistocene but is absent from the Cromerian Complex, occuring again in the three interglacials following the Anglian/Elsterian. It appears to be unknown from the last interglacial, except as derived fossils.

A soil-quality map is at present an important tool to integrate laws on soil quality with regional infrastructural works. Basic data are commonly available, but soil quality is an indicator that has to be derived from these data, including site-specific environmental standards. We propose three geostatistics-based methods for the comparison of interpolated contaminant concentrations and standards.

The study is illustrated by data from a part of the Betuwe railroad transect, which extends over 12 km in the western Netherlands. As it turns out, a useful procedure is to combine interpolated contaminant concentrations with interpolated threshold values.

Thrust tectonics are dealt with on the basis of primarily experiments focusing on the dynamics of a developing thrust belt and on understanding and predicting normal-sequence and out-of-sequence thrusting. Field examples are presented in addition to the examples of sandbox-model experiments. The results have improved the insight into thrust-belt-forming mechanisms; the validity of the conclusions is supported by natural examples.

The experimental program was aimed at examining the effect of changes in a selection of key parameters in thrust tectonics on the geometry and the successive phases in the development of thrust sheets. Sandbox experiments were used to analyse the effects of basal friction, detachment lithology, basement relief and syntectonic sedimentation. Multilayer experiments were performed to simulate the effects of ductile detachment lithologies.

It was found that a thrust belt’s cross-sectional geometry is formed in a dynamic process during which the wedge may develop from subcritical through critical to supercritical and back to critical again. The process is illustrated with sandbox experiments, analysed by time-lapse computed tomography scans and in-situ stress measurements. On the basis of the sandbox-model results and the natural examples, we conclude that a critical examination of the boundary conditions of a fold-and-thrust belt and of changes in these conditions during the deformation process enables predictions about the geometry and kinematics of the thrust belt.

A general model is presented for the small type of fans (not to be confused with sandurs) that develop subaerially in the zone immediately before an ice front. These fans have in common with other fans that a proximal, a middle and a distal subenvironment– with distinctly different sedimentary facies– can be distinguished. The characteristics of these fans differ in several respects, however, from those formed under other conditions, particularly by the high proportion of mass-flow deposits in the proximal part, by the relative scarcity of fine particles in the middle fan, and by the relatively uniform character of the sediments in the distal fan.

The special character of this type of fan is ascribed to the interaction of a continuously changing distance between the ice front and the fan (as a result of alternating phases of ice advance and ice retreat), its position that may be surrounded by ice for a large part, and the irregular supply of debris-laden meltwater that comes sometimes even in the form of more or less catastrophic floods.

Due to the fact that terminoglacial fans have a good preservation potential only during phases of ice retreat, these fas tend to show a slight fining-upward tendency. The slope of terminoglacial fans tends to be more gentle (rarely over 2–5°) than that of fans formed under different conditions.

The Groundwater resources on the Caribbean Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are limited and of poor quality. The groundwater of the islands is brackish, due to both seawater mixing and the semi-arid climate of the islands. Two hundred and thirty water samples were collected to relate chemical variations in the groundwater of the three islands to the underlying differences in geology, and to define the natural versus anthropogenic influences. Both the chemical and isotopic (δ180, δD, and δ37Cl) compositions of samples were determined.

Several geochemical processes are recognised in the chemistry of the groundwater samples. The most important processes are calcite dissolution, cation exchange, silicate weathering and potassium fixation. In (sub)urban areas anthropogenic influences affect the groundwater quality: high nitrate concentrations were measured. Infiltrating domestic and agricultural (waste)water replenishes the aquifer, and has a desalinization effect on the groundwater quality. This phenomenon is primarily seen on Curaçao, the most populated island.

Oxygen and hydrogen isotopie compositions of groundwaters from Curaçao and Bonaire show that the samples are either meteoric water, or are affected by evaporation or seawater mixing. No distinction could be made between the last two processes. Only a few samples were measured for the Cl-isotope composition; all showed that no physical processes have taken place.

Assemblages of fossil coleoptera (beetles) have been obtained from eight sites in southern England that date from the early phase (Pinus — Quercetum mixtum — Corylus pollen assemblage zone) of the Eemian (Ipswichian) interglacial Stage. Altogether 294 different species have been identified from these sites. They represent a wide spectrum of habitat requirements; terrestrial, aquatic, carnivorous and phytophagous species and many more with subtle dependences of specialist biotopes. Almost all of them live today in central and southern Europe and some are restricted to regions well south of the British Isles.

By using mutual climatic range methods, the thermal climate of the early phase of the Eemian Interglacial has been estimated quantitatively, showing that mean July temperatures were about 4°C above those of southern England today. Mean winter temperatures were not much different from those nowadays. This phase was probably the thermal maximum of the Eemian Interglacial. Precipitation levels are difficult to quantify but were adequate to maintain flowing rivers in England throughout the year. These results are in agreement with the presence of other fossils, both plants and animals, in the same deposits.

A stream-sediment survey was carried out for the island of Aruba. Concentrations in stream sediments represent the abundance of chemical elements in the drainage basins. A geochemical atlas was created from the collected data and natural background values were established. Cluster analysis and pattern recognition techniques were used to gain a better understanding of the data set.

Two cluster models were selected to study the various geochemical controls on the sediments and to establish a spatial basis of environmental-quality settings for the development of future environmental policies. The first cluster model was suitable to recognise in some detail the reflection of the geology on the geochemistry of the stream sediments. The second, coarser cluster model stressed the importance to distinguish between the two main lithological units of the island when instituting natural background values. Not one uniform value per element is valid, but the value depends on the lithology.

The knowledge of the Eemian fauna of central Europe is based on the fossil record from a number of sites located in the eastern part of Germany. The faunas with different deer species as well as Sus scrofa, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis and Glis glis indicate a forested environment alternating during the climatic optimum of the Eemian s.s. with areas with a more open environment inhabited by species such as Cricetus cricetus, Equus sp. (or Equus taubachensis), Equus hydruntinus and Stephanorhinus hemitoechus. Characteristic for the Rhine valley fauna are Hippopotamus amphibius and the water buffalo (Bubalus murrensis); both species are absent in the eastern German faunas with an Eemian age.

Taking into account the short period of time covered by the Eemian s.s., the amount of data on the Eemian mammalian fauna is remarkably large. There is, however, still an ongoing debate on whether the stratigraphical position of a number of faunas are of Eemian or ‘intra-Saalian’ age. Furthermore, there are faunal assemblages or stratigraphically isolated finds referred to the Eemian without indisputable evidence. This is particularly the case in the Rhine valley, where most of the so-called Eemian fossils come from dredged assemblages. The picture of the evolution of the Eemian fauna and its geographical variation is consequently still incomplete.

The provenance of coarse-grained ice-rafted detritus has been studied, based on material collected from the SE Greenland margin. The sediment was sampled by a 1.5 m3 video-grab from 1256 m water depth. The fraction > 1cm was macroscopically investigated and a thin-section analysis was made. The results clearly show that East Greenland north of the Denmark Strait is the source region of the material sampled. The main provenance is from areas adjoining Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord, Blosseville Kyst, Scoresby Sund, Kong Oskar Fjord, and Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord. It can thus be demonstrated that significant ice-stream activity and iceberg calving occurred there. Present-day iceberg production is mainly concentrated to the Scoresby Sund, but the other areas apparently represent locations of larger ice-stream activity during periods prior to the Holocene.

More generally, it can be concluded that southerly surface-water flow similar to the present East Greenland Current must also have occurred prior to the Holocene. Although either North America (Canada) or Scandinavia - or both - are generally referred to as important regions for the provenance of ice-rafted detritus, we conclude that (East) Greenland may have been an important source for (late) glacial North Atlantic ice-rafted detritus production as well.

A geochemical soil survey was carried out on the island of Curaçao in October 1992 as part of an overall geochemical characterisation of the three Leeward islands of the Netherlands Antilles. The aim of this soil survey was to provide systematic geochemical data of the rural soils of Curaçao for characterisation, geochemical mapping and environmental application. A total of 122 samples was collected from the topsoils (upper 0.1 m) within a rectangular grid (2 km2). All samples were sieved to a grain size of < 2 mm and analysed for 24 elements by ICP-AES, after decomposition with hot aqua regia. A small, selected set of soil samples was subjected to a more extensive study of soil properties.

It appears from statistical data interpretation of the chemical compositions with techniques like non-linear mapping and cluster analysis that the topsoils of Curaçao can be divided into six homogeneous groups (soil types) with contrasting chemical signatures. Labelled according to their dominant geology, soil process or most striking characteristic, these soil types are defined as follows: sandy limestone soil type, Midden Curaçao soil type, arid/calcareous soil type, basalt West soil type, agriculture-influenced soil type, and the basalt East soil type.

Geochemical contour maps were made that provide a basis for environmental issues on the island. Finally, background levels (baseline data) were derived from the chemical soil composition of several elements, taking into consideration the correlation with the Fe or Al content of these soils. The defined baselines can be used to establish background values for future soil surveys.

The relevance of a study of the Eemian occupation of Europe lies largely in the discussion on the environmental tolerances of early humans and in the limits encountered during the reconstruction of Palaeolithic habitats. The traditional vision is reviewed; then follows a discussion of Gamble’s studies (1986, 1987) in which he postulated an absence of human occupation in North-Western Europe during the Eemian. Gamble’s explanatory models and the reactions to his work are presented. Finally, the relation is considered between the distribution pattern of sites, the former dispersal of early humans across the European landscape, and the implications of this evidence for hypotheses of environmental tolerances of Palaeolithic humans.

During the last decades a considerable amount of data on mammals from Mikulino (=Eemian) deposits of the central and southern parts of the Russian Plain has been produced. Mammuthus primigenius (the early type), Palaeoloxodon antiquus (the advanced form), Arvicola ex gr. terrestris, Eolagurus cf. luteus and Lagurus cf. lagurus characterize this period. The so-called ‘Shkurlatian mammal assemblage’ was distinguished on the basis of a number of Eemian faunas.

The age of the mammal localities was established by using various geological and palaeontological evidence, together with the results of palaeomagnetic studies and absolute dating. The evolutionary level of the diagnostic species allows correlations between localities from different parts of the Russian Plain that have varying taphonomical conditions. The mammal- and malacofauna of the Mikulino Interglacial can also be used as a basis for correlations between the Karangat marine strata of the Black Sea and the continental deposits (alluvial sediments of the second terrace of the Sudost’ River and the Salyn phase of the Mezin fossil pedocomplex (see Dodonov et al., this volume). Forest, forest-steppe and steppe zone landscapes have been reconstructed for the central and southern parts of the Russian Plain on the basis of the Eemian faunas.

The records of the last interglacial in several palaeogeographical zones and various sedimentary environments from Central Asia to the Black Sea shoreline are presented. The last interglacial is characterized in the study areas by a two- or three-unit stratigraphical complex with both terrestrial and marine formations. Finds of significant small mammalian remains, together with a characteristic mollusc fauna in the Karangatian marine sediments, provide key levels for biostratigraphical correlation between the marine and continental deposits. New U/Th dates allow the correlation of the Karangatian transgression with δ18O substage 5e.

The Late Glacial landscape of the Netherlands was a landscape with changing geomorphology and vegetation. Glacial, eolian and fluvial processes in the time before the Late Glacial initially had formed the main landscape types that still existed during the Late Glacial. In these landscape types, geomorphological processes persisted, particularly during intervals when the vegetation cover was discontinuous. Vegetation development initiated soil formation and stabilised the substratum. On the other hand, the abiotic landscape influenced vegetation development, and particularly vegetation patterns.

The Late Glacial vegetation patterns, changing in time, have been reconstructed on the basis of a palynological database containing the data from over 250 pollen diagrams from the Netherlands. Patterns of vegetation and abiotic landscape appear to compare to each other in many instances, indicating the close interrelationship between vegetation and the abiotic landscape.