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Problems of the Duration of the Eemian Interglacial in Europe North of the Alps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Charles Turner
Charles Turner*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
*
1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: c.turner@open.ac.uk.
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Abstract

Suggestions that the duration of the Eemian interglacial was about 11,000 yr, based on annually laminated sediment sequences in Germany, have been challenged in favor of a much longer interval. However, biostratigraphic evidence demonstrates why the Eemian sequences at Grande Pile and Ribains cannot be reliably used for alignment with the marine sequence, as applied by Kukla et al. (2002, this issue) to estimate the duration of this interglacial. The long chronology they propose would imply not just coniferous but, for up to 5000 yr, fully temperate forest in central France coexisting with treeless heath and steppe tundra conditions in northwestern Europe, an unlikely climatic and ecological scenario. The proposal that the Eemian Interglacial in western Europe lasted for 17,000 or even 23,000 yr is rejected. A duration of no more than 13,000 yr is preferred, at least for sites north of the Alps and Pyrenees. The duration of temperate conditions in the Mediterranean region is less certain.

Keywords

Eemianlast interglacialMelisey 1Herning Stadialinterglacial duration
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , July 2002 , pp. 45 - 48
Copyright
University of Washington

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