The number of glacial periods in the european Pleistocene

Abstract

Article in German.

ORIGINAL TITLE: Die Anzahl der Kaltzeiten im europäischen Pleistozän

The subdivision of the great glaciations has been proposed already for the European Quaternary. The most recent one, the Würm glaciation, can with high probability be divided into two main cold phases, which were separated by a warmer period of longer duration (“Gottweig Interstadial”). These major subdivisions can likely be further divided, so that additional minor glacial phases also occurred. The older Riss glaciation, especially according to research carried out in northern Germany, must be divided into two main phases: the Drenthe stage, which extended up to the maximum and itself included several phases, and the Warta stage, which is likewise subdivided into several phases and separated from the preceding stage by a longer warm interstadial (the Gerdau Interstadial). We still know relatively little about the older Mindel glaciation. In the region of former glaciation in England, a subdivision into two stages—similar to those of the Riss and the Würm—is accepted by some researchers: the Norwich stage (advance of Cromer of West and Donner) and the Lowestoft stage, which are thought to be separated by the Croton interstadial. Before the Cromer interglacial, there were, in all likelihood, several glacial periods whose extent and effects are still poorly known. In Western Europe these are the Menapian, Eburonian and Bruggen glaciations; in the Alps, the Günz, the Danube (and possibly the Biber?). Further research is necessary to determine to what extent they deserve the rank of full glacial epochs, or whether they are merely stages. But even if they deserve only the name of stages, each must have produced periglacial phenomena. Thus, by counting all the stages, we would arrive at at least nine glacial periods, for which we should expect to encounter well-defined periglacial features.