Some indices of climatic cycles in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene in Belgium

Abstract

Article in French.

ORIGINAL TITLE: Quelques indices de cycles climatiques au Pleistocene inferieur et moyen en Belgique

This paper presents preliminary results of ongoing research on climatic cycles during the Lower and Middle Pleistocene in Belgium. Evidence from the Campine Meuse alluvial fan indicates deposition under Middle Pleistocene periglacial conditions, followed by deep soil weathering during the Mindel–Riss interglacial. A renewed phase of periglacial conditions (Hennuyian) is documented by congelifluction deposits and an older loess distinct from Würmian loess, overlain by the warm-climate Rocourt Soil. For the Lower Pleistocene, no clear evidence of true periglacial climate has been identified; instead, geomorphological features such as planation surfaces suggest alternating humid–temperate and hot–dry climatic cycles. The study concludes that marked periglacial conditions first developed in western Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, while earlier periods were dominated by non-periglacial climatic alternations.