Regional chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 270,000 yearsv. 2012bNorth Atlantic – Greenland – West, North, Central, Eastern Europe, Russia – Siberia

Selected references

http://www.geo.uu.nl/ http://www.cam.ac.uk/

International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS),International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS),Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS).

http://www.stratigraphy.org/

International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA),Stratigraphy and Chronology Commission (SACCOM).

http://www.inqua.tcd.ie/

K.M. Cohen Department of Physical Geography Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

P.L. Gibbard Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group, Cambridge Quaternary Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

&

Late Pleistocene glaciations:Scandinavia: Mangerud, 2004; modifiedNorth Sea: Hijma et al., 2012Alps: Preusser et al., 2011

Middle Pleistocene glaciations:North Sea, Netherlands: Busschers et al., 2008N Germany: Ehlers (2004)Swiss Alps (N): Preusser et al., 2011

Meriadzek platform:Toucanne et al. 2009

Poland:Marks 2011Poland, Lithuania, Belarus:Ber, 2006Russia:Molodkov & Bolikhovskaya 2010Ukraine:Gozhik et al., 2001

Lake Baikal:Prokopenko et al., 2006Late Pleistocene:

Shackleton et al., 2000; 2004

Greenland Ice cores:Anderson et al., 2006;Svenson et al., 2006;NGRIP dating group, 2008.NGRIP members, 2004 (further tuned)Barker et al. 2011 (synthetic GISP2 record, modelled on Epica Dome-C Antarctic millenial variabilty)

Heinrich events:McManus et al., 1994 Sea level rise:

Waelbroeck et al. 2002

France:Beaulieu, 1984; 1992Pons et al., 1992Beaulieu & Reille, 1992Reille & Beaulieu, 1995

Holocene

Palaeo

magne

tic re

cord

Series

Subser

ies

Brunhes Chron

Bla

ke

Late

Pleistocene

Global divisions

11.650 cal BP

Ta

re

nt

ia

nT

yrr

he

nia

nI

on

ia

n

norm

al

exc

ursion

s

Mari

ne Is

otope

Stages

benth

ic d1

8O re

cords

11.702 b2K

Middle

Pleistocene

Quaternary System

121118

‘Sup

erstag

es’

P

l

e

i

s

t

o

c

e

n

e

NGRIP: annual count

North Atlantic and Greenland

LR04

sta

ck |

MD

95-2

042

MIS

1

14

29

2

3

57

71

4

82

130

5

5a

5b

5c96

87

5d109

5e123

6

7

8

191

243

Northwest ‘Atlantic’ Europe Interior ‘Continental’ Europe Siberia

GRIP: tuned stretch

IRD

H6

Ice ra

fted d

ebris

H5

H4

H3

H2

H1

‘H0’/‘YD’‘8.2’

Oceans

Mass Accumulation Rate

Lasc

ham

p

40.1

CR

0260

NGRIP: tuned stretch

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

11.7 12.914.7

14.7

11.7

74

115

Salpausselkä (F)

MD

01-2

444

6.5

-70 m

-30 m

-40 -35 O18 ‰atm.

IS19IS20

IS16

IS21

IS22

IS23

IS24

IS12

IS14

IS 4

IS 2

IS 8

GS-1GS-2

GI-1

IS 3

syntheticGISP2

6vi6v

6iv

6iii6ii6i

Lake B

aikal

Cores B

DP-96-2

[GC-1,1-6

] & BDP-98

[4]

Biogen

ic Silic

a Con

tent

53º41’48”N108º21’06”E

0 10 20 30 40 50%-45 O18 ‰atm.

Term

inat

ion

IITe

rmin

atio

n I

5

Term

inat

ion

III

3 -35

MD95-2042DSDP-609

V29-191VM23-081

VM30-101kMD03-2692

?

55

30

130

185

115

LR04 stack

-100 -50 present

Eustatic sea level (m)

LGM

LGM

LGM

LGM

LGM

MIS 5e farfield highstand

Bølling

NW Euro

pean

Stages

Russia

n Plai

n Stag

es

British

Stages

Va

ld

ai

an

Dniepe

rMos

covia

n

Mik

uli

nia

n

D e

v e

n s

i a

n

Ipswichian

W o

l s

t o

n i

a n

Totte

nhill

Holocene

W e

i c

h s

e l

i a

n

Eemian

S a

a l

i a

n

Drenthe

Warthe

?Dog

ger

Polish

Stages

Meri

adze

k Terr

ace s

helf e

dge

Norweg

ian sh

elf

French

Stages

M

assive

Cen

tral, V

osge

s

l

ong p

ollen

reco

rds

Alpine

Stages

?Silver Pit

Dimlington

W ü

r m

i a

n

Riss-Würminterglacial

R i

s s

i a n

C

o m

p l

e x

Loch LomondWindermere

?Silv

er Pit

LesznoPomeranian

Greenla

nd Is

otope

Stages

Grudziadzi

Swiecie

Wi

sl

a

Lithua

nian S

tages

Belarus

ian Stag

es

Ne

mu

na

s

Po

oz

ie

ri

eM

ura

va

Kulako

wo

Baltija

Me

rkin

e

KattegatZeifen

Medink

ai

Zemait

ja

Holocene HoloceneHolocene

Brørup

Odderade

Herning

Rederstall

Bay of

Bisc

ay / W

estern

App

roach

es

Receiv

es Brit

ish-Ir

ish ic

e and

Cha

nnel

River

Tampen

ElganeHamnsund

Ulvøy

Ålesund/Sandnes

OppstadSkjonghelleren

Bø

KarmoyHögemork

Skretting

Torvastad /Tárendö

Bønes

Gulstein

Schalkholz

Fana

Peräpohjola

Fjøsanger

?Dog

ger

?Dog

ger

Oerel

Glinde

Hengelo

Denekamp

Hasselo

Centra

l Nort

h Sea

outer

coas

tline

RehburgAmersfoort

Hondsrug

? Dren

the-2

Drenthe

-1

Warthe

-1

Norweg

ian fjo

rds

inlan

d

Scand

inavia

n Ice

Sheet

Extent

SW se

ctor

Sea le

vel a

nd She

lf inu

ndati

on

Eemian

Wartanian

Odranian

Saale

-1

Röpers

dorf

Lubl

inia

nK

rzna

nian

Alpine

Ice S

heet

Extent

Che

repe

t’Zh

izdr

a

Kursk

soil

Romnysoil

Orchikloess

Mez

in C

ompl

ex

Saly

n lo

ess

Kru

titsa

soil

intr

amez

in lo

ess

margin

of Alps

Swiss hi

gh m

ounta

ins

German

Forelan

d

Gossauinterstadialcomplex

? 2.advance

Mainadvance

? 1.advance

Mei

kirc

h in

ters

tadi

al c

ompl

ex

LastInterglacial

Beri

ngen

Gla

ciat

ion

Birr

feld

gla

ciat

ion

?

Hag

enho

lzG

laci

atio

n

(?)

Hag

enho

lzG

laci

atio

n

(?)

Highsta

nd

interm

ediat

e

Lowsta

nd

BrownBank

NW Europe Eemian nearfield highstand

Cleaver B.North Seaproglacial

lake

centralNorth Seaice lake

?

?central

North Seaice lake

? Sa

ngat

te

( Flandrian )( Flandrian )

Ple

nig

lac

ial

AllerødYounger DryasLate

Weichsel.

Mid

dle

Wei

chse

lian

Early

Wei

chse

lian

LateGlacial

Mid

dle

Plen

igla

cial

Early

Plen

igla

cial

LatePlenig.

Early

Mid

dle

Late

SubatlanticSubboreal

AtlanticBoreal

PreborealLate

Würmian

La

te

Sa

al

ia

nM

id

dl

eS

aa

li

an

Early

Gla

cial

Early

Wür

mia

n

M1

M6M7

M8

M3M4b

LS

E6EG

E1

E4bE3

Ridgac

re

Chelford

Brimpton

Upton Warren

Stre

nsha

m

Mar

swor

th

? Sta

nton

Late

Mid

dle

LS

St. Germain II

St. Germain I

Ribains

Melisey I

Melisey II

Tardiglaciaire

‘P

le

ni

gl

ac

ia

l’

Le Bouchet 1

Le Bouchet 2

Le Bouchet 3

Mar

swor

th

(unnamed)

Upp

erM

iddl

eLo

wer

‘Pre

gla

cia

l’

Linexert

Eem

ian

Goulotte

Pile

Charbon

Grand Bois

HoloceneSubatlanticSubboreal

AtlanticBoreal

Preboreal

stand

ard

polle

n zo

nes

pollen zones

pollen zones

pollen zones

N e

o p

l e

i s

t o

c e

n e

Poznan

Sokli

Sokli

Tulppio

Sozh

Ukraini

an Plai

n Stag

es

Pry

ch

ern

om

ors

k-U

da

ian

Pry

luk

ian

/ K

ayd

akia

nD

ni

ep

er

ia

n

Age(ka)

Age(ka)

37.80ºN 10.17ºW

global composit Central N Atlantic

Ice Rafted Debris

stand

ard

polle

n zo

nes

to b

e c

om

ple

ted

...

MIS stage boundary ages,MIS substage midpoints:cf. Lisiecki & Raymo, 2005

Middle PleistoceneLisiecki & Raymo, 2005MIS 6 Margari et al., 2010

http://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.org.uk

http://www.stratigraphy.orgIntroductionThis poster presents a regional chronostratigraphical correlation chart for mid and high latitudeEurope, north of the Mediterranean Sea. The chart spans the last 10% of Quaternary time, thecritical youngest interval, that bears strongly on our environment today, and spans the two lastglacial-interglacial cycles. For this period, records and associated chronostratigraphical divisionschemes are available based on a variety of sedimentary records, from many adjacentpalaeoenvironments. For historical and geological reasons, a series of regional division schemesare in use. The chart shows how robust these divisions have become despite being defined onrecords of different types.

The chart is presented with columns listing stage names alternating with those that graphically display selectedsedimentary sequences. In this way the chart shows the variety of Quaternary sedimentary records that underpinthe diversity of division schemes in the various countries of Europe. The schemes are ordered from global toregional, from Atlantic to continental, from west to east, from glaciated to periglacial areas. With the chart theaim was (i) to review the progress that has been made in chronostratigraphical correlation, through the integrationof numerical dating and stratigraphical correlation techniques and (ii) to highlight the overprinting of preservationon the resolution obtained for last cycle compared to deposits from the next-older and much-older cycles. Thelatter is a point often made when contrasting the Holocene with the rest of the Quaternary. Here it is highlightedfor the last completed interglacial-glacial cycle, that is the Late Pleistocene, versus the penultimate cycle thatis the last of the Middle Pleistocene.

Our reasons to produce this chartEurope has a long tradition of applying regional chronostratigraphical correlations in studies of its diverseQuaternary geological record. It has an almost equally long history of revision of schemes and their periodicreplacement. Such revisions were required from time to time because of progress made in the understanding ofthe geological record, in the level of international compatability that necessitated the integration of nationalgeology. It has also been driven by the introduction of new techniques, to test and improve the chronology ofthe correlations. In this paper the authors present a chart showing names in use in the various fields of QuaternaryGeology in the region, displayed on a common time-axis spanning the last 270,000 years.

To address important open questions in Quaternary science – these include for example, natural climate and sea-level change in the past versus the present, the global impact of humans in the Holocene versus natural situationsin past interglacials, routing of runoff and supply of sediment from upland and lowland to seas and oceans, theorigin of ice ages, biogeographical evolution and faunal extinctions, and the origin of humans – a major trendhas been to launch global and continental scale studies. This demands the integration of information from differentsources for a large area (both in reconstruction and in modelling studies, either as input or validation). Whensuch studies deal with the Holocene and the end of the Last Glacial (youngest 30 ka), several dating techniques(e.g. 14C, Optically Stimulated Luminescence) can be applied, allowing datasets to be equated based on numericalages. When one changes to consider past interglacials and glacials in such studies, however, opportunities forindependent age control immediately become more limited and relative dating, age-modelling and correlationtechniques become more important. Pleistocene geological field evidence, especially that collected on land, istypically of very local observational nature (a core, an outcrop, a local map) and usually presented in a regional,rather than continental or global context. In Europe in particular, because of the long research tradition, the manycountries each with their own languages, and the sheer quantity of research output, it is difficult to acquire anoverview and to keep it up to date, especially as insights inevitably will continue developing.

By introducing this chart, the authors hope to provide an entry point for workers who want to search literatureand use data across disciplines and national boundaries. Considerable progress has been made in chronostratigraphicalcorrelation in the last decades through the integration of numerical dating, age-modelling and stratigraphical-correlation techniques, to such a degree that pan-european correlation, such as on that presented here, can beattempted. From this starting point, it is intended to revise the chart periodically as necessary using the websitehttp://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.co.uk/ to distribute updates, as has been already established for the Gibbard& Cohen (2008) ‘Global chronostratigraphical correlation chart for the last 2.7 Million years’ (Gibbard et al.2005; Cohen & Gibbard, 2011; 2012). We intend to show the diversity of schemes in use in Europe north of theMediterranean, together with some from deep marine environments, those from vegetated terrestrial environments,and others concerning glaciation phenomena. Part of the columns display curve data that are measurements fromincreasing depth down core sequences. These are plotted on a time axis following depth-to-age conversions thatare subject on occasion to change, an issue pragmatically dealt with when creating this chart, documented insome detail in this paper. The colour scheme adopted is retained from that used for the 2.7 Ma global chart. Thishas been done to ensure maximum compatibility for this 10x enlarged version, the aim being to create a familyof charts. The chart is of necessity restricted to Europe north of the Mediterranean because this is the region withwhich the authors are most familiar. Moreover, there is a limit to the amount of information that can be portrayedon a single chart for practical graphical reasons. It is hoped that the work will spawn further initiatives to producecharts for other regions. Here the chart is focused on the Pleistocene part (95%) of the last 270,000 years andleft the youngest Holocene interval (5%) empty of detail – again for practical graphical reasons. A future chartspanning only the last 27,000 years of the latest Quaternary could present the stratigraphical detail and diversityof this very youngest part of time, once again a 10x exaggeration.

Sequences from the last glacial cycle can be thought of as still in the process of being preserved, i.e. in somesenses as being overpreserved in comparison to those from the next-older and much-older cycles. The charthighlights the resolution difference in the terrestrial schemes for the last glacial cycle (i.e. Late Pleistocene)compared to the penultimate cycle and highlights the amount of time occupied by situations that are very muchintermediate between temperate ‘interglacial’ and very cold ‘glacial maximum’ conditions. It demonstrates thatthe record of the last 270 ka is more than ‘two glacial maxima plus the Holocene’, but it comprises an additional200 ka of ‘normal’ conditions, throughout which landscape processes continued to operate.

Treatment of information and division in columnsFull documentation of the various records selected from the regional literature is work in progress.The poster at this stage only presents the short references for the data in the various columns.

Age-models for ice core and marine oxygen isotope dataThe chart shows composite records for global marine and Greenland ice oxygen isotope variations and sea-levelvariation, single location marine and lake records, and schematic compilations of ice-cap marginal positions,together with the stratigraphic division columns. All this information is displayed on a common time axis inthe graphics. The horizontal axes for the plots are displayed as in the original publications, however, for someof the datasets the ages attributed to excursions have been modified, and they therefore differ from the originalage-depth models. Details of the age-depth model in the source publications were consulted. Typically, theseage-depth models before 30,000 years ago are interpolations between tie-point marked changes in the measuredsignals, which were assigned target ages, for the Late Pleistocene based either on tele-correlations to the Greenlandice-core layer count age-depth curvers (to 60 ka), to ice-accumulation modelled age–depth curves. For Greenlandthese stretch to ca. 100 ka (NGRIP), for Antarctica to ca. 820 ka (EPICA Dome C). Thanks to the survival ofthe Greenland ice sheet and related opportunities for age control, for the Late Pleistocene the age of d18O eventswithin the Late Pleistocene marine isotope stage (e.g. those known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) oscillations)are now fairly accurately known. Conservatively, the dating accuracy is approaching 10^2 years in MIS 3 and2 and is around 10^3 years in MIS 5 and 4 (although the MIS 5e record near the base of the Greenland ice coreappears too disturbed to pin-point its beginning).

For assessing age in the older record, one typically relies on correlating to Milankovich forcing-age-tuned marineisotope records, or of the stacked global signal thereof. The Lisiecki & Raymo(2005) benthic oxygen isotopestacked record and age-model, dubbed LRO4, currently functions as the target-age reference at the resolutionof whole glacial-interglacial cycles. In the LR04 stack, the interval MIS-5-6-7-8 is covered by 43 globallydistributed ocean cores, including DSDP 607; ODP 980 and ODP 982, closest to the European continent (sourcesin Lisiecki & Raymo, 2005: their figure 1). For the Late Pleistocene part (22-135 ka), the LR04 stack was alignedto the age model for core MD95-2042, from off Portugal (Shackleton et al. 2000), on which additional agemodelling has taken place by Shackleton et al. (2004). Beyond 135 ka, the age-model of the stack is constructedthrough iterations that at the one hand aims to optimally align and tune the observed milkanovich and sub-milankovich oscillations in the various records (when applied to a stacked record, after initial graphic wigglematching), while at the other hand staying as close as possible to a linear sedimentation rate over the full distancebetween the best matched tie-points, such as the terminations of glacials. This is discussed extensively in Lisiecki& Raymo (2005). The age assigned to Termination II (130 ka; based on U-Th dating of coral terraces, Bard etal., 1990; Stein et al., 1993) is an important prior in this exercise. Whereas the youngest part has a 1000-yearbinned resolution, and the accuracy of ages assigned to the d18O events that it shows within Middle Pleistocenecycles is between 10^4 and 2·10^3 yr. A planktonic d18O record from off Portugal (Margari et al. 2010) illustratethe resolution difference of the LR04 Plio-Pleistocene global stack and that reached for the penultimate cyclein individual ocean cores at suitable locations. An alternative age-correlation target has recently become available.Barker et al. (2011) have explored the sub-milankovich residual cross-correlation between the Greenland andAntarctic ice records where they overlap in the Late Pleistocene, and used this to calculate a high-resolutionsynthetic Greenland ice record for Middle Pleistocene time. In older studies, different tie ages were originallychosen, and in these cases the curves plot out of phase on the vertical time axis if no correction is applied. Apragmatic approach was adopted here to retune the older age-models and correct this artificial problem. For thechart the original age-depth model was taken as the starting point, assigned the new target-ages to recognisableshifts in the measurements, and than linearly interpolated new ages for the measurements between, effectivelytuning each curve to that of the LR04 stack.

Global and regional chronostratigraphic divisions for Atlantic and Continental EuropeThe global divisions comprise chronostratigraphical Series, Subseries and ‘superstages’ of the portion of theQuaternary System depicted (from Gibbard & Cohen, 2008). The formal positioning of the base of the LatePleistocene Subseries is awaiting the definition of a Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP), which maybe either in the Mediterranean (base Late Pleistocene = base Tarentian Stage) or in NW Europe (base LatePleistocene = base Eemian Stage). In the current chart the latter has been selected because it most clearly illustratesthat two options are currently under consideration (Litt & Gibbard 2008).

The Northwest ‘Atlantic’ Europe part of the chart alternates division schemes of named intervals for Britain (e.g.Mitchell et al 1973; Bowen 1999) and the NW Europe (e.g. Zagwijn, 1996; Mangerud, 1994) with graphicrecords linking glaciated Scandinavia, via the North Sea Basin, to the marine record off the shelves of the EnglishChannel (Meriadzek Terrace). The last glacial (Weichselian, Devensian) in the chart begins 115 ka and ends 11.7ka (B2K). The last interglacial in the global record begins at 130 ka. The palynologically defined onset of theregional equivalent Eemian/Ipswichian Stage in this chart appears a few millennia later (comparable to the onsetof the Holocene versus the onset of MIS 1). The section of the chart on Interior ‘Continental’ Europe containsthe classic division of the Alpine glaciation into a younger Würm(ian) and a next-youngest Riss(ian) period, tothe usage derived from Penck & Brückner (1911). A recently compiled the Alpine stratigraphy was adopted forthis chart (Preusser et al., 2011). Long palynological records have been obtained from Maar lake sequences fromsites in central and eastern France. The sequence for Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia and the Ukraine integratesphases of glaciation, loess deposition and soil formation. The Lake Baikal record from Siberia is displayed asan extreme continental record, and a fututre tiepoint between the Russian-Siberian continental stratrigraphy andthat of China and SE Asia.

GSA 2012 PRELIMINARY VERSION FOR FEEDBACK

WORK IN PROGRESSThis poster version was produced for GSA meeting, Charlotte 4-7 November 2012

GSA 2012 PRELIMINARY VERSION FOR FEEDBACK

WORK IN PROGRESS