The Eburonian (german: Eburon or ''Eburonium''), or, much less commonly, the Eburonian Stage, is a glacial complex in the
Calabrian age of the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...
and lies between the
Tegelen
Tegelen ( li, Tegele) is a village in the municipality of Venlo, situated in the Netherlands. It was an independent municipality until 2001, when it was merged into the municipality of Venlo.
Tiglian
The name of the glacial stage of Tiglian (pa ...
and the
Waalian interglacial The Waalian interglacial (german: Waal-Warmzeit or ''Waal-Interglazial'') or Waalian Stage was an interglacial period of the Early Pleistocene in north-west Europe. It was preceded by the Eburonian Stage and succeeded by the Menapian Stage. It co ...
. The transition from the Tegelen to the Eburonian started about 1.78 million years ago, lasted 480,000 years (to 1.3 million years ago). In geologic strata, at its base, from its startpoint, the
Neogene
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...
underlies different
Gelasian
The Gelasian is an age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest or lowest subdivision of the Quaternary Period/System and Pleistocene Epoch/Series. It spans ...
deposits starkly in much of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
[Hey, R. W. ''The Plio-Pleistocene of England and Iceland'' in Van Couvering, John A. (editor), (1997) ''The Pleistocene Boundary and the Beginning of the Quaternary'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 183. .]
Discovery
As early as the 1920s, the names of the three well known glaciations - the
Elster
Elster may refer to:
Places
* Black Elster (''Schwarze Elster''), a river in Germany
* White Elster (''Weiße Elster''), a river in Germany and the Czech Republic
** Elster Viaduct, a railway bridge over the White Elster
** Elster Viaduct (Pirk) ...
, the
Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...
and the
Weichselian
The Weichselian glaciation was the last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet (the Fenno-Scandian ice sheet) ...
- had become established at the recommendation of Konrad Keilhack and Paul Woldstedt.
After Penck & Brückner successfully identified a fourth glaciation in the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, there were many attempts to find traces of this ice age in the northern Central Europe.
Investigations in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, into both
sedimentology
Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of mo ...
and
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...
, revealed that the number of cold and warm periods must have been considerably greater. In
1957 Zagwijn expanded the hitherto known
glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
s and
interglacial
An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene in ...
s (the
Weichselian
The Weichselian glaciation was the last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet (the Fenno-Scandian ice sheet) ...
,
Eemian
The Eemian (also called the last interglacial, Sangamonian, Sangamonian Stage, Ipswichian, Mikulin, Kaydaky, penultimate,NOAA - Penultimate Interglacial Period http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/penultimate-interglacial-period Valdivia or Ri ...
,
Saalian
The Saale glaciation or Saale Glaciation, sometimes referred to as the Saalian glaciation, Saale cold period (german: Saale-Kaltzeit), Saale complex (''Saale-Komplex'') or Saale glacial stage (''Saale-Glazial'', colloquially also the ''Saale-Eiszei ...
,
Holstein
Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
,
Elster
Elster may refer to:
Places
* Black Elster (''Schwarze Elster''), a river in Germany
* White Elster (''Weiße Elster''), a river in Germany and the Czech Republic
** Elster Viaduct, a railway bridge over the White Elster
** Elster Viaduct (Pirk) ...
and
Cromer
Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline.
The local government authorities are Nor ...
) by the
Menapian glacial,
Waalian interglacial The Waalian interglacial (german: Waal-Warmzeit or ''Waal-Interglazial'') or Waalian Stage was an interglacial period of the Early Pleistocene in north-west Europe. It was preceded by the Eburonian Stage and succeeded by the Menapian Stage. It co ...
, Eburonian glacial, Tegelen interglacial and Pre-Tegelen glacial. After the initial view that there had been continuous warm or cold periods, it quickly became clear that we were looking at "complexes" that included both warm and cold periods. The Eburonian was subdivided into four cold periods, each separated from one another by warmer periods.
Climate & vegetation
Very little is known about the development of the climate and vegetation during the Eburonian. The cold period is subdivided into 7 climatic sections, which differ in their average temperatures. As in the cold periods of the Menapian glacial and the Tegelen interglacial, the average temperature of the Eburonian in summer was about ca. 10 °C and the average annual temperature was -6 to -4 °C. During the warmer sections of the Eburonian, the land was covered by cool coniferous forests; during the cold periods the vegetation was open and treeless.
See also
*
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
, which covers:
References
Literature
* Ehlers, Jürgen: Allgemeine und historische Quartärgeologie / Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag, 1994
* Liedtke, Herbert: Eiszeitforschung / Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft,1990
External links
Synoptisches Profil durch das Quartär von Sachsen Anhalt(Litt und Wansa 1996)
{{North German glaciations
Cenozoic
Quaternary geochronology
Ice ages
Pleistocene
Geology of the Netherlands