![EisrandlagenNorddeutschland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/EisrandlagenNorddeutschland.jpg)
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-Eiszeit'' or ''Saale-Zeit''), covers the middle of the three large glaciations in Northern Europe and the northern parts of Eastern, Central and Western Europe by the Scandinavian Inland Ice Sheet between the older
Elster glaciation
The Elster glaciation (german: Elster-Kaltzeit, ''Elster-Glazial'' or ''Elster-Zeit'') or, less commonly, the Elsterian glaciation, in the older and popular scientific literature also called the Elster Ice Age (''Elster-Eiszeit''), is the oldest k ...
and the younger
Weichselian glaciation
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) ...
, also called the
Last Glacial Period.
Age and definitions
It succeeded the
Holstein interglacial and was followed by the
Eemian interglacial
The Eemian (also called the last interglacial, Sangamonian Stage, Ipswichian, Mikulin, Kaydaky, penultimate,NOAA - Penultimate Interglacial Period http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/penultimate-interglacial-period Valdivia or Riss-Würm) wa ...
. The Saale complex is currently estimated, depending on the source, as existing from around 300,000 to 130,000 years ago or 347,000 to 128,000 years ago (duration: around 219,000 years), roughly contemporaneous with the glaciation of the
Riss Glacial in the
Alpine region
The main valleys of the Alps, orographically by drainage basin.
Rhine basin (North Sea)
High Rhine
*Aare
** Limmat
***Linth (Glarus)
****Lake Walen
*****Seeztal
**** Klöntal
****Sernftal
** Reuss
***Lake Lucerne
****Sarner Aa (Brünig Pass co ...
.
The actual "
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
" includes only part of the Saale glaciation or Saale complex. The first cold phase (Fuhne glacial) at the start of the Saale complexes is separated by a warmer period (Dömnitz interglacial) from the actual Saale "ice age". The term "Saale Ice Age" or "Saale Glacial" thus has 2 meanings in the literature – it sometimes refers to the phase in which the glacier advanced into
North Germany
Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
, but can also refer to the whole Saale complex. The terms are frequently interchanged in the literature.
[A good example of the interchangeability of the terms is the now rather older standard work, ''Das Quartär Deutschlands'', by Leopold Benda (ed.) Verlag Bornsträger Stuttgart dating to 1995. Here the Saale complex in the individual articles of this volume is variously described as the Saale cold period (''Saale-Kaltzeit''), Saale Glacial ]tage
Tage is a masculine given name with Danish origins. People with the name include:
* Tage Åsén (born 1943), Swedish artist
* Tage Aurell (1895–1976), Swedish journalist and novelist
* Tage Brauer (1894–1988), Swedish athlete
* Tage Danielss ...
(''Saale-Glazial''), Saale Complex (''Saale-Komplex'') and Saale Ice Age (''Saaleeiszeit''). The term Saale Ice Age (''Saaleeiszeit'') is used by one of the authors, Lothar Eissmann, in the sense of Saale complex (i.e. including the Fuhne cold period and Dömnitz warm period), not particularly restricted to the actual glacial period.
The Saale Glaciation occurred at around the same time as the
Wolstonian Stage
The Wolstonian Stage is a middle Pleistocene stage of the geological history of Earth from approximately 374,000 until 130,000 years ago. It precedes the Eemian Stage in Europe and follows the Hoxnian Stage in the British Isles.
It is also appr ...
in the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
and the
Illinoian Stage
The Illinoian Stage is the name used by Quaternary geologists in North America to designate the period c.191,000 to c.130,000 years ago, during the middle Pleistocene, when sediments comprising the Illinoian Glacial Lobe were deposited. It precedes ...
in
North America.
In 1910, the name for "Saale glaciation" was given by German geologists
Jacob Stoller and
Konrad Keilhack.
[Geologische Karte von Preußen und den benachbarten Bundesstaaten Blatt Ebstorf 2928, und Konrad Keilhack: Geologische Karte von Preußen und den benachbarten Bundesstaaten Blatt Teltow 3545.]
Extent
The maximum advance of the ice sheet in North Germany during the Drenthe Stage is described by a line from
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
via
Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
,
Hamelin,
Goslar
Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...
,
Eisleben
Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, E ...
,
Zeitz
Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony.
History
Zeitz was first recorded u ...
and
Meissen to
Görlitz. From the eastern edge of the
Harz
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
eastwards (
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
,
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...
) the ice advanced to about 10 to 50 km behind the maximum extent of the Elster glaciation. On the northern edge of the Harz the two ice sheets reached the same line; and west of the Harz the ice of the Saale complex extended over 100 km further south than the ice sheet of the Elster. In front of this line, i.e. in front of the former glaciers,
fluviatile and
periglacial
Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", also referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing of snow in areas of permafrost, the runoff from which refreezes in ice wedges and o ...
sediments are widespread. In the Drenthe Stage the present day North Sea basin,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
were also affected.
Several species were hurt by the glaciation, including the
woolly mammoth
The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus s ...
s, which suffered a reduction comparable to the one towards the end of the ice age.
Sequence and subdivisions
The Saale complex may be divided into a lower (also Saale Early Glacial
) and an upper section (also Middle and Upper Saale Glacial,
or Younger Saale glaciation
), with glacial advances into Northern Germany.
The Saale Early Glacial includes the:
* Dömnitz interglacial, which was characterised by oak mixed forest, hazel and hornbeam. Worth mentioning is the discovery of
Water Fern Water fern is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
* Salviniales, an order of aquatic ferns
* '' Austroblechnum lanceolatum'', syn. ''Blechnum chambersii'', lance water fern
* '' Austroblechnum patersonii'', syn. ''Blechnum patersonii' ...
(''
Azolla filiculoides
''Azolla filiculoides'' (water fern) is a species of ''Azolla'', native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas which was introduced to Europe, North and sub-Saharan Africa, China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the Caribbean and H ...
'').
* Fuhne glacial. After the end of the Holstein interglacial, the forests of North Germany died and a sub-arctic vegetation formed.
The upper part of the Saale complex (''obere Teil des Saale-Komplexes'') is characterised in North Germany by three great glacial advances (possibly even four in Schleswig-Holstein
). They are usually called the:
* Warthe Stage or Stadium (''Warthe-Stadium'')
* Drenthe Stage or Stadium (''Drenthe-Stadium'')
** Drenthe II Phase (''Jüngere Drenthe'')
** Drenthe I Phase (''Haupt-Drenthe'')
There are no indisputable traces in northern Germany of clear thermomers (
interstadial
Stadials and interstadials are phases dividing the Quaternary period, or the last 2.6 million years. Stadials are periods of colder climate while interstadials are periods of warmer climate.
Each Quaternary climate phase is associated with a Ma ...
s, intervals) between these advances.
In the work by Litt et al. (2007) focussed on the southern perimeter of the North German glaciations, the upper part of the Saale complex is subdivided as follows:
* Warthe Stage (''Warthe-Stadium'')
* Seyda Interval (''Seyda-Intervall'')
* Drenthe Stage (''Drenthe-Stadium'')
** Leipzig Phase (''Leipzig-Phase'')
** Pomßen Interval (''Pomßen-Intervall'')
** Zeitz Phase (''Zeitz-Phase'')
* (Delitzsch Phase (''Delitzsch-Phase'')
[The Delitzsch Phase is not counted as part of the Drenthe Stage, but precedes it, s. Litt et al. 2007, p. 38])
The Drenthe Stage corresponds to the maximum extent of glaciation during the Saale complex. During the last stage, the Warthe Stage, glaciers only covered northeast
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
(parts of the
Lüneburg Heath), the
Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.''
The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. ...
, the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
valley downstream of
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
and the region east of it (c.f.
Südlicher Landrücken), so that these areas are
geomorphologically
Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or ...
younger than the
Northwest German Plain, but older and exhibiting more surface weathering than the much later
Young Drift
Old and Young Drift are geographic names given to the morainic landscapes that were formed in Central Europe; the Old Drift during the older ice ages and the Young Drift during the latest glaciations – the Weichselian in North Germany and th ...
areas of the
Weichselian glaciation
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) ...
in northeast Germany. The areas last covered by the Saale cold period, roughly the
Westphalian Bight
The Westphalian Lowland, also known as the Westphalian Basin is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine (in the extreme southwest) and in Lower Saxony (on the nort ...
, a large part of
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
and
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...
, south
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
, or the
Leipzig Bay
The Leipzig BayDickinson (1964), p. 29.[Lusatia
Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...]
in Saxony, are called the Old Drift Landscapes (''Altmoränenlandschaften''). They were further shaped and changed during the later Weichselian cold period by
periglacial
Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", also referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing of snow in areas of permafrost, the runoff from which refreezes in ice wedges and o ...
processes such as wind-borne
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...
and
loess. The major ''
urstromtal
An ''urstromtal'' (plural: ''Urstromtäler'') is a type of broad glacial valley, for example, in northern Central Europe, that appeared during the ice ages, or individual glacial periods of an ice age, at the edge of the Scandinavian ice sheet and ...
'' associated with the
Saale glacial stage is the
Breslau-Magdeburg-Bremen Urstromtal, which was not subsequently covered by ice.
See also
*
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological 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 finally confirmed in ...
, which covers:
References
[Hans-Jürgen Stephan: ''I. Schleswig-Holstein.'' In: Leopold Benda (ed.): ''Das Quartär Deutschlands.'' pp.1–13, Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1995]
[Litt et al. (2007: pp.34ff)]
[Lothar Lippstreu: ''VI. Brandenburg.'' In: Leopold Benda (Hrsg.): ''Das Quartär Deutschlands.'' pp.116–147, Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1995]
[Lothar Eissmann: ''VIII. Sachsen.'' In: Leopold Benda (ed.): ''Das Quartär Deutschlands.'' pp.171–198, Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1995]
Footnotes
Literature
* Thomas Litt, Karl-Ernst Behre, Klaus-Dieter Meyer, Hans-Jürgen Stephan und Stefan Wansa
''Stratigraphische Begriffe für das Quartär des norddeutschen Vereisungsgebietes'' Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart (Quaternary Science Journal), 56(1/2): 7–65, Hanover, 2007.
* Leopold Benda (ed.): ''Das Quartär Deutschlands.'' 408 pp., Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1995
{{North German glaciations
Pleistocene events
Ice ages