Saale glaciation

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Maximum extent (Drenthe stadium) of the Saale complex (yellow line). The red line shows the greatest extent of the younger Weichselian glaciation. EisrandlagenNorddeutschland.jpg
Maximum extent (Drenthe stadium) of the Saale complex (yellow line). The red line shows the greatest extent of the younger Weichselian glaciation.

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 (called the Wolstonian Stage in Britain), covers the middle of the three large glaciations in Northern Europe and the northern parts of Eastern Europe, Central Europe and Western Europe by the Scandinavian Inland Ice Sheet. It follows the Holstein interglacial (Hoxnian Stage in Britain) and precedes the Eemian interglacial (globally known as the Last Interglacial and the Ipswichian in Britain), spanning from around 400,000 years ago to 130,000 years ago. The Saalian covers multiple glacial cycles punctuated by interglacial periods. In its latter part it is coeval with the global Penultimate Glacial Period.

Contents

Age and definitions

Graph showing glacial cycles in Europe from 600-100,000 years ago, with the Saalian period labelled Europe Middle Pleistocene glacial cycles.jpg
Graph showing glacial cycles in Europe from 600-100,000 years ago, with the Saalian period labelled
Aurochs skull from the Saale complex of Ilford, UK Em - Bos primigenius - 3.jpg
Aurochs skull from the Saale complex of Ilford, UK

The Saalian succeeded the Holstein interglacial and was followed by the Eemian interglacial (which began around 130,000 years ago) [1] Though the start date of the Saalian was historically controversial, recent scholarship has suggested that the start date of the Saalian (and thus the end of the Holstein) is around 400,000 years ago. [2] [3] The Saalian encompasses multiple glacial cycles separated by interglacial periods. [3] 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, but can also refer to the whole Saale complex. The terms are frequently interchanged in the literature. [Footnote 1]

The Saale Glaciation occurred at around the same time as the Wolstonian Stage in the British Isles and the Illinoian Stage in North America.

In 1910, the name for "Saale glaciation" was given by German geologists Jacob Stoller and Konrad Keilhack. [4]

Extent

The maximum advance of the ice sheet in North Germany during the Drenthe Stage is described by a line from Düsseldorf via Paderborn, Hamelin, Goslar, Eisleben, Zeitz and Meissen to Görlitz. From the eastern edge of the Harz eastwards (Poland, Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt) 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 sediments are widespread. In the Drenthe Stage the present day North Sea basin, Great Britain and Ireland were also affected.

Several species were hurt by the glaciation, including the woolly mammoths, which suffered a reduction comparable to the one towards the end of the ice age.[ clarification needed ]

The Wurm glaciation (known in north Germany as the Weichselian) in comparison with the Riss (in north Germany as the Saale). Glacial advances were interrupted by warmer interstadials. In these some ancient European co-ancestors (the Neanderthals, as successors of homo heidelbergensis) spread out from mountain zones over the intermittent permafrost to the north and northeast. Then from about 40,000 BC European early modern humans more greatly settled these regions. SaaleWeichsel x.png
The Würm glaciation (known in north Germany as the Weichselian) in comparison with the Riss (in north Germany as the Saale). Glacial advances were interrupted by warmer interstadials. In these some ancient European co-ancestors (the Neanderthals, as successors of homo heidelbergensis) spread out from mountain zones over the intermittent permafrost to the north and northeast. Then from about 40,000 BC European early modern humans more greatly settled these regions.

Sequence and subdivisions

The Saale complex may be divided into a lower (also Saale Early Glacial [5] ) and an upper section (also Middle and Upper Saale Glacial, [5] or Younger Saale glaciation [6] ), with glacial advances into Northern Germany.

The Saale Early Glacial includes the:

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 [7] ). They are usually called the:

There are no indisputable traces in northern Germany of clear thermomers (interstadials, 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:

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 (parts of the Lüneburg Heath), the Altmark, the Elbe valley downstream of Magdeburg and the region east of it (c.f. Südlicher Landrücken), so that these areas are geomorphologically younger than the Northwest German Plain, but older and exhibiting more surface weathering than the much later Young Drift areas of the Weichselian glaciation in northeast Germany. The areas last covered by the Saale cold period, roughly the Westphalian Bight, a large part of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, south Brandenburg, or the Leipzig Bay and Lusatia in Saxony, are called the Old Drift Landscapes (Altmoränenlandschaften). They were further shaped and changed during the later Weichselian cold period by periglacial processes such as wind-borne sand and loess. The major urstromtal associated with the Saale glacial stage is the Breslau-Magdeburg-Bremen Urstromtal, which was not subsequently covered by ice.

See also

Historical names of the "four major" glacials in four regions.
RegionGlacial 1Glacial 2Glacial 3Glacial 4
Alps Günz Mindel Riss Würm
North Europe Eburonian Elsterian Saalian Weichselian
British Isles Beestonian Anglian Wolstonian Devensian
Midwest U.S. Nebraskan Kansan Illinoian Wisconsinan
Historical names of interglacials.
RegionInterglacial 1Interglacial 2Interglacial 3
Alps Günz-Mindel Mindel-Riss Riss-Würm
North EuropeWaalianHolsteinian Eemian
British Isles Cromerian Hoxnian Ipswichian
Midwest U.S. Aftonian Yarmouthian Sangamonian

Related Research Articles

The Eburonian, or, much less commonly, the Eburonian Stage, is a glacial complex in the Calabrian age of the Pleistocene epoch and lies between the Tegelen and the Waalian interglacial. The transition from the Tegelen to the Eburonian started about 1.78 million years ago, lasted 480,000 years. In geologic strata, at its base, from its startpoint, the Neogene underlies different Gelasian deposits starkly in much of the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of glaciation</span> Chronology of the major ice ages of the Earth

There have been five or six major ice ages in the history of Earth over the past 3 billion years. The Late Cenozoic Ice Age began 34 million years ago, its latest phase being the Quaternary glaciation, in progress since 2.58 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Würm glaciation</span> Last glacial period in the Alpine region

The Würm glaciation or Würm stage, usually referred to in the literature as the Würm, was the last glacial period in the Alpine region. It is the youngest of the major glaciations of the region that extended beyond the Alps themselves. Like most of the other ice ages of the Pleistocene epoch, it is named after a river, in this case the Würm in Bavaria, a tributary of the Amper.

The Cromerian Stage or Cromerian Complex, also called the Cromerian, is a stage in the Pleistocene glacial history of north-western Europe, mostly occurring more than half a million years ago. It is named after the East Anglian town of Cromer in Great Britain where interglacial deposits that accumulated during part of this stage were first discovered. The stratotype for this interglacial is the Cromer Forest Bed situated at the bottom of the coastal cliff near West Runton. The Cromerian stage preceded the Anglian and Elsterian glacials and show an absence of glacial deposits in western Europe, which led to the historical terms Cromerian interglacial and the Cromerian warm period. It is now known that the Cromerian consisted of multiple glacial and interglacial periods.

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 Last Interglacial and follows the Hoxnian Stage in the British Isles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elster glaciation</span> Glacial period in Europe

The Elster glaciation or, less commonly, the Elsterian glaciation, in the older and popular scientific literature also called the Elster Ice Age (Elster-Eiszeit), is the oldest known ice age that resulted in the large-scale glaciation of North Germany and other parts of Europe. It took place approximately 500,000–400,000 years ago. It succeeded a long period of rather warmer average temperatures, the Cromerian Complex. The Elster was followed by the Holstein interglacial, which was followed Saale glaciation. The glacial period is named after the White Elster, a right tributary of the Saale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindel glaciation</span>

The Mindel glaciation is the third youngest glacial stage in the Alps. Its name was coined by Albrecht Penck and Eduard Brückner, who named it after the Swabian river, the Mindel. The Mindel glacial occurred in the Middle Pleistocene; it was preceded by the Haslach-Mindel interglacial and succeeded by the Mindel-Riss interglacial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riss glaciation</span>

The Riss glaciation, Riss Glaciation, Riss ice age, Riss Ice Age, Riss glacial or Riss Glacial is the second youngest glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch in the traditional, quadripartite glacial classification of the Alps. The literature variously dates it to between about 300,000 to 130,000 years ago and 347,000 to 128,000 years ago. It coincides with the Saale glaciation of North Germany. The name goes back to Albrecht Penck and Eduard Brückner who named this cold period after the river Riss in Upper Swabia in their three-volume work Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter published between 1901 and 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holstein interglacial</span>

The Holstein or Holsteinian interglacial, also called the Mindel-Riss interglacial (Mindel-Riß-Interglazial) in the Alpine region, is the third to last major interglacial in Europe before the Holocene, the present warm period. It followed directly after the Elster glaciation and came before the Saale glaciation, during the Middle Pleistocene. The more precise timing was historically controversial since Holstein was commonly correlated to two different marine isotope stages, MIS 11 and MIS 9. Recent scholarship has supported a MIS 11 date, spanning approximately 421-395,000 years ago.

Gunz, Günz or Gunz Complex is a timespan in the glacial history of the Alps. It started approximately one million years ago and ended about 370 000 years ago. Some sources put the end at 480 000 years ago. Deep sea core samples have identified approximately 5 glacial cycles of varying intensity during Gunz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weichselian glaciation</span> Last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe

The Weichselian glaciation is the regional name for the Last Glacial Period in the northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet that spread out from the Scandinavian Mountains and extended as far as the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein, northern Poland and Northwest Russia. This glaciation is also known as the Weichselian ice age, Vistulian glaciation, Weichsel or, less commonly, the Weichsel glaciation, Weichselian cold period (Weichsel-Kaltzeit), Weichselian glacial (Weichsel-Glazial), Weichselian Stage or, rarely, the Weichselian complex (Weichsel-Komplex).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drawehn</span>

The Drawehn is a partly wooded and partly agricultural region of hills in the northeastern part of the German state of Lower Saxony, lying between the districts of Lüneburg and Uelzen in the west and Lüchow-Dannenberg in the east.

The Cloppenburg Geest is a geest region near the town of Cloppenburg in North Germany and the centre of the Saalian glaciation Upper Pleistocene terrain of the Ems-Hunte Geest region. The meltwater sands (Schmelzwassersande) of the advancing ice sheet covered the old terrain with outwash sands (Vorschüttsande). Woldstedt spoke about underlying sands that, in the "Cloppenburg-Bassum Geest", belonged to the Elster glaciation. A covering of boulder clay was deposited over the outwash sands during the Saale glaciation, or more precisely the Drenthe stage.

Danube or Donau is a timespan in the glacial history of the Alps. Danube is currently regarded to have started approximately 1.8 million years ago, at the start of the Calabrian age of the international geochronology. It ended approximately one million years ago. Deep sea core samples have identified approximately 20 glacial cycles during Danube.

The Haslach glaciation, Haslach Glacial Stage (Haslach-Glazial), Haslach Complex (Haslach-Komplex) and Haslach Ice Age (Haslach-Eiszeit) are historical terms for a cold period of the Pleistocene epoch. Haslach was not included in the traditional glacial schema of the Alps by Albrecht Penck and Eduard Brückner. The glacial stage was first described around 1981 by A. Schreiner and R. Ebel. Its type region is the Haslach Gravels (Haslach-Schotter) in the area of the Riss-Iller-Lech Plateau. The Haslach cold period was thought to be preceded by the Günz-Haslach interglacial and followed by the Haslach-Mindel Interglacial.

Biber or the Biber Complex is a timespan approximately 2.6–1.8 million years ago in the glacial history of the Alps. Biber corresponds to the Gelasian age in the international geochronology, which since 2009 is regarded as the first age of the Quaternary period. Deep sea core samples have identified approximately 20 glacial cycles of varying intensity during Biber.

The Biber-Danube interglacial or Biber-Danube warm period (Biber-Donau-Warmzeit) is a historical term for a hypothetical warm period of the Pleistocene epoch in the Alps, between the Biber and Danube glaciations. It was defined as an erosion phase, that followed the Biber and preceded the Danube glacial. Thus, it represented the gap between the depositions that are ascribed to the two cold periods.

The Danube-Gunz interglacial, Danube-Gunz warm period (Donau-Günz-Warmzeit), often just Danube-Gunz, or also Uhlenberg interglacial (Uhlenberg-Warmzeit) are historical terms for a hypothetical warm period of the Pleistocene in the Alps, between the Danube and Gunz glacials. The interglacial was defined as the erosion phase that followed the Danube glacial and preceded the Gunz stage. It is therefore represented by the gap between the two depositions that are attributed to the two cold periods; in the type regions of the two glacial there are various depositions. In the area of the Iller-Lech Plateau they lie between the Lower Deckschotter of the Zusam Plateau and the Intermediate Deckschotter (Zwischenschottern); in the region of the Salzach Glacier between the Eichwald Schotter and the Older Deckenschotter ; and the area of Traun and Enns between the Prägünz Schotter and the Older Deckenschotter. The erosion phase linked with this interglacial is very distinct and the composition of the gravels (Schotter) in the area east of the Rhine Glacier changes markedly.

The Gunz-Haslach interglacial and the Gunz-Haslach warm period (Günz-Haslach-Warmzeit) are historical terms for a hypothetical warm period of the Pleistocene in the Alpine region, between the Gunz and Haslach glaciations. The interglacial was defined as the erosion phase which follows the Günz and precedes the Haslach Glacial Stage. It thus corresponds to the stratigraphic gap between the Zeil gravels in Swabia and Haslach gravels northeast of the Rhine Glacier.

The Haslach-Mindel interglacial and the Haslach-Mindel warm period (Haslach-Mindel-Warmzeit) are historical terms for a hypothetical warm period of the Pleistocene in the Alpine region, between the Haslach and Mindel glacial stages. The interglacial was defined as the erosion phase which follows the Haslach and precedes the Mindel glacial stage. It thus corresponds to the stratigraphic gap between the Haslach beds and the Tannheim-Laupheim gravels northeast of the Rhine Glacier.

References

  1. ↑ Litt et al. (2007: pp.34ff)
  2. ↑ Lauer, Tobias; Weiss, Marcel (2018-03-23). "Timing of the Saalian- and Elsterian glacial cycles and the implications for Middle – Pleistocene hominin presence in central Europe". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 5111. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23541-w. hdl: 21.11116/0000-0000-EE79-D . ISSN   2045-2322.
  3. 1 2 Hughes, Philip D.; Gibbard, Philip L.; Ehlers, Jürgen (2020-02-04). "The "missing glaciations" of the Middle Pleistocene". Quaternary Research. 96: 161–183. doi:10.1017/qua.2019.76. ISSN   0033-5894.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. 1 2 Lothar Lippstreu: VI. Brandenburg. In: Leopold Benda (Hrsg.): Das Quartär Deutschlands. pp.116–147, Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1995
  6. ↑ Lothar Eissmann: VIII. Sachsen. In: Leopold Benda (ed.): Das Quartär Deutschlands. pp.171–198, Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1995
  7. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Stephan: I. Schleswig-Holstein. In: Leopold Benda (ed.): Das Quartär Deutschlands. pp.1–13, Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1995

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 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 [Stage] (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.
  2. ↑ The Delitzsch Phase is not counted as part of the Drenthe Stage, but precedes it, s. Litt et al. 2007, p. 38

Literature

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