Climate Changes During and at the end of the Interglacials of the Cromerian Complex

Summary

According to palynological investigations in NW-Germany:

• 1) The Holsteinian and the known interglacials of the Cromerian complex are beginning with cool-temperate oscillations similar to the Bolling/Allerod and Younger Dryas substages of the Late Glacial.

• 2) The interglacials between the Bavelian and the Saalian did not pass abruptly into a full glacial but were followed by climatic oscillations of similar character as the Amersfoort/Brorup and Odderade of the Late Pleistocene.

• 3) Most of the interglacials between the Bavelian and the Saalian show one or more distinct and relatively short deterioration of the vegetation cover which were probably caused by a rapid climate shift.

• 4) According to the count of annual bands, the Rhume interglacial, a probable equivalent of type Cromer, is approximately 27,000 years long. It shows nine oscillations, each with a duration of approximately 3,000 years. At least the first one and the last one, as well as the three preceding interstadials, are subdivided by secondary oscillations approximately 1,000 years long. Two distinct forest declines indicate fast climatic deterioration. The younger one follows a 4mm thick tephra layer, probably derived from a volcanic eruption in the Eifel area, some 200 km away.