Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:21:05.648Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interglacial and Postglacial Climates: The Pollen Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Herbert E. Wright Jr.
Herbert E. Wright Jr.*
Affiliation:
Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Pollen studies of the four European interglacial intervals indicate a strong similarity in vegetational sequence: a pretemperate phase (I) marks the late glacial, early temperate (II) and late temperate (III) phases mark the interglacial proper, and a posttemperate phase (IV) represents the beginning of the next cold period. A grossly similar record is now known for the last interglacial (Sangamon) of central and southeastern United States. The Holocene sequence in both Europe and America are completely typical of the interglacial sequence, although much more is known of the geographic variations.

Estimates for the duration of the interglacials range from 10,000 to more than 30,000 yr, according to counts of the annually laminated sediments (organic varves).

The Holocene has already run a course of at least 10,000 yr. If it is like earlier interglacials, it will end soon, giving way to gradually developing cold conditions, which may not lead to glacial maxima for tens of thousands of years.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , November 1972 , pp. 274 - 282
Copyright
Academic Press, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, S.T. 1966 Interglacial vegetational succession and lake development in Denmark Palaeobotanist 15 117 127 Google Scholar
Baker, R.G. 1970 Pollen sequence from late Quaternary sediments in Yellowstone Park Science 168 1449 1450 Google Scholar
Broecker, W.S. van Donk, J. 1970 Insolation changes, ice volumes, and the 18O record in deep-sea cores Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics 2 169 198 Google Scholar
Davis, Margaret B. 1965 Phytogeography and palynology of northeastern United States Wright, H.E. Jr. Frey, D.G. The Quaternary of the United States Princeton Univ. Press 377 401 Google Scholar
Grüger, E. 1970 The development of the vegetation of southern Illinois since late Illinoian time (preliminary report) Rev. Geogr. Phys. Geol. Dyn. 12 143 148 Google Scholar
Grüger, E. 1972 Late Quaternary vegetation development in south-central Illinois Quaternary Research (in press)Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J. 1965 A Pleistocene phytogeographical sketch of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Wright, H.E. Jr. Frey, D.G. The Quaternary of the United States Princeton Univ. Press 469 483 Google Scholar
Kapp, R.O. Gooding, A.M. 1964 Pleistocene vegetational studies in the Whitewater Basin, southeastern Indiana Journal of Geology 72 307 326 Google Scholar
Müller, H. 1965 Fine pollenanalytische Neubearbeitung des Interglazial-Profiles von Bils-hausen (Unter-Eichsfeld) Geologisches Jahrbuch 83 327 352 Google Scholar
Porter, S.C. Denton, G.H. 1967 Chronology of neoglaciation in the North American Cordillera American Journal of Science 265 177 210 Google Scholar
Shackleton, N.J. 1969 The last interglacial in the marine and terrestrial records Proc. Roy. Soc. London B. 174 135 154 Google Scholar
Turner, C. 1970 The Middle Pleistocene deposits at Marks Tey, Essex Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 257 373 440 Google Scholar
Turner, C. West, R.G. 1968 The subdivision and zonation of interglacial periods Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart 19 93 101 Google Scholar
Watts, W.A. 1971 Postglacial and interglacial vegetation history of southern Georgia and central Florida Ecology 52 676 690 Google Scholar
West, R.G. 1961 Interglacial and interstadial vegetation in England Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of London 172 81 89 Google Scholar
West, R.G. 1970 Pleistocene history of the British flora Walker, D. West, R.G. Studies in the vegetational history of the British Isles Cambridge Univ. Press 1 11 Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr. 1961 Late Quaternary vegetational history of North America Turekian, K.K. Late Cenozoic glacial ages Yale Univ. Press New Haven 425 464 Google Scholar