{{Short description|Early Pleistocene stage used in the British Isles}} The '''Beestonian Stage''' is an early Pleistocene stage in the geological history of the British Isles. It is named after Beeston Cliffs near West Runton in Norfolk where deposits from this stage are preserved.
The Beestonian precedes the Cromerian Stage and follows the Pastonian Stage. This stage consists of alternating glacial and interglacial phases instead of being a continuous glacial epoch. It is equivalent to Marine isotope stages 22 to (60?).<ref name="McMillan11">{{cite journal |last1=McMillan |first1=A. A. |title=A provisional Quaternary and Neogene lithostratigraphical framework for Great Britain |journal=Netherlands Journal of Geosciences |date=2005 |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=87–107 |doi=10.1017/S0016774600022988|doi-access=free |bibcode=2005NJGeo..84...87M }}</ref><ref name="Walker1">Walker, M., 2005, ''Quaternary Dating Methods'', John Wiley & Son, Chichester, United Kingdom. {{ISBN|0-470-86927-5}}</ref><ref name="GibbardOthers2007">Gibbard, P.L., S. Boreham, K.M. Cohen and A. Moscariello, 2007, [http://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.org.uk/correlation/POSTERSTRAT_v2007b_small.jpg ''Global chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 2.7 million years v. 2007b''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910122430/http://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.org.uk/correlation/POSTERSTRAT_v2007b_small.jpg |date=2008-09-10 }}, jpg version 844 KB. Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England</ref> The Beestonian Stage and Marine Isotope Stage 22 ended about 866,000 years ago.<ref name=" Lisiecki2005">Lisiecki, L.E., 2005, [http://www.lorraine-lisiecki.com/LR04_MISboundaries.txt Ages of MIS boundaries.] [http://www.lorraine-lisiecki.com/stack.html LR04 Benthic Stack] Boston University, Boston, MA</ref><ref name=" LisieckiRaymo">{{cite journal |last1=Lisiecki |first1=L. E. |last2=Raymo |first2=M. E. |title=A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ<sup>18</sup>O records |journal=Paleoceanography |date=2005 |volume=20 |issue=1 |page=PA1003 |doi=10.1029/2004PA001071|bibcode=2005PalOc..20.1003L |author1-link=Lorraine Lisiecki|author2-link=Maureen Raymo|url=http://www.lorraine-lisiecki.com/LisieckiRaymo2005.pdf|hdl=2027.42/149224 |s2cid=12788441 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
The Beestonian corresponds temporally to the Danube Stage in the glacial history of the Alpine region. Based on findings in the Low Countries, the corresponding timespan in northern continental Europe is divided into four stages, the Bavelian, Menapian, Waalian, and Eburonian.<ref name="Corr 2011">[http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/POSTERSTRAT_v2011.jpg Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, Global chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 2.7 million years, v. 2011]</ref>
The Beestonian had also been equated to the Nebraskan glaciation in North America. However, the Nebraskan Stage, along with the Kansan and Aftonian Stages, have been abandoned by North American Quaternary geologists and merged into the Pre-Illinoian Stage.<ref name="Hallberg1">{{cite journal |last1=Hallberg |first1=G. R. |title=Pre-Wisconsin glacial stratigraphy of the central plains region in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=1986 |volume=5 |pages=11–15 |doi=10.1016/0277-3791(86)90169-1|bibcode=1986QSRv....5...11H }}</ref><ref name="RichmondOther1">{{cite journal |last1=Richmond |first1=G. M. |last2=Fullerton |first2=D. S. |title=Summation of quaternary glaciations in the United States of America |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=1986 |volume=5 |pages=183–196 |doi=10.1016/0277-3791(86)90184-8|bibcode=1986QSRv....5..183R }}</ref> {{As of|2011}}, the Beestonian stage is correlated with the period of time that includes the Pre-Illinoian F, Pre-Illinoian G, and Pre-Illinoian H glaciations of North America.<ref name="Walker1"/><ref name="RichmondOther1"/>
{| class="wikitable" |+ Historical names of the "four major" glacials in four regions. ! Region ! Glacial 1 ! Glacial 2 ! Glacial 3 ! Glacial 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 |}
{| class="wikitable" |+ Historical names of interglacials. ! Region ! Interglacial 1 ! Interglacial 2 ! Interglacial 3 |- | '''Alps''' | Günz-Mindel | Mindel-Riss | Riss-Würm |- | '''North Europe''' | Waalian | Holsteinian | Eemian |- | '''British Isles''' | Cromerian | Hoxnian | Ipswichian |- | '''Midwest U.S.''' | Aftonian | Yarmouthian | Sangamonian |}
==See also== *Ice age *Glacial period *Timeline of glaciation
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *Bowen, D.Q., 1978, ''Quaternary geology: a stratigraphic framework for multidisciplinary work. '' Pergamon Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. 221 pp. {{ISBN|978-0-08-020409-3}} *Ehlers, J., P. L. Gibbard, and J. Rose, eds., 1991, ''Glacial deposits in Great Britain and Ireland.'' Balkema, Rotterdam. 580 pp {{ISBN|978-90-6191-875-2}} *Mangerud, J., J. Ehlers, and P. Gibbard, 2004, ''Quaternary Glaciations: Extent and Chronology 1: Part I Europe'', Elsevier, Amsterdam. {{ISBN|0-444-51462-7}} *Sibrava, V., Bowen, D.Q, and Richmond, G.M., 1986, ''Quaternary Glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere, Quaternary Science Reviews'', vol. 5, pp. 1-514.
==External links== *Aber, J.S., 2006, [http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/ice/lec17/lec17.htm ''Regional Glaciation of Kansas and Nebraska''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704171916/http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/ice/lec17/lec17.htm |date=2008-07-04 }}, Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas. *anonymous, 2000, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513181655/http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/gage/pre-wisc/pre-wisc.htm ''Pre-Wisconsin Glaciation of Central North America''], Work Group on Geospatial Analysis of Glaciated Environments (GAGE), INQUA Commission on Glaciation, Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas. *anonymous, 2007, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081106161815/http://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.org.uk/correlation/chart.html ''Global correlation tables for the Quaternary''], Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
{{Ice Ages}}
Category:Glaciology Category:History of climate variability and change Category:Pleistocene