{{Short description|Glacial complex in the Calabrian age of the Pleistocene epoch}} {{About|glacial period|the Eburonian tribe|Eburones}} The '''Eburonian''' ({{langx|de|Eburon}} or ''Eburonium''), or, much less commonly, the '''Eburonian Stage''', is a glacial complex in the [[Calabrian (stage)|Calabrian age]] of the [[Pleistocene]] [[Epoch (geology)|epoch]] and lies between the [[Tiglian|Tegelen]] and the [[Waalian interglacial]]. The transition from the Tegelen to the Eburonian started about 1.78 million years ago, lasted 480,000 years (to 1.3 million years ago). In geologic strata, at its base, from its startpoint, the [[Neogene]] underlies different [[Gelasian]] deposits starkly in much of the [[Netherlands]].<ref>Hey, R. W. ''The Plio-Pleistocene of England and Iceland'' in Van Couvering, John A. (editor), (1997) ''The Pleistocene Boundary and the Beginning of the Quaternary'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 183. {{ISBN|0-521-61702-2}}.</ref>

== Discovery == As early as the 1920s, the names of the three well known glaciations - the [[Elster glaciation|Elster]], the [[Saale glaciation|Saale]] and the [[Weichselian glaciation|Weichselian]] - had become established at the recommendation of Konrad Keilhack and Paul Woldstedt. After Penck & Brückner successfully identified a fourth glaciation in the [[Alps]], there were many attempts to find traces of this ice age in the northern Central Europe. Investigations in the [[Netherlands]], into both [[sedimentology]] and [[vegetation]], revealed that the number of cold and warm periods must have been considerably greater. In 1957 Zagwijn expanded the hitherto known [[glacial]]s and [[interglacial]]s (the [[Weichselian glaciation|Weichselian]], [[Eemian interglacial|Eemian]], [[Saale complex|Saalian]], [[Holstein interglacial|Holstein]], [[Elster cold period|Elster]] and [[Cromerian Complex|Cromer]]) by the [[Menapian glaciation|Menapian glacial]], [[Waalian interglacial]], Eburonian glacial, Tegelen interglacial and Pre-Tegelen glacial. After the initial view that there had been continuous warm or cold periods, it quickly became clear that we were looking at "complexes" that included both warm and cold periods. The Eburonian was subdivided into four cold periods, each separated from one another by warmer periods.

== Climate & vegetation == Very little is known about the development of the climate and vegetation during the Eburonian. The cold period is subdivided into 7 climatic sections, which differ in their average temperatures. As in the cold periods of the Menapian glacial and the Tegelen interglacial, the average temperature of the Eburonian in summer was about ca. 10&nbsp;°C and the average annual temperature was -6 to -4&nbsp;°C. During the warmer sections of the Eburonian, the land was covered by cool coniferous forests; during the cold periods the vegetation was open and treeless.

==See also== * [[Pleistocene]], which covers: {| class="wikitable" |+ Historical names of the "four major" glacials in four regions. ! Region ! Glacial 1 ! Glacial 2 ! Glacial 3 ! Glacial 4 |- | '''Alps''' | [[Gunz glaciation|Günz]] | [[Mindel glaciation|Mindel]] | [[Riss glaciation|Riss]] | [[Würm glaciation|Würm]] |- | '''North Europe''' | Eburonian | [[Elsterian]] | [[Saalian]] | [[Weichselian]] |- | '''British Isles''' | [[Beestonian stage|Beestonian]] | [[Anglian Stage|Anglian]] | [[Wolstonian Stage|Wolstonian]] | [[Devensian]] |- | '''Midwest U.S.''' | [[Pre-Illinoian|Nebraskan]] | [[Kansan glaciation|Kansan]] | [[Illinoian (stage)|Illinoian]] | [[Wisconsinian Glaciation|Wisconsinan]] |}

{| class="wikitable" |+ Historical names of interglacials. ! Region ! Interglacial 1 ! Interglacial 2 ! Interglacial 3 |- | '''Alps''' | [[Cromerian Stage|Günz-Mindel]] | [[Hoxnian Stage|Mindel-Riss]] | [[Eemian Stage|Riss-Würm]] |- | '''North Europe''' | [[Waalian interglacial|Waalian]] | [[Holstein interglacial|Holsteinian]] | [[Eemian Stage|Eemian]] |- | '''British Isles''' | [[Cromerian Stage|Cromerian]] | [[Hoxnian Stage|Hoxnian]] | [[Eemian Stage|Ipswichian]] |- | '''Midwest U.S.''' | [[Pre-Illinoian|Aftonian]] | [[Yarmouthian Interglacial (Stage)|Yarmouthian]] | [[Sangamonian]] |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Literature == * Ehlers, Jürgen: Allgemeine und historische Quartärgeologie / Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag, 1994 {{ISBN|3-432-25911-5}} * Liedtke, Herbert: Eiszeitforschung / Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1990 {{ISBN|3-534-05063-0}}

== External links == * [http://www.lgb-rlp.de/fileadmin/extern/stratigraphie/san/litho/quart/san_quartaer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lgb-rlp.de/fileadmin/extern/stratigraphie/san/litho/quart/all-strat.html&h=2835&w=1787&sz=349&tbnid=hVRhKniq-N9lCM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=57&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dstratigraphische%2Bgliederung%2Bquart%25C3%25A4r%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=stratigraphische+gliederung+quartär&usg=__szETwfnq-96rbgvgTYGHF632Keo=&docid=Z9ggrcMLXfrYhM&hl=de&sa=X&ei=i55hUKqtIoTdtAa6rYGoCw&ved=0CCsQ9QEwAw&dur=5600 Synoptisches Profil durch das Quartär von Sachsen Anhalt]{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Litt und Wansa 1996)

{{North German glaciations}}

[[Category:Cenozoic]] [[Category:Quaternary geochronology]] [[Category:Ice ages]] [[Category:Pleistocene]] [[Category:Geology of the Netherlands]]