{{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 stage]]s 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 (geology)|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|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''' | [[Gunz glaciation|Günz]] | [[Mindel glaciation|Mindel]] | [[Riss glaciation|Riss]] | [[Würm glaciation|Würm]] |- | '''North Europe''' | [[Eburonian]] | [[Elsterian]] | [[Saalian]] | [[Weichselian]] |- | '''British Isles''' | 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]] |}
==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]]