{{Short description|Last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe}} {{Distinguish|Wisconsin glaciation}} [[File:Weichsel-Würm-Glaciation.png|thumb|350px|Europe during the Weichselian and Würm cold periods]] The '''Weichselian glaciation''' is the glaciation of the northern parts of [[Europe]] in the [[Last Glacial Period]]. It corresponds to the [[Würm glaciation]] in the Alpine region. It was characterized by a large [[ice sheet]] (the '''Fennoscandian ice sheet''') that spread out from the [[Scandinavian Mountains]]<ref name=Fredin2002/> and extended as far as the east coast of [[Schleswig-Holstein]], northern [[Poland]] and [[Northwest Russia]]. This glaciation is also known as the Weichselian ice age ({{langx|de|Weichsel-Eiszeit}}), Vistulian glaciation, Weichsel<ref>Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 580. {{ISBN|0-14-051094-X}}.</ref> or, less commonly, the Weichsel glaciation, Weichselian cold period (''Weichsel-Kaltzeit''), Weichselian glacial (''Weichsel-Glazial''), ''Weichselian Stage'' or, rarely, the Weichselian complex (''Weichsel-Komplex'').
In [[Northern Europe]] it was the youngest of the [[glacial]]s of the [[Pleistocene]] [[ice age]]. The preceding warm period in this region was the [[Eemian interglacial]]. The last cold period began about 115,000 years ago and ended 11,700 years ago.<ref name="Litt" /> Its end corresponds with the end of the Pleistocene epoch and the start of the [[Holocene]]. The German geologist {{ill|Konrad Keilhack|de|Konrad Keilhack}} (1858–1944) named it using the [[German-language|German]] name (''Weichsel'') of the [[Vistula]] ({{langx |pl| Wisła}}) in present-day Poland.
{{Evolution of the Baltic Sea}}
== Naming in other parts of the world == In other regions Major Glacial 4 of the [[Pleistocene]] is given a local name. In the [[Alps|Alpine region]] it is the [[Würm glaciation]], in [[Great Britain]] the [[Devensian glaciation]], in [[Ireland]] the Midlandian glaciation and in North America, the [[Wisconsin glaciation]].<ref>F.J. Monkhouse ''Principles of Physical Geography'', London: University of London Press, 1970 (7th edn.), p. 254. SBN 340 09022 7</ref><ref>Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 265. {{ISBN|0-14-051094-X}}.</ref>
==Development of the glaciation== ===Early and Middle Weichselian=== The Fennoscandian Ice Sheet of the Weichselian glaciation most likely grew out of a mountain glaciation of small [[ice field]]s and [[ice cap]]s in the [[Scandinavian Mountains]]. The initial glaciation of the Scandinavian Mountains would have been enabled by moisture coming from the Atlantic Ocean and the mountains high altitude. Perhaps the best modern analogues to this early glaciation are the ice fields of [[Andes|Andean]] [[Patagonia]].<ref name=Fredin2002>{{cite journal|author-last=Fredin|author-first=Ola|date=2002|title= Glacial inception and Quaternary mountain glaciations in Fennoscandia |journal=[[Quaternary International]]|volume= 95–96 |pages=99–112 |doi=10.1016/s1040-6182(02)00031-9|bibcode=2002QuInt..95...99F}}</ref> Since the proximity to the temperate North Atlantic typically precludes ice growth in Scandinavia, changes in the North Atlantic are thought to be required for glaciation to develop in Scandinavia. The freezing and glaciation of the [[Canadian Arctic Archipelago]] could effect this by causing "relatively fresher" water from the Arctic and the North Pacific to flow east of [[Greenland]] disrupting the convection of [[North Atlantic Deep Water]].<ref name=candartic2022>{{Cite journal |title=The importance of Canadian Arctic Archipelago gateways for glacial expansion in Scandinavia |journal=[[Nature Geoscience]] |last1=Lofverstrom |first1=Marcus |date=2022-06-09 |volume=15 |pages=482–488 |last2=Thompson |first2=Diane M. |doi=10.1038/s41561-022-00956-9 |last3=Otto-Bliesner |first3=Bette L. |last4=Brady |first4=Esther C.|issue=6 |bibcode=2022NatGe..15..482L |s2cid=249524145 |url=https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00776/88840/94470.pdf }}</ref> According to this view any closing of the [[Bering Strait]] that blockades the entering of North Pacific water to the Arctic Ocean would have been detrimental for the inception of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet.<ref name=candartic2022/>
[[Jan Mangerud]] posits that parts of the Norwegian coast were likely free from glacier ice during most of the Weichselian prior to the [[Last Glacial Maximum]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mangerud |first1=Jan |author-link=Jan Mangerud |date=1981 |title=The Early and Middle Weichselian in Norway: a review |journal=[[Boreas (journal)|Boreas]] |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages= 447–462 |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3885.1981.tb00508.x }}</ref>
Between 38 and 28 ka BP there was a [[interstadial|relatively warm period]] in Fennoscandia called the Ålesund interstadial. The interstadial receives its name from [[Ålesund Municipality]] in Norway where its existence was first established based on the local fossil record of [[mollusc shell|shells]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mangerud |first1=Jan |last2=Gulliksen |first2=Steinar|last3=Larsen |first3=Eiliv|last4=Oddvar |first4=Longva|last5=Miller |first5=Gifford H.|last6=Sejrup |first6=Hans-Petter|last7=Sønstegaard |first7=Eivind|author-link=Jan Mangerud |date=1981 |title=A Middle Weichselain ice-free period in Western Norway: the Ålesund Interstadial |journal=[[Boreas (journal)|Boreas]] |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=381–393 |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3885.1981.tb00500.x }}</ref>
===Last Glacial Maximum=== [[File:EisrandlagenNorddeutschland.jpg|thumb|350px|{{legend|#b6210d|Maximum extent of the ice (Brandenburg Stage) during the Weichselian in Germany and Poland (red line).}}{{legend|#e3b600|Greatest extent of the older [[Saalian]] glaciation (yellow line).}} Note that the coastlines are modern; coastlines during the Weichselian were different as sea level was lower.]] The growth of the ice sheet to its [[Last Glacial Maximum]] extent began after the Ålesund interstadial.<ref name=Larsenetal2016>{{cite journal |last1=Larsen |first1=Eiliv |last2=Fredin |first2=Ola |last3=Lyså |first3=Astrid|last4=Amantov |first4=Aleksey|last5=Feldskaar |first5=Willy|last6=Ottesen |first6=Dag |date=2016 |title=Causes of time-transgressive glacial maxima positions of the last Scandinavian Ice Sheet |url=http://njg.geologi.no/images/NJG_articles/NJG_Vol96_No2_Article6_Larsen_etal.pdf |journal=[[Norwegian Journal of Geology]] |volume=96 |issue=2 |pages=159–170 |access-date=January 20, 2018}}</ref>
By circa 26 ka BP, the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet reached the mid-Norwegian continental shelf break.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rørvik |first1=K.-L. |last2=Laberd |first2=J. S. |last3=Hald |first3=M. |last4=Ravna |first4=E. K. |last5=Vorren |first5=T. O. |date=August 2010 |title=Behavior of the northwestern part of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum – a response to external forcing |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379110001678 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=29 |issue=17–18 |pages=2224–2237 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.05.022 |bibcode=2010QSRv...29.2224R |access-date=25 November 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The growth of the ice sheet was accompanied by an eastward migration of the [[ice divide]] from the Scandinavian Mountains eastwards into Sweden and the Baltic Sea.<ref name=Patton2017/> As the ice sheets in northern Europe grew prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet coalesced with the ice sheet that was growing in the [[Barents Sea]] 24 ka BP ([[kiloannus|kiloannī]] or one [[thousand]] years [[Before Present]]) and with the ice sheet of the British Isles at about thousand years later. At this point the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet formed part of a larger Eurasian ice sheet complex—a contiguous glacial ice mass which spanned an area from Ireland to [[Novaya Zemlya]].<ref name=Patton2017>{{cite journal |last1=Patton |first1=Henry |last2=Hubbard |first2=Alun|last3=Andreasen |first3=Karin|last4=Auriac |first4=Amandine|last5=Whitehouse |first5=Pippa L.|last6=Stroeven |first6=Arjen P.|last7=Shackleton |first7=Calvin|last8=Winsborrow |first8=Monica|last9=Heyman |first9=Jakob|last10=Hall |first10=Adrian M. |date=2017 |title=Deglaciation of the Eurasian ice sheet complex |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=169 |pages=148–172 |doi= 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.05.019|bibcode=2017QSRv..169..148P|doi-access=free |hdl=10037/11970 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
The central parts of the Weichsel ice sheet had [[Glacier#Classification by thermal state|cold-based conditions]] during the times of maximum extent. This means that in areas like north-east Sweden and northern Finland pre-existing landforms and deposits escaped glacier erosion and are particularly [[relict (geology)|well preserved]] at present.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sarala |first1=Pertti|date=2005 |title=Weichselian stratigraphy, geomorphology and glacial dynamics in southern Finnish Lapland |journal=[[Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland]] |volume=77 |issue= 2|pages=71–104 |doi= 10.17741/bgsf/77.2.001|doi-access=free }}</ref> Also during times of maximum extent the ice sheet terminated to the east in a gently uphill terrain meaning that rivers drained into the glacier front and large [[proglacial lake]]s built up.<ref name=Larsenetal2016/>
The Last Glacial Maximum extent was first reached 22 ka BP in the southern boundary of the ice sheet in Denmark, Germany and Western Poland (Sławskie Lake District and Leszczyńskie Lake District). In Eastern Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and [[Pskov Oblast]] in Russia the ice sheet reached its maximum extent about 19 ka BP. In the remainder of [[northwestern Russia]] the largest glacier advance occurred 17 ka BP.<ref name=Stroevenetal2016/>
===Deglaciation up to Younger Dryas===
[[File:Mammal fossils of the ice sea.jpg|thumb|left| 17.-18.000 year old fossils of marine mammals from below the retreating Scandinavian Ice Sheet in Denmark, [[Copenhagen Zoological Museum]]]] As the ice margin started to recede 22–17 ka BP Denmark (except [[Bornholm]]), Germany, Poland and Belarus were ice-free 16 ka BP. The ice margin then retreated until the [[Younger Dryas]] when the ice sheet stabilized. By this time, most of [[Götaland]], [[Gotland]], all of the [[Baltic states]] and the southeastern coast of Finland had been added to the ice-free regions. In Russia, [[Lake Ladoga]], [[Lake Onega]], the bulk of [[Kola Peninsula]] and the [[White Sea]] were free from ice during the Younger Dryas. Before the Younger Dryas, deglaciation had not been uniform and small ice sheet re-advances had occurred forming a series of end-moraine systems, notably those in Götaland.<ref name=Stroevenetal2016/>
During deglaciation, meltwater formed numerous [[esker]]s and [[outwash plain|sandur]]s. In north-central [[Småland]] and southern [[Östergötland]] part of the meltwater was routed through a series of canyons.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olvmo |first1=M. |date=1992 |title=Glaciofluvial canyons and their relation to the Late Weiochselian deglaciation in Fennoscandia |journal=[[Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie]] |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=343–363 |doi=10.1127/zfg/36/1992/343 |bibcode=1992ZGm....36..343O }}</ref>
It is speculated that during the Younger Dryas a small glacier readvance in Sweden created a natural [[Lock (water navigation)|lock system]] that brought freshwater taxa such as ''[[Mysis]]'' and ''[[Salvelinus]]'' to lakes like [[Sommen]] that were never connected to the [[Baltic Ice Lake]]. The survival of these cold-water taxa into the present-day means they are [[glacial relict|glacial relicts.]]<ref name=Kinsten2010>{{cite report |author=Kinsten, Björn |date=2010 |title=De glacialrelikta kräftdjurens utbredning i södra Sverige (Götaland och Svealand) |issue=2010/7|url=https://www.lansstyrelsen.se/download/18.2887c5dd16488fe880d55ad0/1537435814356/rapport-2010-7.pdf |publisher=Länsstyrelsen Blekinge län |pages=1–19 |access-date=April 19, 2019 |language=sv }}</ref>{{efn-ua|In the isolation that followed the ''Salvelinus'' species of Sommen evolved into a distinct subspecies called ''[[Sommen charr]]''.<ref name=roding2009>{{cite report |author1=Melin, Daniel |author2=Rydberg, Daniel |date=2009 |title=Sommenröding: En kartläggning av rödingens lekområden 2006 & 2008 |url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:880696/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=Länstyrensen i Jönköpings Län |language=sv |page=1–49 |series=Medelande|volume=2009 |issue=16 |access-date=April 20, 2019 }}</ref>}}
===Final deglaciation=== When ice margin retreat resumed the ice sheet became increasingly concentrated in the Scandinavian Mountains (it had left Russia 10.6 ka BP and Finland 10.1 ka BP). Further retreat of the ice margin led the ice sheet to concentrate in two parts of the Scandinavian Mountains, one part in [[South Norway|Southern Norway]] and another in [[Norrland|Northern Sweden]] and Norway. These two centres were linked for a time. The linkage constituted a major drainage barrier that formed various large and ephemeral [[ice-dammed lake]]s. About 10.1 ka BP the linkage had disappeared and so did the Southern Norway centre of the ice sheet about a thousand years later. The northern centre remained a few hundred years more so that by 9.7 ka BP the eastern [[Sarek National Park|Sarek Mountains]] hosted the last remnant of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.<ref name=Stroevenetal2016>{{cite journal| date=2016|title=Deglaciation of Fennoscandia|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=147|pages=91–121 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.09.016|bibcode=2016QSRv..147...91S|last1=Stroeven |first1=Arjen P |last2=Hättestrand |first2=Clas |last3=Kleman |first3=Johan |last4=Heyman |first4=Jakob |last5=Fabel |first5=Derek |last6=Fredin |first6=Ola |last7=Goodfellow |first7=Bradley W |last8=Harbor |first8=Jonathan M |last9=Jansen |first9=John D |last10=Olsen |first10=Lars |last11=Caffee |first11=Marc W |last12=Fink |first12=David |last13=Lundqvist |first13=Jan |last14=Rosqvist |first14=Gunhild C |last15=Strömberg |first15=Bo |last16=Jansson |first16=Krister N |doi-access=free |hdl=1956/11701 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> As the ice sheet retreated to the Scandinavian Mountains this was not a return to its former mountain centred glaciation from which the ice sheet grew out; it was dissimilar in that the [[ice divide]] lagged behind as the ice mass concentrated in the west.<ref name=Fredin2002/>
It is not known if the ice sheet disintegrated into scattered remains before vanishing or if it shrank while maintaining its coherence as a single ice mass.<ref name=regneletal2019>{{Cite journal|title=Tracing the last remnants of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet: Ice-dammed lakes and a catastrophic outburst flood in northern Sweden|journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]]|volume=221|article-number=105862|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105862|author-link2=Jan Mangerud|year=2019|last1=Regnéll|first1=Carl|last2=Mangerud|first2=Jan|last3=Svendsen|first3=John Inge|bibcode=2019QSRv..22105862R|doi-access=free|hdl=1956/21672|hdl-access=free}}</ref> It is possible that while some ice remained east of Sarek Mountains parts of the ice sheet survived temporarily in the high mountains.<ref name=regneletal2019/> Remnants east of the Sarek Mountains formed various ephemeral ice-dammed lakes that caused numerous [[glacial lake outburst flood|glacial lake outburst floods]] down the rivers of northernmost Sweden.<ref name=regneletal2019/>
===Isostatic adjustment=== [[File:Baltic History 5000-BC.svg|thumb|350px|Map of the [[Littorina Sea]] around 7000 years BP. Note the reduced area of Finland due to higher sea levels.]] [[isostatic rebound|Isostatic adjustment]] bought by deglaciation is reflected in the shoreline changes of the Baltic Sea and other nearby bodies of water.{{efn-ua|In the late 19th and early 20th century, N. O. Holst (1899), [[Ernst Antevs]] (1921) and [[Astrid Cleve]] (1923) proposed the so-called oscillation theory, which holds that the land-level had oscillated up and down "like a pendulum losing momentum" after deglaciation. The [[Geologiska föreningen]] society expelled Cleve for her unrelenting support of this theory once it became discredited.<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://www.2iceshs.cyfronet.pl/2ICESHS_Proceedings/Chapter_18/R-10_Espmark.pdf |title=A scientific outsider: Astrid Cleve von Euler and her passion for research |last1=Espmark |first1=Kristina |date=2006|editor-last=Kokowski|editor-first=M. |book-title=The Global and the Local: The History of Science and the Cultural Integration of Europe. |location=Cracow, Poland |conference=2nd ICESHS }}</ref>}} In the Baltic Sea uplift has been greatest at the [[High Coast]] in the western [[Bothnian Sea]]. Within the High Coast the relict shoreline at 286 m in [[Skuleberget]] is at present the highest known point on Earth to have been uplifted by postglacial isostatic rebound.<ref name=Berglund2012>{{cite journal |last1=Berglund |first1=M. |date=2012 |title=The highest postglacial shore levels and glacio-isostatic uplift pattern in northern Sweden |journal=[[Geografiska Annaler|Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography]] |volume= 94|issue= 3|pages= 321–337|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0459.2011.00443.x |bibcode=2012GeAnA..94..321B |s2cid=128972883 }}</ref> North of the High Coast at [[Furuögrund]] off the coast of [[Skellefteå]] lies the area with the highest uplift rates at present with values of about 9 mm/yr.<ref name=Berglund2012/><ref>Ågren, J. and Svensson, R., 2006. Land uplift model and system definitions used for the RH 2000 adjustment of the Baltic levelling ring. The 15th General Meeting of the Nordic Geodetic Commission, Copenhagen, 29 May–2 June 2006, 1–9</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=J.L. |last2=Mitrovica |first2=J.X.|last3=Scherneck |first3=H.-G.|last4=Fan |first4=H. |date=1999 |title=Investigations of Fennoscandian glacial isostatic adjustment using modern sealevel records |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research]] |volume=104 |issue=B2 |pages=2733–2747 |doi= 10.1029/1998jb900057|bibcode=1999JGR...104.2733D|doi-access=free }}</ref> Ongoing post-glacial rebound is thought to result in splitting of the Gulf of Bothnia into a southern gulf and a northern lake across [[Norra Kvarken]] no earlier than in about 2,000 years.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tikkanen |first1=Matti |last2=Oksanen |first2=Juha |date=2002 |title=Late Weichselian and Holocene shore displacement history of the Baltic Sea in Finland |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/maantiede/geofi/fennia/demo/pages/oksanen.htm |journal=[[Fennia (journal)|Fennia]] |volume=180 |issue=1–2 |access-date=December 22, 2017 }}</ref> Isostatic rebound exposed a submarine [[joint valley landscape]] as [[Stockholm archipelago]].<ref name=Karna>{{cite journal |last=Lidmar-Bergströrm |first=Karna |author-link=Karna Lidmar-Bergström|date=1995 |title=Relief and saprolites through time on the Baltic Shield |journal=[[Geomorphology (journal)|Geomorphology]] |volume=12 |issue= 1|pages=45–61 |doi= 10.1016/0169-555X(94)00076-4|bibcode=1995Geomo..12...45L }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sporrong |first=Ulf |chapter=The Scandinavian landscape and its resources |editor-last=Helle |editor-first=Knut|date=2003 |title=The Cambridge History of Scandinavia |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory01hell |url-access=limited |publisher=Cambridge University Press |issue=1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory01hell/page/n12 37] |isbn=978-0-521-47299-9 }}</ref>
Since [[deglaciation]] the rate of post-glacial rebound in the [[Kandalaksha Gulf]] has varied. Since the [[White Sea]] connected to the world's oceans uplift along the southern coast of the gulf has totaled 90 m. In the interval from 9,500–5,000 years ago the uplift rate was of 9–13 mm/[[year|yr]]. Prior to the [[Atlantic (period)|Atlantic period]] the uplift rate had decreased to 5–5.5 mm/yr, to then rise briefly before arriving at the present uplift rate of 4 mm/yr.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Romanenko |first1=F.A. |last2=Shilova |first2=O.S. |date=2011 |title=The Postglacial Uplift of the Karelian Coast of the White Sea according to Radiocarbon and Diatom Analyses of LacustrineBoggy Deposits of Kindo Peninsula |journal=Doklady Earth Sciences |volume=442 |issue=2 |pages=544–548 |doi=10.1134/S1028334X12020079 |bibcode=2012DokES.442..242R |s2cid=129656482 }}</ref>
Emergence above sea level is thought to have resulted in the triggering of a series of [[landslide]]s in western Sweden as [[pore pressure]] increased when the [[groundwater recharge]] zone came above sea level.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Colby A. |last2=Larsson |first2=Olof |last3=Engdahl |first3=Mats |date=2017 |title=Early Holocene coastal landslides linked to land uplift in western Sweden |journal=[[Geografiska Annaler|Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography]] |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=288–311 |doi=10.1080/04353676.2017.1329624 |bibcode=2017GeAnA..99..288S |s2cid=133775764 }}</ref>
== Sequence and subdivisions of the Weichselian == [[File:IceAgeEarth.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the Earth at the last glacial maximum. Illustration based on: ''[http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1995/95GB01107.shtml Ice age terrestrial carbon changes revisited]'' by Thomas J. Crowley (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 9, 1995, pp. 377–389)]] About 115,000 years ago<ref name="Litt" /> average temperatures dropped markedly and warmth-loving woodland species were displaced. This significant turning point in average temperatures marked the end of the Eemian interglacial and start of the Weichselian glacial stage. It is divided into three sections, based on the temperature variation: the Weichselian Early Glacial,<ref name=Schirmer/><ref name=Dodson>John Dodson (ed.), ''Earth Systems and Society'', New York, London, etc., Springer, 2010 p. 173. {{ISBN|978-90-481-8716-4}}</ref> the Weichselian High Glacial<ref name=Schirmer>Wolfgang Schirmer, ''Quaternary field trips in central Europe'', Volume 1, Pfeil, 1995, p. 375. {{ISBN|978-39-238-7191-9}}</ref> (also Weichselian Pleniglacial<ref name=Dodson/>) and the Weichselian Late Glacial.<ref name=Dodson/> During the Weichselian, there were frequent major variations in climate in the northern hemisphere, the so-called [[Dansgaard–Oeschger events]].
The Weichsel Early Glacial (115,000–60,000 BC) is in turn divided into four stages:
* Odderade Interstadial (WF IV) – The pollen spectra indicate a boreal forest. It starts with a tree birch phase, which rapidly transitions to pine forest. Also apparent are [[larch]]es and [[spruce]] as well as low numbers of [[alder]]. * Rederstall Stadial (also WF III) – In North Germany the pollen spectra indicate a grassy tundra followed later by shrubby tundra. * Brörup Interstadial (also WF II) – Several profiles show a short period of cooling shortly after the start of the Brörup Interstadial, but this does not appear in all profiles. This led some authors to distinguish the first warm period as the Amersfoort Interstadial. However, since then, this first warm period and cooling phase has been included in the Brörup Interstadial. Northern Central Europe was populated by birch and pine woods. The Brörup Interstadial is identified with marine isotope stage 5c. * Herning Stadial (also called WF I) – Was the first cold phase, in which northwestern Europe was largely treeless. It corresponds to marine isotope stage 5d.
In the ''Weichselian High Glacial'' (57,000 – c. 15,000 BC) the ice sheet advanced into North Germany. In this period, however, several interstadials have been documented.
* Glaciation and ice sheet advances to North Germany (Brandenburg Phase, Frankfurt Phase, Pomeranian Phase, Mecklenburg Phase). * Denekamp Interstadial – The pollen spectra indicates a shrubby tundra landscape. * Hengelo Interstadial – The pollen show [[Cyperaceae|sedges]] (Cyperaceae) and temporarily a high number of [[dwarf birch]]es (''Betula nana''). * Moershoofd Interstadial – The pollen spectra show a treeless tundra vegetation with a high proportion of sedges (Cyperaceae). * Glinde Interstadial (WP IV) – The pollen diagrams indicate a treeless, shrubby tundra. * Ebersdorf Stadial (WP III) – In North Germany this period is characterised by pollen-free sands. * Oerel Interstadial (WP II) – The pollen diagrams point to a treeless, shrubby tundra in North Germany. * Schalkholz Stadial (WP I) – The first ice advance may have already reached the southern Baltic Sea coast. At the type locality of [[Schalkholz]] (county of [[Dithmarschen]]) pollen-free sands indicate a largely vegetation-free landscape.
The short "Weichselian Late Glacial" (12,500 – c. 10,000 BC) was the period of slow warming after the Weichselian High Glacial. It was however again interrupted by some colder episodes. [[File: Endglazial - Eiskerndaten mit Kulturen.png|thumb|Weichselian Late Glacial with mid-European culture groups]] * [[Younger Dryas]] – In this period the proportion of non-tree pollens climbed again, especially those of [[heliophyte]]s. * [[Allerød oscillation]] – This section is again dominated by birch tree pollens. * [[Older Dryas]] – This cool period is characterised by a reduction in tree pollens. * [[Bølling oscillation]] – The period begins with a rapid increase in tree birch pollens. * [[Oldest Dryas]] – The cool period is characterised by a maximum number of non-tree pollens. * [[Meiendorf Interstadial]] – This interstadial is typified by a rise in the pollens of [[dwarf birch]]es (''Betula nana''), [[willow]]s (''Salix'' sp.), [[sandthorn]]s (''Hippophae''), [[juniper]]s (''Juniperus'') and [[sagebrush]] (''Artemisia'').
Following the last of these cold periods, the [[Younger Dryas]], the Weichselian Glacial ended with an abrupt climb in temperature around 9,660 ± 40 BC.<ref name="Kromer" /> This was the start of our present [[interglacial]], the [[Holocene]].
In addition to the above subdivisions the depositions of the Weichselian Late Glacial following the retreat of the ice sheet are divided into four stages: the Germanic Glacial (''Germaniglazial'') (Germany becomes ice-free), the Danish Glacial (''Daniglazial'') (Denmark becomes ice-free), The Gotland Glacial (''Gotiglazial'') (Gotland becomes ice-free) and the Finnish Glacial (''Finiglazial'') (Finland and Norway become ice-free).<ref>{{citation|surname1=Karl N. Thome|title=Einführung in das Quartär. Das Zeitalter der Gletscher |publisher=Springer-Verlag|location=Berlin|year=1998|at=pp. 72|language=de|url={{Google books|izM1tK-VtEYC|plainurl=y|page=72}}}}</ref>
== See also == * [[Timeline of glaciation]] * [[Glaciology]] * [[Quaternary]] * [[Toba catastrophe theory]]
==Notes== {{Notelist-ua}}
== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="Litt">Litt et al. (2007: pp.45ff)</ref> <ref name="Kromer">{{cite journal | last1 = Friedrich | first1 = M | last2 = Kromer | first2 = B | last3 = Spurk | first3 = M | last4 = Hofmann | first4 = J | last5 = Kaiser | first5 = KF | year = 1999 | title = Paleo-environment and radiocarbon calibration as derived from Late Glacial/Early Holocene tree-ring chronologies | journal = Quaternary International | volume = 61 | issue = 1| pages = 27–39 | doi=10.1016/s1040-6182(99)00015-4| bibcode = 1999QuInt..61...27F }}</ref> }}
== Literature ==
* {{citation|surname1=Thomas Litt|surname2=Karl-Ernst Behre|surname3=Klaus-Dieter Meyer|surname4=Hans-Jürgen Stephan|surname5=Stefan Wansa|editor-last1=T. Litt im Auftrag der Deutschen Stratigraphischen Kommission|periodical=Stratigraphie von Deutschland – Quartär. Special Issue. Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart/Quaternary Science Journal|title=Stratigraphische Begriffe für das Quartär des norddeutschen Vereisungsgebietes |volume=56, No. 1/2|publisher=E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Nägele und Obermiller)|location=Stuttgart|year=2007|at=pp. 7–65|issn=0424-7116|language=de|doi=10.3285/eg.56.1-2.02|doi-access=free|hdl=11858/00-1735-0000-0001-B9EB-9|hdl-access=free}} * H. Liedtke & J. Marcinek: ''Physische Geographie Deutschlands'', Justus Perthes Verlag, Gotha, 1995 {{ISBN|3-623-00840-0}}
{{North German glaciations}}
[[Category:Pleistocene]] [[Category:Last Glacial Maximum]] [[Category:Last Glacial Period]] [[Category:Younger Dryas]] [[Category:Northern Europe]]