The Pleistocene in Britain and Europe

A general introduction to the Pleistocene with an emphasis on herpetological remains was presented in the companion volume Pleistocene Amphibians and Reptiles in North America (Holman, 1995c). For a general introduction to the Pleistocene that gives much attention to Britain and Europe, the reader is referred to Sutcliffe (1985). A detailed account of Pleistocene mammals in Britain is given by Stuart (1982), and a general account of Pleistocene mammals in Europe is given by Kurten (1968). The present chapter deals mainly with chronological divisions of the Pleistocene in Britain and Europe. Early geologists recognized that glacial deposits and land forms existed far south of existing glaciated areas, and they correctly reasoned that these features indicated not only the presence of ice sheets but the onset of cold climates, as well. As these features were mapped and stratigraphic studies were made, it was found that some sections contained weathered zones of organic soils and plant remains between layers of glacially derived sediments. It was suggested that these organic zones represented nonglacial environments and that ice sheets must have advanced and retreated several times. In Europe, before studies of deep sea sediments were made, Pleistocene chronological events were determined on the basis of piecemeal evidence from terrestrial sediments. The earliest widely accepted chronology of climatic Pleistocene intervals was the classic fourfold subdivision of Pleistocene glacial events in the Alps by Penck and Bruckner (1909). These glacial stage names, from oldest to youngest, are Gu'nz glacial, Mindcl glacial, Riss glacial, and Wiirm glacial. Between the glacial stages, intcrglacial stages were designated by compound names based on the underlying and overlying glacial stages (e.g., The Gunz-Mindel intcrglacial stage lies between the Giinz and Mindel glacial stages). These Alpine glacial stages have been widely used, and one still finds references to them (especially the younger stages) in the recent literature (e.g., Fritz, 1995).