Biostratigraphical correlation between the late Quaternary sequence of the Thames and key fluvial localities in central Germany

摘要: The shared characteristics of limestone bedrock geology and resultant calcareous groundwater have allowed excellent preservation mammalian molluscan faunas within the terrace sequences Lower Thames rivers Muschelkalk region Thuringia, central Germany. assemblages from underpinned dating one most important late Middle Pleistocene in Britain probably also Europe; that is repository a highly significant Palaeolithic archive. complete records Thuringia are those River Wipper, Bilzingsleben, Ilm, around Weimar. Both here Thames, interglacial deposits representing four major post-Elsterian temperate-climate complexes (=oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 11, 9, 7 5 oceanic record) been identified. In interglacials represented by fluvially deposited sediments, whereas they frequently travertines formed springs, often containing exquisitely preserved fossils. Evidence different formations (Boyn Hill/Orsett Heath, Lynch Hill/Corbets Tey, Taplow/Mucking Kempton Park/East Tilbury Marshes) reviewed, addition to which new evidence site at Hackney Downs, East London, summarized. last-mentioned part Tey Formation include sediments attributed OIS 9. As well as record travertine each level Bilzingsleben staircase, celebrated sequence Weimar-Ehringsdorf, on Terrace 4 described. biostratigraphical palaeoenvironmental Ehringsdorf compares closely with Aveley, Mucking Thames; both 7, comparison possible oxygen substage level.