Meiendorf-Interstadial

Series / ( Glacial )	Climatic levels	Period v. Chr.
Holocene
	Preboreal	9,610-8,690
Pleistocene ( Vistula - Late Glacial )
	Younger dryas period	10,730-9,700 ± 99
	Alleröd Interstadial	11,400-10,730
	Older dryas period	11,590-11,400
	Bölling-Interstadial	11,720-11,590
	Oldest dryas period	11,850-11,720
	Meiendorf-Interstadial	12,500-11,850
( Vistula - high glacial )
	Mecklenburg phase

The Meiendorf interstadial (formerly also Meiendorf interval) is in the geological the oldest or first warm phase in Northern Germany after Weichselian glacial ( Quaternary ) and thus the basal stratigraphic unit of the Weichselian Lateglacial. The flora was characterized by a strauchtundra with a relatively high proportion of sun plants. The Meiendorf Interstadial is being replaced by the Stadial of the Elder Dryas Period . According to the varven chronology in the Meerfelder Maar ( Eifel ), the Meiendorf interstadial lasted from 14,450 to 13,800 varven years BC. This corresponds to the period from 12,500 to 11,850 BC. Chr.

Naming and conceptual history

It is named after the pollen profile of Hamburg-Meiendorf , which initially served as a type locality . The name was introduced by Burchard Menke in 1968 as Meiendorf interval and modified to Meiendorf interstadial in 1985 .

definition

The beginning of the Meiendorf interstadial is defined by the increase in mugwort ( Artemisia ). The first birch peak followed by the sea buckthorn maximum is characteristic of the Meiendorf Interstadial . The limit to the subsequent Eldest Dryas period is in turn determined by a decline in birch values ​​and an increase in non-tree pollen (with strong participation of mugwort and sunflower ) after the sea buckthorn maximum.

The type profile is near Glüsing (district of Dithmarschen , Schleswig-Holstein). The type region is therefore also Schleswig-Holstein. The Meiendorf-Interstadial is proven not only in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein but also in Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Brandenburg.

stratigraphy

The Meiendorf Interstadial follows the Pleniglacial ( Greenland Stadial 2 or GS-2 ) and is in turn overlaid by the Oldest Dryas Period ( Greenland Interstadial 1d or GI-1d ). An internal cold unit enables the interstadial to be divided into three (from young to old):

• Greenland-Interstadial 1e1 ( GI-1e1 - warm)
• Greenland-Interstadial 1e2 ( GI-1e2 - cold)
• Greenland-Interstadial 1e3 ( GI-1e3 - very warm)

A transition phase is eliminated between the pleniglacial and GI-1e3. The internal cold phase GI-1e2 is also called English in the area around Norway . Bölling Cold Phase I or BCP I referred to. Unfortunately, the pleniglacial is usually (as in North America, for example) still listed as the Elder Dryas - a practice that unfortunately only conjures up confusion and should therefore be avoided.

Absolute dating

The Meiendorf interstadial ranged from 14,500 to 13,860 cal. Vh According to the varven chronology in the Meerfelder Maar , it lasted from 14,450 to 13,800 before today, which corresponds to the period from 12,500 to 11,850 BC. Corresponds to. Lowe et al. (2008) advocated the period 12692 to 12075 BC. Chr. And van Raden et al. (2012) now argue for 12640 to 12094 BC. These authors date the transition phase following the pleniglacial from 12735 to 12640 BC. For the cold phase GI-1e2 they give the period 12489 to 12233 BC. Chr.

Environmental parameters

There was an abrupt change in climate during the Meiendorf interstadial .

Oxygen isotopes

The transition from the pleniglacial to the Meiendorf interstadial brought about a huge increase in the δ ¹⁸ O values by 6 ‰ SMOW (VPDB). During the transition phase, the values ​​climbed rapidly and steadily from -42 ‰ to -37 ‰ SMOW, only to reach their absolute maximum value for the late glacial of -36 ‰ SMOW at the beginning of the interstadial (GI-1e3).

Temperatures

In parallel to the oxygen isotopes, according to Renssen and Isarin (2001), there was an enormous increase in winter temperatures of up to 20 ° C (from - 25 to - 15 ° C to - 5 to 5 ° C) in north-western Europe, but summer temperatures rose only relatively little (from 10 to 15 ° C to 13 to 17 ° C). At the same time, however, evaporation and precipitation also increased.

Vegetation development

The Meiendorf Interstadial is characterized by an increased proportion of pollen from dwarf birch ( B. nana ), willow ( Salix ), sea ​​buckthorn ( Hippophaë ) and juniper ( Juniperus ). The proportion of sun plants (heliophytes) is high.

fauna

The thinning of Ice Age species, which had already become noticeable in the late pleniglacial, continued in the Meiendorf Interstadial; most of the Pleistocene forms gradually began to die out. Woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ) and cave hyena ( Crocuta crocuta spelaea ) were no longer found, and the woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) was also rare (it was last detected in Switzerland in Central Europe around 12458 BC). The cave lion ( Panthera spelaea ) was obviously still present at the beginning of the interstadial, a last find dated to 12650 BC. In southern Germany. The survival of the cave bear ( Ursus spelaeus ) into the interstadial is questionable. Towards the end of the interstadial, the giant deer ( Megaloceros giganteus ) appeared for the first time (found on the east coast of Zealand around 11950 BC).

In general, there was a change of fauna to warm-time species in the lower regions and in the low mountain ranges, which kept pace with the change in flora. Only higher regions in southern Germany and Switzerland show a delayed development.

The repopulation of the ice-free areas of northern Central Europe by mammals ( first wave of immigration ) was initially under the dominance of cold and drought indicators ( steppe dwellers and arctic taxa). Although they were still able to maintain their position during the Meiendorf interstadial, they gradually lost their influence compared to warm-period mammals. This rather slow faunal exchange towards temperate forms covered the west, south and east of Central Europe, but in the north it was only very delayed. In eastern Central Europe, the species spectrum is already composed of far more temperate forms. The repopulation here is therefore likely to have partly occurred from southeastern glacial refuge by warm-period species.

Cultural history

Even before the start of the Meiendorf Interstadial, the Upper Palaeolithic Hamburg culture (13,500 to 11,100 BC) with the Havelte group (from 13,000 BC) had established itself in northern Germany . It was mainly based on reindeer hunting . The 12030 BC The settlement Ahrenshöft , dated to the 3rd century BC, belongs to the Havelte group.

Contacts of the Hamburg culture to the groups of the younger Magdalenian still existing in the south are hardly documented during the Meiendorf-Interstadial. The Magdalenian was widespread in German territory from about the low mountain range sill to the south. The northern limit of distribution is in the Leinebergland . In Western Europe it extended into the Paris Basin . Mainly reindeer and wild horses were hunted , in the Alpine region also ibex . Briefly inhabited hunting camps existed in the abrises of the upper Danube valley in southwest Germany and Switzerland , longer-lived open-air settlements on the Middle Rhine and in the Saale area. The double grave of Oberkassel near Bonn is dated to around 12,000 BC. Dated.

The late epigravettia of the Mediterranean area continued in Italy and Eastern Europe without significant changes in the tool culture until the late glacial period. In the Levante the protoagrarische formed Natufian (12300-10200 BC..); it was based on the use of wild grains such as emmer and double-row barley .

literature

• Thomas Litt, Karl-Ernst Behre, Klaus-Dieter Meyer , Hans-Jürgen Stephan and Stefan Wansa: Stratigraphic terms for the Quaternary of the northern German glaciation area . In: E&G Quaternary Science Journal . tape 56 (1/2) , 2007, ISSN  0424-7116 , p. 7-65 , doi : 10.3285 / e.g. 56.1-2.02 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Litt et al., 2007: p. 59
2. ^ Menke, B .: The late glacial of Glüsing. A contribution to the knowledge of the late glacial vegetation history in West Holstein . In: Ice Age and the Present . tape 19 , 1968, p. 73-84 .
3. ↑ Bock, W., Menke, B., Strehl, E. & Ziemus, H .: Newer finds of the Vistula Late Glacial in Schleswig-Holstein . In: Ice Age and the Present . tape 35 . Hanover 1985, p. 161-180 .
4. ↑ The Quaternary in Lower Saxony and neighboring areas (PDF) ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ^ Lowe, JJ et al .: Synchronization of palaeoenvironmental events in the North Atlantic region during the Last Termination: a revised protocol recommended by the INTIMATE group . In: Quaternary Science Reviews . tape 27 (1–2) , 2008, pp. 6-17 .
6. ↑ Van Raden, UJ et al: High-resolution late-glacial chronology for the Gerzensee lake record (Switzerland): δ18O correlation between a Gerzensee-stack and NGRIP . In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 2012.
7. ↑ Renssen, H. and Isarin, RFB: The two major warming phases of the last deglaciatio at similar to 14.7 and similar to 11.5 ka cal BP in Europe: climate reconstructions and AGCM experiments . In: Global and Planetary Change . tape 3 (1-2) , 2001, pp. 117-153 .
8. ↑ Fahlke, JM: The exchange of the terrestrial mammal fauna at the Pleistocene / Holocene border in Central Europe - dissertation . Bonn 2009.
9. ↑ Stuart, AJ et al .: Viewpoint: The latest woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius BLUMENBACH) in Europe and Asia: a review of the current evidence . In: Quaternary Science Reviews . tape 21 , 2002, p. 1559-1569 .