A contribution towards the palynostratigraphical classification of the Middle Pleistocene in Central Europe: The pollen record of the Neualbenreuth Maar, northeastern Bavaria (Germany)

Abstract

Palaeoecological evidence of intra-Saalian warm stages in Central Europe, which was strongly affected by glacial and periglacial processes during the major Middle and Late Pleistocene cold periods, is ambiguous so far. Recently, the first continuous sedimentary sequence of Central Europe containing the Saalian complex (MIS 8–6) with the Eemian interglacial in stratigraphic superposition was recovered from the newly discovered Neualbenreuth Maar (NE-Bavaria). Here we present palynological results from this record allowing us to critically discuss the available biostratigraphical evidence of alternating intra-Saalian warm-cold intervals from Central Europe. The new pollen record from the Neualbenreuth Maar comprises a continuous record of vegetation and climate changes encompassing four warm stages and five cold periods. The dominance of cold and dry tolerant herbs and the sparse representation of pioneer trees and shrubs during most parts of the sequence indicate open landscapes of steppe to woody-steppe character typical of late Middle and Late Pleistocene glacial periods in Central Europe. The pollen assemblages of the warm stage in the upper part of the core clearly support its correlation with the Eemian interglacial. The three pre-Eemian warm stages represent terrestrial analogues of the marine isotope stages (MIS) 7e, 7c, and 7a. During each of these intervals forests were established, but the reduced abundances and lower diversity of thermophilous and sub-oceanic elements in comparison to the Eemian attest to a weak interglacial character. Each of these interglacials shows a similar vegetation succession and only minor differences in the vegetation composition. The intervening stadial periods represent a strong (MIS 7d) and a moderate (MIS 7b) climate deterioration, respectively. The vegetation and climate succession during the Saalian glacial-interglacial complex of Neualbenreuth is broadly in line with the respective palynological signature from the Velay record (French Massif Central) and the Hoogeveen interstadial (The Netherlands). In contrast, there is only limited correspondence with most pollen records from northern and southern Central Europe, which were hitherto classified as MIS 7.