Changes in the Landscape and Climate of Eastern Europe in the Early Pleistocene

Abstract

In the context of shifting the boundary of the Quaternary down to the level of 2.6 Ma and including the Gelasian Stage in the Quaternary System, the systematization of the original and published data on the geology and paleogeography of the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene of Eastern Europe has been carried out. It was established that, at the boundary of the Gauss and Matuyama paleomagnetic epochs, along with the general trend toward cooling and aridization, profound landscape and climate changes occurred and rhythmic fluctuations of the climate intensified. During the period from 2.6 to 1.8 Ma, corresponding to the Gelasian (pre-Tiglian and Tiglian of Western Europe or Paleopleistocene of Eastern Europe), there appeared subarctic landscapes. In the Eopleistocene (1.8–0.78 Ma) and the Early Neopleistocene (0.78–0.42 Ma), the climate became colder, and climatic zonality repeatedly underwent a complex restructuring, gradually approaching the modern one. Glacial deposits (layers of till) occurring in Eastern Europe date back to the Paleopleistocene. Evidence indicates that there were at least three independent glaciations in the Eopleistocene (1.8–0.78 Ma) and possibly four in the Early Neopleistocene. On the basis of studies of stratotypic sections, paragenetic links were established between sediments of different age within glacial and periglacial areas, and the paleogeographic events of the Early Pleistocene of Eastern Europe were correlated with those within the Western European region.