A 1.2 Ma record of glaciation and fluvial discharge from the West European Atlantic margin
| Type | Article | ||||||||
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| Date | 2009-12 | ||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||
| Author(s) | Toucanne Samuel 1, 2, Zaragosi S.1, Bourillet Jean-Francois2, Gibbard P. L.3, Eynaud F.1, Giraudeau J.1, Turon J. L.1, Cremer M.1, Cortijo E.4, Martinez P.1, Rossignol L.1 |
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| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Univ Bordeaux, UMR 5805, F-33405 Talence, France. 2 : IFREMER, Lab Environm Sedimentaires, F-29280 Plouzane, France. 3 : Univ Cambridge, Dept Geog, Cambridge CB2 3EN, England. 4 : CE Saclay, LSCE IPSL, UMR CEA CNRS UVSQ 1572, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France. |
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| Source | Quaternary Science Reviews (0277-3791) (Elsevier), 2009-12 , Vol. 28 , N. 25-26 , P. 2974-2981 | ||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.08.003 | ||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 89 | ||||||||
| Keyword(s) | middle pleistocene transition, ice sheet dynamics, sea level, climate change, north Atlantic, english channel, heinrich events, fleuve manche, deep, origin | ||||||||
| Abstract | The correlation of continental sedimentary records with the marine isotope stratigraphy is a challenge of central importance in Quaternary stratigraphy, particularly in Western Europe where long records of glaciation on land areas are particularly rare. Here we demonstrate for the first time the interrelationship of events during the last 1.2 Ma in an ocean-sediment core from the Bay of Biscay (NE Atlantic), SW of the Channel. The identification of discharge variations from tributary river systems to the 'Fleuve Manche' palaeoriver during glacio-eustatic sea-level lowstands demonstrates the correlation of the marine sediment stratigraphy to the expansion and recession of the European ice-sheets. The amplitude and chronology of European ice-sheet oscillations since the late Early Pleistocene is discussed and our results demonstrate that the first coalescence of the Fennoscandian and British ice-sheets in the North Sea basin ca 450 ka ago caused a profound change in lowstand European drainage alignment. This change caused a rerouting of Fennoscandian and eastern British ice-sheets-derived meltwaters from northwards into the Nordic Seas to southwards into the eastern North Atlantic thereafter. Besides allowing a thorough synchronisation of the European ice-sheet palaeogeography with the well-dated records of palaeoceanographical changes, our results improve the stratigraphy of the English Channel palaeovalleys and will provide important constraints on paleoclimatic scenarios considering the impact that such rerouting and meltwater surges might have on the stability of the oceanic conveyor belt. | ||||||||
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