2-STEP DEGLACIATION AT THE OXYGEN-ISOTOPE STAGE-6 5E TRANSITION - THEZEIFEN-KATTEGAT CLIMATE OSCILLATION/

Comparison of marine, lacustrine, and terrestrial records from twenty- four sites suggests the existence of a 'Younger Dryas'-type climate os cillation just prior to the Oxygen Isotope Stage 6/5e boundary. These records include results from biostratigraphic, pedostratigraphic, and speleothem studies, as well as analyses of stable isotope compositions of marine records and ice cores. The climate oscillation is named aft er the warm Zeifen Interstadial and the cold Kattegat Stadial. The Zei fen Interstadial may be related to a major meltwater pulse in the Baff in Bay-Labrador Sea-Norwegian Sea region. The climate oscillation is p resumably in part a result of a variation in ocean circulation, especi ally in the strength of the North Atlantic Drift, but changes in the a tmospheric circulation also played an important role. The geographical ly widespread distribution of the oscillation suggests that the two-st ep deglaciation influenced both the northern and southern hemispheres. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd