The Eemian interglacial in the North European plain and adjacent areas

Many small deposits of Eemian age, including the stratotype, are found righ t across the North European plain. In adjacent areas, this interglacial is known by local names such as Ipswichian (Britain), Luhe or Ribains (France) , Riss-Wurm interglacial (Alps) and Mikulinian (Poland and Russia). It corr elates primarily with MIS 5e of the deep-sea stratigraphy, though boundarie s may nor be exactly the same. Basins containing Eemian sediments rest dire ctly on morainic deposits of all three Saalian ice advances, which must all , therefore, fall within MIS 6. Indicator species of both plants and animals suggest that mean July tempera tures in the early-temperate parr of the interglacial were warmer than duri ng the Holocene. For many years, palynologists have recognised a very unifo rm succession of temperate tree acme pollen zones and a substantial late-te mperate expansion of Carpinus as hallmarks of this interglacial across much of northern Europe. In southern England, however, deposits with a similar pollen signature are being recognised on stratigraphic and palaeontological grounds as characterising not only the Ipswichian but also the previously poorly-defined interglacial stage correlating with MIS 7. High Carpinus val ues are known from these latter sites and from the Le Bouchet interglacial of the French Massif Central, also clearly correlated with MIS 7. Thus stra tigraphic confusion and misinterpretations may have occurred at supposedly Eemian/Ipswichian sites unrelated to the glacial stratigraphy or to deep co ntinuous records. The uniformity and rapid development of Eemian vegetational. successions ma y be ascribed to (1) rapid warming and the lack of any late-glacial climati c oscillation on the scale of the Younger Dryas, (2) the development of an open marine connection in the first half of the interglacial from the Engli sh Channel across the North and Baltic Seas to the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and (3) the occurrence of Saalian per-glacial refugia for Calpinus, not only in the Balkans but also on the Iberian peninsula, permitting much more rapid northward colonisation of Europe during this interglacial. The question of climatic events within the Eemian is far from settled. Not only is the ice-core evidence ambiguous and awaiting further clarification, but the scale and synchroneity of proposed events at different continental sites in both northern and southern Europe show no clear pattern at presen t; clearly there is a need for more detailed investigation and interpretati on. Likewise there is ongoing debate about the duration of this interglacia l and its detailed correlation with the deep-sea core record and events wit hin the North Atlantic Ocean.