Pedosedimentary evolution of the last interglacial and early glacial sequence in the European loess belt from Belgium to central Russia

For more than one century, the textural B-horizon of the last interglacial soil and its cover deposits have been standing out in Europe as an importan t pedostratigraphic marker. The complexity of this horizon was well illustr ated since the seventies, though its pedological and stratigraphic signific ance remained doubtful. Macro-, meso- and micromorphological data gathered by the authors at various key-sites in Europe and the sequential correlatio n principle have resulted in a better understanding of the high complexity of the pedosedimentary and stratigraphical evolution of the last interglaci al and early glacial loess succession. The present study identifies four me gacyclic pedosedimentary intervals that show a general trend towards dry an d continental climatic conditions. A consistent correlation exists between pedosedimentary evolution and veget ation, as recorded in the Grande Pile pollen record. The picture obtained i n the present study is similar for both the Western and the Eastern Europea n loess palaeosol successions. The so-called 'last interglacial soil', with three major soil-forming processes, belongs to the Eemian and Saint-Germai n I (MIS substages 5e and 5c), whereas the humiferous sediments and soils o n top are linked to Melisey II, Saint-Germain II and Ognon I (MIS substages 5b and 5a). The overlying loess, colluvial sediments and humiferous soils that end the palaeosol succession belong to the Ognon II and III interstadi als; they record the onset of the early Pleniglacial (MIS stage 4) characte rized by a significant increase in aeolian sedimentation.