Progress in palynology of the Gelasian–Calabrian Stages in Europe: Ten messages

Abstract

Europe has at present the most extensive network of palynological sites covering the Late Pliocene and the Early Pleistocene or roughly the Gelasian-Calabrian Stages. This paper covers ten points of recent progress in the palynology of this time period: 1) the contribution of palynology to truly global stratigraphy, 2) the existence and steps of vegetation succession after a glacial period, 3) the causes for the disappearance from Europe of some taxa, 4) the location and the types of vegetation refugia, 5) the causes of the low arboreal pollen representation in glacial times, 6) the extent of extreme glacial conditions, 7) the input of long marine records to short terrestrial ones, 8-9) cyclopalynostratigraphy for wiggle matching dating and duration estimations and, finally, 10) short glacial periods and long interglacial ones in an obliquity-forced climate. RésuméL"Europe a pour l"instant le réseau le plus étendu de sites palynologiques couvrant le Pliocène et le Pléistocène Ancien ou bien encore les étages Gélasien-Calabrien. Cette publication présente en 10 points des progrès récents de la palynologie pour cette période : 1) la contribution de la palynologie à une stratigraphie vraiment globale, 2) l"existence même et les étapes des successions de la végétation après une période glaciaire, 3) les causes de la disparition en Europe de quelques taxons, 4) la localisation et les types de refuges de la végétation, 5) les causes de la faible représentation du pollen d"arbres, 6) l"étendue des conditions glaciaires extrêmes, 7) l"influence des longs enregistrements marins sur les enregistrements terrestres courts, 8-9) la cyclopalynostratigraphie utilisée pour la datation par appariement des ondulations des courbes et pour l"estimation des durées, et finalement en 10) les périodes glaciaires courtes et interglaciaires longues sous un climat forcé par l"obliquité.Keywords: Palynology; Vegetation; Europe; Lakes; Pliocene; Pleistocene; Gelasian; Calabrian Mots clés : Palynologie ; Végétation ; Europe ; Lacs ; Pliocène ; Pléistocène ; Gélasien ; Calabrien European Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene (2.58 to 0.78 Ma), roughly equivalent to the Gelasian and Calabrian Stages (GCS, 2.58 to 0.99 Ma), palynological sequences are a rich source of palaeoenvironmental information (Figs. 1 and 2). The focal point of sites of that age was located in western central Europe in the 1950s and 1960s and it progressively moved to the south of Europe after the 1980s. The interpretation of palynological records evolved during that half century of research. Two main factors have played a part: a change of mindset especially under the push of multiproxy high-resolution investigations usually applied to the last glacial-interglacial period and progress in marine drilling technology providing first-quality sequences covering the last million years continuously.The Gelasian and the Calabrian Stages (Figs. 1 and 2) are examined together because they have more in common with each other than with the preceding stage, the Piacenzian, and the...

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