Recent advances in the stratigraphy of the Upper Pleistocene of Westernmost Europe: La Haute Ville and Bréhat Cliffs (Northern Brittany, France)

Sedimentological and malacological comparisons between the Upper Saalian and Upper Weichselian loess superimposed in the Nantois cliff (Brittany, France): Reconstruction of their environments south of the British Ice Sheet

“…Studies developed at the regional scale (Lefort et al, 2011;Danukalova et al, 2013) show that the Upper Pleistocene loess of Northern Brittany and Normandy result from the accumulation of a thin dust originating mainly in the central part of the Western English Channel and which were transported by strong winds blowing towards the south or the southeast (Bigot, 1986). he onshore loess contains heavy minerals and mainly garnets which can be used as markers (Lefort et al, 2011).…”

“…Loess also contains coccoliths and foraminiferous (Estéoule et al, 1971) resulting from the frost chattering (Lautridou, 1971) of the ofshore Cretaceous and Eocene outcrops. Loess deposits are now preferentially coating the north or northwest facing basement clifs of the Northern shore of the Brittany Peninsula (Lefort et al, 2013).…”

“…During these cold phases the sea was located at a lower level and part of the marine sediments were open to the air. he marine winds, blowing towards the Nantois clif, were strong enough to carry at the same time, the loess particles and very small fragments of shell and juveniles of marine bivalves or gastropods (Bigot, 1986;Danukalova et al, 2013). Fragments and juvenile shells of marine molluscs are diicult to determine because of their bad preservation, only Acmaea sp., Peringia sp., Muricidae (possibly Ocenebra sp.…”

Onshore and offshore evidences for four abrupt “warming” episodes during MIS 6 at the westernmost tip of continental Europe: did they control the migrations of Neanderthals?

“…The quantity of extracted shells was very different depending on the examined level (Table 115 1). Their abundance is given according to the method of Ložek (1964) and determinations 116 were made following the various sources cited in Danukalova et al (2013). Because the 117 number of mollusc shells is important in the interpretation of the Upper Pleistocene terrestrial 118 deposits, shells were examined and extracted individually.…”

Quaternary interconnections in Eurasia: Focus on Eastern Europe

“…The fauna documents the domination of steppe and other open-country species, stable presence of mesophilic animals, while boreal-tundra species being far less numerous. Danukalova et al (2013) deal with mollusk and soil stratigraphy of two Late Pleistocene sites in NW France. Stratigraphic and climatic signals are clearly shown by these materials.…”