The “missing glaciations” of the Middle Pleistocene

Abstract

Global glaciations have varied in size and magnitude since the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition (~773 ka), despite the apparent regular and high-amplitude 100 ka pacing of glacial–interglacial cycles recorded in marine isotope records. The evidence on land indicates that patterns of glaciation varied dramatically between different glacial–interglacial cycles. For example, Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 8, 10, and 14 are all noticeably absent from many terrestrial glacial records in North America and Europe. However, globally, the patterns are more complicated, with major glaciations recorded in MIS 8 in Asia and in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, such as Patagonia, for example. This spatial variability in glaciation between glacial–interglacial cycles is likely to be driven by ice volume changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and associated interhemispheric connections through ocean–atmosphere circulatory changes. The weak global glacial imprint in some glacial–interglacial cycles is related to the pattern of global ice buildup. This is caused by feedback mechanisms within glacial systems themselves that partly result from long-term orbital changes driven by eccentricity.

Terrestrial stratigraphical division in the Quaternary and its correlation

“…Dust particles in ice cores provide a record of atmospheric dust flux over the ice sheets (Lambert et al 2012). Antarctic dust records are broadly representative of the global hydrological cycle with increasing dust, indicating a cooler and drier global atmosphere that is directly associated with the extent of global glaciations (Hughes et al 2020). A comparison of Antarctic ice-core dust records with loess/ palaeosol sequences from the Chinese Loess Plateau (Kukla et al 1994) appears to support the synchroneity of global changes in atmospheric dust load (Rousseau et al 2007;Lambert et al 2008).…”

“…Moreover, it is apparent that the marine isotope record is misleading for correlations not only at the local and regional scales but also at the global scale. This has recently been highlighted when examining the nature of global glaciations through glacial-interglacial cycles (Hughes et al 2013(Hughes et al , 2020Hughes and Gibbard 2018).…”

“…The problem of the marine isotope record and the pattern of global glaciation identfied for the Late Pleistocene has major implications for understanding earlier glacial cycles. Hughes et al (2020) took the lessons of the last glacial cycle and applied them to earlier glacial cycles in the Middle Pleistocene. It soon became apparent that similarities existed between some major glaciations, which were absent or different in extent from others.…”

Early–Middle Pleistocene Magnetostratigraphic and Rock Magnetic Records of the Dolynske Section (Lower Danube, Ukraine) and Their Application to the Correlation of Loess–Palaeosol Sequences in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe

“…Therefore, eight global glacial-interglacial cycles identified in the Brunhes chron from the deep-sea oxygen isotope records are recorded in the Ukrainian loess-palaeosol sequence as well. The discrepancies in the number of glacial-interglacial cycles determined from the deep-water and terrestrial palaeoclimatic records largely come from the loess sequences of different regions [301]. Incomplete geological record, inaccurate local or regional stratigraphic model, the uncertain position of the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal in the geological sequence, and incorrect identification of the climatic rank of the corresponding warmings and coolings are the most probable sources of this inconsistency [302].…”

A rapid sediment pulse induced by glacial melting during the MIS 8/7e transition buried well‐developed karst in the Railton Valley, Tasmania, Australia

“…The issues associated with scarcity of Middle to Early Pleistocene glacial landforms and sites suitable for dating are reviewed by Ehlers & Gibbard (2008) and Hughes et al . (2020) who identify discrepancies between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere glacial extents, and demonstrate that terrestrial evidence for MIS 8 and 10 glaciations is rare, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere in comparison to New Zealand and South American records, and marine records of glaciations between MIS 8 and 10 are patchy (Beets et al . 2005).…”