Principles and terminology for classification of the Quaternary are discussed, including lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy. morphostratigraphy, climatostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy. The main conclusion is a proposal for a common chronostratigraphical classification of the Quaternary in Norden (and partly continental NW Europe). The Quaternary is subdivided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene Series. The Pleistocene is further subdivided into several provisional stages (Weichselian, Eemian, etc.), based on the sequence of glacials/interglacials. but with the boundaries preferably defined by stratotypes. The Late Weichselian and the Flandrian (Holocene) are subdivided into chronozoncs (Bolling, Older Dryas, Allerod, Younger Dryas, Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, Subatlantic) with the boundaries dcfined in conventional radiocarbon years.

Quaternary stratigraphy of Norden, a proposal for terminology and classification

The distribution of living benthic foraminifera on the continental slope and rise off southwest Norway

High-resolution gravity cores and box cores from the North Icelandic shelf have been studied for palaeoceanographic history based on lithological and biostratigraphical foramin- iferal data. Results from two outer shelf cores covering the last 13.6 k 14 C yr BP are presented in this paper. The sediments accumulated in north-south trending basins on each side of the Kolbeinsey Ridge at water depths of ca. 400 m. Sedimentation rates up to 1.5 m kyr -1 are observed during the Late-glacial and Holocene. The Vedde and Saksunarvatn tephras are present in the cores as well as the Hekla 1104. A new tephra, KOL-GS-2, has been identified and dated to 13.4 k 14 C yr BP, and another tephra, geochemically identical to the Borrobol Tephra, has been found at the same level. At present, the oceanographic Polar Front is located on the North Icelandic shelf, which experiences sharp oceanographic surface boundaries between the cold East Icelandic Current and the warmer Irminger Current. Past changes in sedimentological and biological processes in the study area are assumed to be related to fluctuations of the Polar Front. The area was deglaciated before ca. 14 kyr BP, but there is evidence of ice rafting up to the end of the GS-1 (Greenland Stadial 1, Younger Dryas) period, increasing again towards the end of the Holocene. Foraminiferal studies show a relatively strong GS-2 (pre-13 kyr BP) palaeo-Irminger Current, followed by severe cooling and then by unstable conditions during the remainder of the GI-1 (Greenland Interstadial 1, Bolling-Allerod) and GS-1 (Younger Dryas). Another cooling event occurred during the Preboreal before the Holocene current system was established at about 9 kyr BP. After a climatic optimum between 9 and 6 kyr BP the climate began to deteriorate and fluctuate. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Late‐glacial and Holocene palaeoceanography of the North Icelandic shelf

Calcareous foraminifers and hydrographic parameters in 113 bottom samples from the southern Kara Sea were examined to improve the usage of foraminifers as paleoenvironmental proxies for river-dominated high-latitude continental shelves. Foraminiferal taxa form a succession from near-estuarine to distal open-sea locations, characterized by a gradual increase in salinities. Foraminiferal assemblages are discriminated into three groups: river-proximal, -intermediate, and -distal. This succession appears to be controlled by a combination of feeding conditions and bottom salinities, and are related to riverine fluxes of freshwater, organic matter, and sediments. Morphological and behavioral adaptations of foraminifers to specific environments are discussed.

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the southern kara sea, a river-influenced arctic marine environment

Based on detailed stratigraphic investigations on a 200.6m long core (BGS borehole No. 81/26) from the Fladen Ground area (British sector), core material from the Sleipner field (Norwegian sector) and shallow seismic profiles between the core-sites, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) The North Sea was glaciated sometime during th elaterpart of Matuyama reversed period. A complete glacial-interglacial-glacial cycle is recorded in these sediments. (2) In a period of marine sedimentation in the Middle Pleistocene, a transgression-regression cycle under boreal-arctic regime is recorded. (3) The Fladen area has subsided between 0.9 and 0.6 m/ka through the later parts of the Quaternary (4) A major glacial event dated at between 130 and 200 ka is recorded as a thick till unit in 81/26. This till, which was deposited by ice moving from the southwest (Scotland), probably represents a period when the Scandinavian and British ice sheets coalesced in the North Sea. (5) Based on the seismic data and the stratigraphy of the Sleipner core, an ice-free, open embayment/dry land is favoured for the central North Sea during the Late Weichselian. (6) From the amino-acid data, it is shown that there has been an episodic style of sedimentation through the Quaternary. (7) of the investigated sediments (which span the last 1 mill. year) ca 98% have been deposited under arctic to boreal-arctic conditions.

Quaternary stratigraphy of the Fladen area, central North Sea: a multidisciplinary study

Rolf W. Feyling-Hanssen: Weichselian interstadial Foraminifera from the Sandnes-Jæren area. Five shallow borings in the town of Sandnes, south of Stavanger, revealed clay deposits with marine fossils under a cover of sandy till with large blocks of Archaen rocks. This clay is called the Sandnes Clay. It is stiff and pre-consolidated, and disturbed only in the uppermost part. Four foraminiferal zones were distinguished, 1) the labradoricum-norcrossi assemblage, 2) the upper zone with scattered specimens, 3) the asklundi-bartletti assemblage, 4) the lower zone with scattered specimens. The assemblages are usually dominated by Elphidium clavatum and Cassidulina crassa, and turn out to be of Middle Weichselian (Middle Wisconsin) interstadial age. Deposits of corresponding age were found in the district of Jæren and on the island of Karmøy.

Knudsen, K. L. Andersen, A. L. L.

Papers

Late Quaternary foraminifera from Vendsyssel, Denmark and Sandnes, Norway