An attempt at correlation between the Velay pollen sequence and the Middle Pleistocene stratigraphy from central Europe

Long continuous lacustrine sequences constitute on the continent a precious toot for coupling the long term continental environmental changes with deep sea and ice core records, using the 'count from the top' method. Moreover, they can contribute to long distance correlation on the continent itself and thus help to classify discontinuous sedimentary records. Palynostratigraphical correlation is proposed here between the Velay long sequence and the late Middle Pleistocene series from Central Europe with special attention to temperate episodes. The similarities between the Praclaux and the Holsteinian Interglacial suggest that they are both contemporaneous with marine isotopic stage (MIS) 11. even if absolute dates are still divergent. The evidence of two major warm periods with an interglacial type of vegetation between the Holsteinian and the Eemian is confirmed by the Velay record. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.