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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Missing Records and Depositional Breaks in French Late Pleistocene Cave Sediments

Michel CampyJean Chaline

subject

010506 paleontologygeographygeography.geographical_feature_category010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciencesPleistoceneOlder Dryas01 natural sciencesSedimentary depositional environmentPaleontologyArts and Humanities (miscellaneous)CaveUpper PaleolithicGeneral Earth and Planetary SciencesGlacial periodMagdalenianGeologyRock shelter0105 earth and related environmental sciencesEarth-Surface Processes

description

AbstractCave entrance and rock shelter infillings are positioned within the Pleistocene chronology for three areas of France (northern Alps, Franche-Comté, and Périgord). Despite minor local variations, it is possible to identify regional types with a consistent depositional record over long intervals of time. The interregional variability relates to the frequency and position of the gaps within the infillings. Sites in the northern Alps have not yielded any artifacts older than the Upper Paleolithic (Magdalenı́an), and dated sedimentary sequences do not go back beyond the Older Dryas. More complete sequences in Franche-Comté contain Mousterian industries. Two major gaps occur here, one lasting about 50,000 yr during the Lower Glacial and Lower Pleniglacial periods, and the other lasting some 10,000 yr during the Upper Pleniglacial. The sequences are more complete in the Périgord, where all major climatic phases have been identified with no significant sedimentary gaps. Differences in sedimentary records can be explained by variations in regional conditions during the last interglacial-glacial cycle and especially by the distance from the maximum advance of ice daring glaciation.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
1993-11-01Quaternary Research
https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1993.1085