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The Heidelberg Basin (HDB) hosts one of the thickest Quaternary sediment successions in central Europe. To establish a reliable Middle and Upper Pleistocene chronology for a recently drilled core from the depocentre of the Heidelberg Basin, we applied multiple luminescence dating approaches, including quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), two feldspar post-IR IRSL protocols using second IR stimulation temperatures of 225 °C (pIRIR225) and 290 °C (pIRIR290), and two fading correction models. Relatively high anomalous fading was observed for both the pIRIR225 and pIRIR290 signals, with mean fading rates of 2.13±0.27 and 2.08±0.49%/decade, respectively. Poor dose recovery behaviour of the pIRIR290 signal suggests that the pIRIR290 ages are not reliable. The comparison of two fading correction methods for the K-feldspar ages indicates that the correction method proposed by Kars et al. (2008) Radiation Measurements 43, 786, yields reliable ages, whereas the dose-rate correction method proposed by Lamothe et al. (2003) Radiation Measurements 37, 493, does not. A chronology for the HDB is established using the quartz ages and reliable fading corrected feldspar pIRIR225 ages. Our chronology shows that the sediments in the upper Mannheim Formation were deposited during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 (c. 70 ka), constrained by two quartz ages in the upper 20 m of the core. Four fading corrected pIRIR225 ages of c. 400 ka show that the upper Ludwigshafen Formation was deposited during MIS 12–11, correlated with the Elsterian-Holsteinian stage. Two ages of 491±76 and 487±79 ka indicate that the Middle and Upper Ludwigshafen Formation were probably deposited during the Cromerian Complex. This luminescence chronology is consistent with palynological results. It also indicates that the IR-RF ages reported earlier are probably underestimated due to anomalous fading.

Here we present a multi-proxy investigation of the Klein Klutz Hoved (KKH) coastal cliff section in northeastern Germany, involving lithofacies analysis, micromorphology, micropalaeontology, palynology and luminescence dating of quartz and feldspar. We subdivide the local stratigraphy into three depositional phases. (i) Following a Saalian advance (MIS 6) of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet, the penultimate deglaciation (Termination II) at the site occurred between c. 139 and 134 ka, leading to the establishment of a braided river system and lacustrine basins under arctic-subarctic climate conditions. (ii) In the initial phase of the Eemian interglacial lacustrine deposits were formed, containing warm-water ostracods and a pollen spectrum indicating gradual expansion of woodlands eventually containing thermophile deciduous forest elements. A correlation of the local pollen assemblages with Eemian reference records from central Europe suggests that fewer than 750 years of the last interglacial period are preserved at KKH. The occurrence of brackish ostracods dates the onset of the Eemian marine transgression at the section at c. 300–750 years after the beginning of the last interglacial period. (iii) Directly above the Eemian record a ~10-m-thick sedimentary succession of MIS 2 age was deposited, implying a significant hiatus of c. 90 ka encompassing the time from middle and upper MIS 5e to late MIS 3. During the Late Weichselian, KKH featured a depositional shift from (glacio-)lacustrine to subglacial to recessional terminoglacial facies, with the first documented Weichselian ice advance post-dating 20±2 ka. Overall, the KKH section represents an exceptional sedimentary archive for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, covering the period from the Saalian glaciation and subsequent Termination II to the early Eemian and Late Weichselian. The results refine the existing palaeogeographical and geochronological models of the late Quaternary history in the southwestern Baltic Sea area and allow correlations with other reference records in a wider area.

The study of two cliff outcrops from the Jasmund Peninsula provides new information on the ice-sheet dynamics and palaeo-environmental conditions during MIS 3 and the ensuing transition to MIS 2 in the southwestern Baltic Sea region. We identified interstadial fluvial sediments, with mollusc and vertebrate fauna, which were deposited between 47 and 42 ka in a steppe-like landscape. A subsequent cooling phase led to the formation of a proglacial lake, between 30 and 22 ka, indicated by varve-like, rhythmically bedded silty clay. This proglacial lake formation can be correlated to the blocking of the Baltic Basin by the Kattegat ice advance, previously dated to c. 29–26 ka. The transition from proglacial to terminoglacial lacustrine deposits reflects the immediate advance of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) into the study area after the transition from MIS 3 to early MIS 2. The SIS finally reached the area at 23±2 ka (Brandenburgian phase; advance from the northeast). A subsequent ice retreat accompanied by the deposition of meltwater sediments was followed by a re-advance of the SIS, resulting in a glaciotectonic deformation event across the study area. The age control for our study is based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). The investigated Pleistocene sediments show ice-free conditions during MIS 3 and early MIS 2, indicating that neither the Ristinge nor the Klintholm advance reached the SW Baltic Sea coast of Jasmund.

Radiocarbon dating of bulk organic matter is the most commonly used method for establishing chronologies of lake sediments for palaeoclimate reconstructions on the Tibetan Plateau. However, this method is likely to be problematic because the dated material often suffers from old carbon contamination. Recently, advances in luminescence-based chronological techniques have provided new options for dating lacustrine sediments. In the current study, we tested for the first time the applicability of a new post-IR IRSL (pIRIR) measurement protocol for dating fine-grained polymineral material from a deep-lake sediment core from the central part of Tangra Yumco, on the southern Tibetan Plateau. Our results show that: (i) radioactive disequilibria in the uranium decay chain were observed in the studied lake sediments, and thus taken into account for dose rate calculation by using a dynamic modelling approach; (ii) the suitability and robustness of the pIRIR protocol measured at 150°C (pIRIR150) for our samples are confirmed by a set of luminescence characteristic tests as well as the agreement with an independent age control; (iii) turbidite deposition partly caused an insufficient resetting of luminescence signals and thus apparent overestimation in luminescence dating; (iv) compared with the luminescence-based age-depth model, the 14C ages of bulk organic matter from the studied core generally yielded an age difference of ∼2 ka, which is attributed to hardwater reservoir effects in Tangra Yumco. This study highlights the need for multi-dating approaches of lake sedimentary archives on the Tibetan Plateau.

The exact number, extent and chronology of the Middle Pleistocene Elsterian and Saalian glaciations in northern Central Europe are still controversial. This study presents new luminescence data from Middle Pleistocene ice-marginal deposits in northern Germany, giving evidence for repeated glaciations during the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12 to MIS 6). The study area is located in the Leine valley south of the North German Lowlands. The data set includes digital elevation models, high-resolution shear wave seismic profiles, outcrop and borehole data integrated into a 3D subsurface model to reconstruct the bedrock relief surface. For numerical age determination, we performed luminescence dating on 12 ice-marginal and two fluvial samples. Luminescence ages of ice-marginal deposits point to at least two ice advances during MIS 12 and MIS 10 with ages ranging from 461±34 to 421±25 ka and from 376±27 to 337±21 ka. The bedrock relief model and different generations of striations indicate that the older ice advance came from the north and the younger one from the northeast. During rapid ice-margin retreat, subglacial overdeepenings were filled with glaciolacustrine deposits, partly rich in re-worked Tertiary lignite and amber. During MIS 8 and MIS 6, the study area may have been affected by two ice advances. Luminescence ages of glaciolacustrine delta deposits point to a deposition during MIS 8 or early MIS 6, and late MIS 6 (250±20 to 161±10 ka). The maximum extent of both the Elsterian (MIS 12 and MIS 10) and Saalian glaciations (MIS 8? and MIS 6) approximately reached the same position in the Leine valley and was probably controlled by the formation of deep proglacial lakes in front of the ice sheets, preventing a further southward advance.

The history of sea-level change and sediment accumulation since the last deglaciation along the German North Sea coast is still controversial because of a limitation in the quantity and quality of chronological data. In the current study, the chronology of a 16-ka coastal sedimentary record from the Garding-2 core, retrieved from the Eiderstedt Peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany, was established using OSL and AMS 14C dating techniques. The robust chronology using 14 radiocarbon and 25 OSL dates from the Garding-2 core is the first long-term record that covers the Holocene as well as the last deglaciation period in one succession in the German North Sea area. It provides a new insight into understanding the Holocene transgression and coastal accumulation histories. The combined evidence from the sedimentology and chronology investigations indicates that an estuarine environment dominated in Eiderstedt Peninsula from 16 to 13 ka, followed by a depositional hiatus between 13 and 8.3 ka, attributed to erosion caused by the Holocene transgression; the onset of the Holocene transgression at the core site occurred at around 8.3 ka. The sea level continued to rise with a decelerated rate until around 3 ka. Since 3 ka, the shoreline has begun to prograde. Foreshore (tidal flat) sediments have been deposited at the drilling site with a very high sedimentation rate of about 10 m ka−1. At around 2 ka, a sandy beach deposit accumulated in the sedimentary succession, indicating that the coastline shifted landward, which may represent a small-scale transgression in the late Holocene. At around 1.5 ka, terrestrial clastic sediment started to accumulate, indicating a retreat of the relative sea level in this area, which may be related to local diking activities undertaken since the 11th century.

This paper focuses upon the youngest terraces of the Moselle and its tributary the Meurthe (NE France and SW Germany). It includes research on several sections, in particular the key sections of Golbey-Pre Droue and Thornich-Hochrech (located in the vicinity of the Vosges Massif and in the Rhenish Massif, respectively), and the use of the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating method. Our investigations made it possible to obtain a more robust chronostratigraphical framework and to update the previous model of fluvial response to climate change. The results demonstrate that the Moselle terrace M3 (first terrace formed after the capture of the Upper Moselle by the Palaeo-Meurthe) has the same age from the Vosges to the Rhenish Massif. The formation of this terrace included two main periods of sedimentation attributed to the Late Saalian (MIS 6) and the Early Weichselian (MIS 5), respectively. They were separated by a major episode of fluvial erosion that may be allocated to the MIS 6–5 transition on the basis of chronological and sedimentological evidence. This erosion led to the removal of most of the MIS 6 deposits, whereas the MIS 5 deposits have been widely preserved following the subsequent (MIS 5–4) terrace incision. This evolution somewhat contrasts with that observed in the Sarre valley, the main tributary of the Moselle, and with many fluvial systems in western Europe, which show better preservation of deposits from cold periods. This atypical behaviour is explained by the relationship between the fluvial evolution and the glaciers covering the upper Moselle catchment (Vosges Massif) during the Pleistocene cold periods.

The Late Pleistocene was characterized by rapid climate oscillations with alternation of warm and cold periods that lasted up to several thousand years. Although much work has been carried out on the palaeoclimate reconstruction, a direct correlation of ice-core, marine and terrestrial records is still difficult. Here we present new data from late Middle Pleniglacial to Lateglacial alluvial-fan and aeolian sand-sheet deposits in northwestern Germany. Records of Late Pleniglacial alluvial fans in central Europe are very rare, and OSL dating is used to determine the timing of fan aggradation. In contrast to fluvial systems that commonly show a delay between climate change and incision/aggradation, the small alluvial-fan systems of the Senne area responded rapidly to climatic changes and therefore act as important terrestrial climate archives for this time span. The onset of alluvial-fan deposition correlates with the climate change from warm to cold at the end of MIS 3 (29.3±3.2 ka). Strong fan progradation started at 24.4±2.8 ka and may be related to a period of higher humidity. The vertical stacking pattern of sedimentary facies and channel styles indicate a subsequrent overall decrease in water and sediment supply, with less sustained discharges and more sporadic runoffs from the catchment area, corresponding to an increasing aridity in central Europe during the Late Pleniglacial. Major phases of channel incision and fan aggradation may have been controlled by millennial-scale Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. The incision of channel systems is attributed to unstable climate phases at cold–warm (dry–wet) or warm–cold (wet–dry) transitions. The alluvial-fan deposits are bounded by an erosion surface and are overlain by aeolian sand-sheets that were periodically affected by flash-floods. This unconformity might be correlated with the Beuningen Gravel Bed, which is an important marker horizon in deposits of the Late Pleniglacial resulting from deflation under polar desert conditions. The deposition of aeolian sand-sheet systems (19.6±2.1 to 13.1±1.5 ka) indicates a rapid increase in aridity at the end of the Late Pleniglacial. Intercalated flash-floods deposits and palaeosols (Finow type) point to temporarily wet conditions during the Lateglacial. The formation of an ephemeral channel network probably marks the warm-cold transition from the Allerod to the Younger Dryas.

Alkane biomarker and pollen data were obtained from a 15-m-high and probably c. 240-kyr-old loess-like permafrost palaeosol sequence (‘Tumara Palaeosol Sequence’, TPS) in northeast Siberia. The alkane results were corrected for degradation effects by applying an end-member model and were evaluated by comparing them with the palynological results. The two data sets are generally in good agreement and suggest that the lower part of the TPS developed mainly under larch forests, whereas the upper part of the sequence reflects the expansion of mammoth steppes during the Weichselian glaciation and finally reforestation during the Lateglacial and the early Holocene. For the lower part of the TPS, the palaeoclimatic interpretation according to modern analogue methods would indicate warm, interglacial conditions, but this is at odds with the climate chronostratigraphy based on a multi-proxy palaeopedological approach and numeric dating. Provided that the correlation of the discussed stratigraphic unit with the Late Saalian glaciation and the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6 is correct, our results suggest that temperature was not a limiting factor for tree growth at that time. Furthermore, it seems very likely that it was not mainly temperature changes but rather increasing aridity and continentality during the course of the last glacial that favoured the expansion of the mammoth steppe.