Pleistocene glaciations in southern Poland – a revision

Abstract

A revised stratigraphy the Lower and Middle Pleistocene in southern Poland is presented, based on geological evidence from key sites, better constraints on the number and age of Scandinavian ice sheet advances, and the stratigraphic setting of the interglacial sequences. Identification of the palaeomagnetic Brunhes/Matuyama boundary and an admixture of glacially derived material of northern provenance in fluvial deposits demonstrate that the oldest Scandinavian ice sheet advance (Nidanian Glaciation) in Poland and the first warming of the oldest interglacial (Podlasian) occurred in the late Early Pleistocene. The first ice sheet advance in the Oowiecim Basin is recorded by a till of the Nidanian Glaciation. A single till and its geological setting relative to deposits of the Podlasian and Ferdynandovian interglacials show that, contrary to previous opinions, the ice sheet advance of the early Middle Pleistocene Sanian 1 Glaciation was a single, the most extensive glacial event in the Sandomierz Basin and in western Ukraine. The Sanian 2 and the Odranian ice sheets were considerably less extensive in eastern Poland. The revised Pleistocene stratigraphy and palaeogeography of southern Poland is a significant step forward towards reliable correlation of the Polish climatostratigraphic units with the European stratigraphy