Weichselian glaciation

Europe during the Weichselian and Würm cold periods

The Weichselian glaciation is the regional name for the Last Glacial Period in the northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet (the Fenno-Scandian ice sheet) that spread out from the Scandinavian Mountains[1] and extended as far as the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein, northern Poland and Northwest Russia. This glaciation is also known as the Weichselian ice age (German: Weichsel-Eiszeit), Vistulian glaciation, Weichsel[2] or, less commonly, the Weichsel glaciation, Weichselian cold period (Weichsel-Kaltzeit), Weichselian glacial (Weichsel-Glazial), Weichselian Stage or, rarely, the Weichselian complex (Weichsel-Komplex).

In Northern Europe it was the youngest of the glacials of the Pleistocene ice age. The preceding warm period in this region was the Eemian interglacial. The last cold period began about 115,000 years ago and ended 11,700 years ago.[3] Its end corresponds with the end of the Pleistocene epoch and the start of the Holocene. The German geologist Konrad Keilhack [de] (1858–1944) named it using the German name (Weichsel) of the Vistula (Polish: Wisła) in present-day Poland.

Evolution of the Baltic Sea
Pleistocene
Eemian Sea (130,000–115,000 BC)
Ice sheets and seas (115,000–12,600 BC)
Holocene
Baltic Ice Lake (12,600–10,300 BC)
Yoldia Sea (10,300–9,500 BC)
Ancylus Lake (9,500–8,000 BC)
Mastogloia Sea (8,000–7,500 BC)
Littorina Sea (7,500–4,000 BC)
Modern Baltic Sea (4,000 BC–present)
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fredin2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Whittow, John (1984). Dictionary of Physical Geography. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 580. ISBN 0-14-051094-X.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Litt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).