The Waalian interglacial (german: Waal-Warmzeit or ''Waal-Interglazial'') or Waalian Stage was an

interglacial period An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene in ...

of the

Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time ...

in north-west Europe. It was preceded by the Eburonian Stage and succeeded by the Menapian Stage. It coincides with part of the much longer

Beestonian stage The Beestonian Stage is an early Pleistocene stage used in the British Isles. It is named after Beeston Cliffs near West Runton in Norfolk where deposits from this stage are preserved. The Beestonian precedes the Cromerian Stage and follows the ...

in Britain. It is variously dated by different authorities. Oxford Reference gives 1.3 to 0.9 million years ago and the

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS hea ...

1.6 to 1.36 million years ago. However, the 2020 chart of the international authority on stratigraphic dating, the

International Commission on Stratigraphy The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), sometimes referred to unofficially as the "International Stratigraphic Commission", is a daughter or major subcommittee grade scientific daughter organization that concerns itself with stratigr ...

shows it as c. 1.6 to 1.4 million years ago. Its name is derived from a major branch of the Rhine delta, the Waal.

References

{{North German glaciations Pleistocene events Interglacials