The Pastonian interglacial, now called the Pastonian Stage (from
Paston, Norfolk), is the name for an early or middle
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
stage of geological history in the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. It precedes the
Beestonian Stage and follows the
Pre-Pastonian Stage. Unfortunately the precise age of this stage cannot yet be defined in terms of absolute dating or MIS stages. The Pre-Pastonian Stage is equivalent to the
Tiglian C5-6 Stage of Europe and the Pre-Illinoian I glaciation of the early
Pre-Illinoian Stage of North America.
[Gibbard, P.L., S. Boreham, K.M. Cohen and A. Moscariello, 2007]
''Global chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 2.7 million years v. 2007b''
jpg version 844 KB. Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England[ Lisiecki, L.E., 2005]
Ages of MIS boundaries.
Boston University, Boston, MA
data: .
Deciduous woodland increased, including species such as
Hornbeam
Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Common names
The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...
(''Carpinus''),
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
(''Ulmus''),
Hazel
Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...
(''Corylus''), and
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
(''Picea''). Towards the end of the period, there is evidence for a fall in sea levels and an increase in grassland species.
References
External links
*anonymous, 2007
''Global correlation tables for the Quaternary'' Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England
Further reading
*Bowen, D.Q., 1978, ''Quaternary geology: a stratigraphic framework for multidisciplinary work. '' Pergamon Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. 221 pp.
*Ehlers, J., P. L. Gibbard, and J. Rose, eds., 1991, ''Glacial deposits in Great Britain and Ireland.'' Balkema, Rotterdam. 580 pp
*Mangerud, J., J. Ehlers, and P. Gibbard, 2004, ''Quaternary Glaciations: Extent and Chronology 1: Part I Europe'', Elsevier, Amsterdam.
*
See also
*
Ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
*
Glacial period
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
*
Last glacial period
*
Timeline of glaciation
Glaciology
Pleistocene
Interglacials
{{Glaciology-stub