E lsterian‐ H olsteinian deposits at K ås H oved, northern D enmark: sediments, foraminifera, ostracods, and stable isotopes

The coastal cliff section at K ås H oved in northern D enmark represents one of the largest exposures of marine interglacial deposits in E urope. High‐resolution analyses of sediments, foraminifera, ostracods, and stable isotopes (oxygen and carbon) in glacial‐interglacial marine sediments from this section, as well as from two adjacent boreholes, are the basis for an interpretation of marine environmental and climatic change through the L ate E lsterian‐ H olsteinian glacial‐interglacial cycle. The overlying glacial deposits show two ice advances during the S aalian and W eichselian glaciations. The assemblages in the initial glacier‐proximal part of the marine L ate E lsterian succession reveal fluctuations in the inflow of sediment‐loaded meltwater to the area. This is followed by faunal indication of glacier‐distal, open marine conditions, coinciding with a gradual climatic change from arctic to subarctic environments. Continuous marine sedimentation during the glacial‐interglacial transition is presumably a result of a large‐scale isostatic subsidence caused by the preceding extended E lsterian glaciation. The similarity of the climatic signature of the interglacial H olsteinian and H olocene assemblages in this region indicates that the A tlantic O cean circulation was similar during these two interglacials, whereas E emian interglacial assemblages indicate a comparatively high water temperature associated with an enhanced N orth A tlantic C urrent. The foraminiferal zones are correlated with other E lsterian‐ H olsteinian sites in D enmark, as well as those in the type area for the H olsteinian interglacial in northern G ermany and the southern N orth S ea. Correlation of the NW E uropean H olsteinian succession with the marine isotope stages MIS 7, 9 or 11 is still unresolved.