Introduction
Deposits of late Pliocene and early Pleistocene age are found in several parts of western Germany (Figure 17.1), with marine strata principally in the northern coastal plain of northwestern Germany, and estuarine and nonmarine deposits in the Rhine Graben and other structural depressions in the North German Plain. Among these the marine record concerns mostly Pliocene deposits, whereas the lower Rhine Basin contains a lengthy and apparently continuous record of sedimentation during that time period. In the upper Rhine Graben and other inland areas, the Plio–Pleistocene record is not as comprehensive, being represented by localized and irregularly condensed sequences, which still afford some important correlation data.
The authors were responsible for the sections of this chapter as follows: K. Brunnacker, geological and paleomagnetic data; the late Professor H. Tobien, vertebrate paleontology; G. von der Brelie, palynology; W. Hinsch, marine paleontology.
Geological background
Northwestern Germany. In the coastal sequence, the stratigraphic units of most interest are the Kaolinite Sand (Weyl, Rein, and Teichmüller, 1955) and the Lieth series (Menke, 1975). Particular sections have been described from Oldenswort (Menke, 1975), Weser-Bergland (Benda et al., 1968), and Ostfriesland (Meyer, 1981).
Lower Rhine Basin. In this region, the stratigraphic sequence, divided into cyclic units of transgressive–regressive couplets, is denominated A/a to D/d, from oldest to youngest (Boenigk et al., 1974), and appears to correspond with the record from the Rhine delta in The Netherlands (Zagwijn, 1974; Zagwijn, Chapter 16, this volume).
The lower strata, unquestionably Pliocene in age, have been correlated according to molluscan faunas and palynology, analyzed petrographically, and inserted into the paleomagnetic scale by Boenigk and co-workers (Boenigk et al., 1974; Boenigk, 1978a; Boenigk, Koci, and Brunnacker, 1979).