Microfossils (foraminifera, Ostracoda) from an Eemian (last Interglacial) tidal flat sequence in south-west Denmark

Abstract

The north-west European coastal plain was indented by several shallow bays and expanses of tidal flat sedimentation during the Eemian Interglacial. One of these bays, at Højer, south-west Denmark, has been the subject of intensive research and several lines of evidence indicate an Eemian age. This paper discusses the foraminifera and Ostracoda present in these deposits. Three phases of accumulation are recognized: an initial brackish tidal flat grading into a more open tidal flat environment; a phase of shallow, subtidal deposition (Turritella-Ton) when water depths may have attained 15-20 m; and a final phase of shallowing conditions reflecting a fall in sea-level. The warm climate which prevailed during the Eemian enabled the migration of certain species of more southerly affinity into the North Sea. These include the foraminifera Elphidium lidoense, Elphidium translucens, Quinqueloculina aspera, and Quinqueloculina seminulum var. Jugosa, and the Ostracoda Callistocythere cf. praecincta, Carinocythereis whitei, Semicytherura arcachonensis, and Aurila aff. A. prasini. None of these taxa are present in the Holocene faunas of the North Sea and only two are known from Holsteinian Interglacial deposits. These taxa are, therefore, considered as index fossils for the Eemian in this region. © 1990.