New vegetation history reconstructions suggest a biostratigraphic assignment of the lowermost Rodderberg interglacial (Germany) to MIS 11

Along with the ongoing climate crisis, research efforts increasingly focus on Pleistocene environmental archives. Interglacial periods are of special interest, as they offer crucial information about natural interactions (i.e. not influenced by human activities) between and ecosystems within a climatic setting comparable to Holocene and/or change projections. The sedimentary infill Rodderberg crater, 10 km south city Bonn (Germany), records several glacial-interglacial cycles in superposition, which makes it rare promising archive. One most challenging targets is establish robust chronological framework for sediment sequence. In present study we reconstruct vegetation history basal prominent interglacial sequence, lowermost (LRI), apply principles pollen biostratigraphy estimate depositional age. At base sequence steppe tundra conditions prevailed during cryocratic phase before onset interglacial. Rising temperatures caused afforestation landscape boreal forests protocratic phase, subsequently were replaced temperate mesocratic phase. continues under unstable characterized dominated Carpinus Abies oligocratic During terminal part LRI, telocratic nemoboreal covered landscape. Due deterioration these collapsed evolved again (cryocratic phase). This climate-driven cycle followed an interstadial rather closed forest vegetation. Based occurrences characteristic taxa well assemblages succession, refrain from correlating LRI any warm stages c. 240 180 ka BP, i.e. roughly corresponding MIS 7. A correlation Holsteinian, was previously physically dated 340–325 cannot unambiguously be excluded, however, absence Pterocarya argues against it. Instead, has striking similarities Kärlich interglacial, been 400 making chronologically equivalent 11.