Foraminifera in Eemian deposits at Stensigmose, southern Jutland

Abstract

The foraminiferal content of 57 samples from two sections in interglacial Eemian deposits of the cliff at Stensigmose, Broagerland in southern Jutland, have been investigated. Saalian glaciofluvial deposits and Eemian freshwater clay, underlying the marine sequence, were examined in order to check a contamination by reworked specimens from older deposits. The foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the marine sediments were deposited in shallow water. As the lower part of the strata was deposited, the water depth was increasing, but later on it was constantly decreasing. The lower part of the marine sequence was deposited during rising temperature conditions, reaching probably a little higher than today. Salinity was low throughout the deposition of these sediments, but higher than that of the present Baltic Sea.