Numerical 230Th/U dating and a palynological review of the Holsteinian/Hoxnian Interglacial

Earth scientists increasingly consider the Holsteinian Interglacial and MIS 11 as synonyms, despite the limited number of numerical dates and ambiguous stratigraphic and palynological correlation with the numerical marine isotope timescale. Hence, we present new TIMS 230Th/U dates from two fen peat layers of the Holsteinian reference site at Bossel in northern Germany and re-evaluate published numerical data from two sites with Hoxnian deposits in England. A new method for the calculation of methodically controlled minimum 230Th/U ages (MCMA) was developed. The synopsis of the 230Th/U dates allows a correlation of both the Holsteinian and Hoxnian Interglacials to MIS 9. This correlation is supported by supplementary 230Th/U dates of fen peat from several pre-Eemian but non-Holsteinian sites in Germany. There is palynological evidence for a reliable correlation between precisely investigated and numerically dated Holsteinian deposits in Poland, Germany, England, SW-Ireland and France. An apparently contradictory palynological correlation from the French Central Massif is discussed.