A 350,000-year climatic record from the loess sequence of Achenheim, Alsace, France

Up to now the best Quaternary climatic sequences come from oceanic isotope studies, but terrestrial sequences are also well known, usually for pollen or ice core data. A new sequence providing climatic information for the last 500,000 years has been studied in the loess series of Achenheim (Alsace), using the mollusc record in relation to other stratigraphical data. Mollusc assemblages are analysed using a multivariate method. The correspondence analysis used here allows us to explain, in ecological terms, the general variability of the Achenheim set. Most Pleistocene mollusc species have the advantage that modem individuals live in the same assemhlages. So, the known ecology and distribution of the modern molluscs allow us to conclude that the first two factors explain variations in temperature and moisture. Each loading, on a factor, of each association in its stratigraphical level contributes to characterizing the evolution of each climatic parameter through time. For the last five climatic cycles, these evolutions are expressed as a function of the depth within the series. As they are well preserved, the last three glacial cycles are studied in detail. They correspond to the last 350,000 years, are compared with SPECMAP data and particularly show correlations between continental and marine climatic indicators. The mollusc assemblages of the loess sequence also provide information on temperature and moisture conditions. The evolutions of each parameter are not identical during the last three cycles, indicating that the climatic history of one cycle cannot be transferred to the others. The mollusc assemblages also record the occurrence of an oscillatory system, especially during the Weichselian Upper Pleniglacial (isotopic stage 2) when it announces the Late Glacial variations. Similar oscillating excursions seem to have occurred during the older glacial stages.