Jacques Evin

A comprehensive pollen- and tephra-based chronostratigraphic model for the Late Glacial and Holocene period in the French Massif Central

This paper discusses about 250 conventional C-14 ages obtained on peat and gyttja samples that apply to pollen features or tephra beds in the Massif Central region of France. A method to estimate the migration periods of eight Late Glacial to Holocene pollen features typical of the Massif Central is described. A review of all C-14 ages pertaining to tephras of this region enabled the most appropriate age, or age range, of the tephras to be estimated. The chronostratigraphic relationships between pollen features and tephras are discussed and a new comprehensive stratigraphic model is presented. The model shows that pollen features are diachronous and should not be used therefore as proxy stratigraphic markers. Copyright (C) 1996 INQUA/Elsevier Science Ltd

A METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE MIGRATION TIME OF PLANT SPECIES WITHIN THE TIME RANGE OF 14C-DATING

Two hundred and fifty C-14 dates available from the French Massif Central, Germany and From High Belgium are discussed from a new point of view. It is shown that in an area of the French Massif Central as small as 100 x 100 km, Holocene pollen features in pollen diagrams can be treated as biostratigraphic tools delineating time ranges of several centuries. Larger time ranges characterize the Early Holocene warming (Quercus, Corylus), and shorter ones, the Middle Holocene (Tilia, Fagus). The method of calculation described in this paper can be applied within any area