The First Aminostratigraphies for the Quaternary of the Swiss Plateau

Abstract. Here we develop an amino acid chronology to help establish a dated sequence for the important Early Pleistocene Höhere and Tiefere Deckenschotter morphostratigraphic units, as well as other Middle and Late Pleistocene deposits from across the Swiss Plateau. The intra-crystalline protein decomposition (IcPD) in a variety of calcium carbonate biominerals (including novel and rarely-analysed taxa) was used to develop the first aminostratigraphy for this region of central Europe. Age discrimination is possible between the Quaternary sites from the Swiss Plateau in six different biominerals: Bithynia opercula, shell fragments from Fruticola, Arianta and Cepaea, slug plates and worm granules. This chronology is compared with new and existing dating information derived from lithostratigraphy, palaeomagnetic data, biostratigraphic data (pollen, small mammals) and numerical dating methods (such as OSL/IRSL, U/Th, cosmogenic nuclides), as well as new biostratigraphic data derived from a study of Early to Late Pleistocene molluscan faunas from the Swiss Plateau. These new aminostratigraphies provide a relative chronology and give crucial new age information for a number of key sites from across the Swiss Plateau, which helps to fill major gaps in the Quaternary chronology for Switzerland.