ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the Pleistocene stratigraphy of Finland south of Oulu. Southern Finland is located at the centre of the area affected by the Scandinavian continental glaciation and has therefore been subjected to the erosional and depositional processes associated with repeated Pleistocene glaciations. The Pleistocene stratigraphy in Finland mainly comprises sequences of glacial deposits. Some Pleistocene deposits in southern Finland have also been dated using the thermoluminescence method and uranium series isotopes. In southern Finland, the Pleistocene deposits usually rest on crystalline Precambrian bedrock. Occurrences of weathered bedrock have been found immediately underlying Pleistocene till deposits all over Finland. However, if older Pleistocene deposits are the source of the organic remains, they may contain Tertiary diatoms that were relict during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. The extent of the Early Weichselian glaciation has been a subject of numerous studies and has fuelled the debate on the Pleistocene stratigraphy of Finland.
