Redeposited Eemian marine clay in Somero, south-western Finland

Samples from a 33.3 m deep borehole of early Flandrian clay in Somero, south-western Finland, were studied. The thick clay, although similar in origin to the varved clays in the area, is here without clearly developed varves. Pollen analysis showed that most or all pollen was redeposited Eemian pollen, also representing the Eemian climatic optimum, and the diatoms confirmed the marine origin of the redeposited clay. The Somero clay, together with earlier finds of marine Eemian clay in the south-eastern parts of Fennoscandia, as in Rouhiala, Karelia, prove that southern Finland was more submerged during the climatic optimum of the Eemian interglacial than during the Litorina Sea period of the Flandrian.