Rapid climatic changes of the last 90 kyr recorded on the European continent

Millennial-scale events of the last glacial period (Dansgaard–Oeschger events (D/O)), characterized by great temperature changes in the ice core records, have also influenced the vegetation and the climate of the European continent. Three types of continental archives – the loess deposits, the pollen assemblage record of a continental margin core and speleothems – spread on western Europe along a SW–NE profile, give information about the humidity, temperature and vegetation changes that were due to these millennial scale climatic changes.