EEMIAN SEA

marine transgression during the Eemian Interglacial Stage of the Pleistocene Epoch (the Pleistocene began about 2,500,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Eemian Sea flooded much of northern Europe and converted Scandinavia into a virtual island. The sea also deposited a thick sequence of sediments that contains a fossil fauna indicating that water temperatures were at least as warm as those of the region today. Late in the history of the Eemian Sea, climatic conditions became more severe, as indicated by a change to a cooler water fauna.