Data and Some Considerations Concerning the Pleistocene Chronology in Japan

The attitude of the climatic and sea-level changes inferred from the Pleistocene geology of South Kanto offers a standard scheme on those of Japanese Islands (Fig. 1). In this paper the writer attempts to establish the time-stratigraphic division of the Japanese Pleistocene based on the Quaternary geology of Tokyo-Yokohama area, and gives some consideration on the stratigraphic problems of the area, then lists up the paleoclimatic data of the area by plant remains, pollen, molluscs, foraminifers etc. (Tab. 1). The age of the Shimosueyoshi stage is discussed in comparison with climatic and sea-level curves given by de Vries, Emiliani, Fairbridge, and Broecker (Fig. 2).