Climatic changes over the last 5,000,000 years as recorded in the Canary Islands

Abstract

Successive sedimentary sequences were observed in the Canary Islands. The warm phases are documented by marine terraces and their warm fauna; they are in intercalated between humid episodes documented by fossiliferous paleosols and arid episodes documented by polygonal soils and calcretes. The arid phases are testified to by heavy eolian deposition and dunes building.