A 12.5-kyr history of vegetation dynamics and mire development with evidence of Younger Dryas larch presence in the Verkhoyansk Mountains, East Siberia, Russia |
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| Authors: | KIRSTIN WERNER PAVEL E TARASOV REI A ANDREEV STEFANIE MÜLLER FRANK KIENAST MICHAEL ZECH WOLFGANG ZECH BERNHARD DIEKMANN |
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| Institution: | Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Wischhofstr. 1-3, D-24148 Kiel, Germany;;Institute for Geological Sciences/Palaeontology, Free University Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, D-12249 Berlin, Germany;;Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A43, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany;;Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Research Station for Quaternary Palaeontology, Am Jakobskirchhof 4, D-99423 Weimar, Germany;;University of Bayreuth, Chair of Geomorphology and Department of Soil Physics, Universitätsstraße 30, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany;;University of Bayreuth, Institute of Soil Science and Soil Geography, Universitätsstraße 30, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany |
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| Abstract: | Werner, K., Tarasov, P. E., Andreev, A. A., Müller, S., Kienast, F., Zech, M., Zech, W. & Diekmann, B. 2009: A 12.5‐kyr history of vegetation dynamics and mire development with evidence of Younger Dryas larch presence in the Verkhoyansk Mountains, East Siberia, Russia. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00116.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. A 415 cm thick permafrost peat section from the Verkhoyansk Mountains was radiocarbon‐dated and studied using palaeobotanical and sedimentological approaches. Accumulation of organic‐rich sediment commenced in a former oxbow lake, detached from a Dyanushka River meander during the Younger Dryas stadial, at ～12.5 kyr BP. Pollen data indicate that larch trees, shrub alder and dwarf birch were abundant in the vegetation at that time. Local presence of larch during the Younger Dryas is documented by well‐preserved and radiocarbon‐dated needles and cones. The early Holocene pollen assemblages reveal high percentages of Artemisia pollen, suggesting the presence of steppe‐like communities around the site, possibly in response to a relatively warm and dry climate ～11.4–11.2 kyr BP. Both pollen and plant macrofossil data demonstrate that larch woods were common in the river valley. Remains of charcoal and pollen of Epilobium indicate fire events and mark a hiatus ～11.0–8.7 kyr BP. Changes in peat properties, C31/C27 alkane ratios and radiocarbon dates suggest that two other hiatuses occurred ～8.2–6.9 and ～6.7–0.6 kyr BP. Prior to 0.6 kyr BP, a major fire destroyed the mire surface. The upper 60 cm of the studied section is composed of aeolian sands modified in the uppermost part by the modern soil formation. For the first time, local growth of larch during the Younger Dryas has been verified in the western foreland of the Verkhoyansk Mountains (～170 km south of the Arctic Circle), thus increasing our understanding of the quick reforestation of northern Eurasia by the early Holocene. |
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