A local clay-varve chronology and proglacial sedimentary environment in glacial Lake Peipsi, eastern Estonia

Ten cores consisting of varved clay from the northern part of Lake Peipsi in eastern Estonia have been correlated using varve thickness variations and specific marker varves into a 375-year floating varve chronology. Continuous sedimentation during gradual ice recession is concluded from a clear transition from proximal to distal varves. Cyclic variations in varve thickness are caused mainly by thickness changes of clayey winter layers. This is interpreted to indicate increased influx of finer material due to faster melting of the glacier. The cyclic pattern of thickness change is explained by alternating periods of increased and decreased melting of the ice. Simultaneous accumulation of varved clay in glacial Lake Peipsi and in the Luga and Neva basins of Russia is concluded from the good visual correlation between the mean varve thickness diagrams for the three chronologies. Because the varve chronologies from northwestern Russia have been tentatively correlated to the Swedish varve chronology, the timing of the clay accumulation in glacial Lake Peipsi is placed between c . 13 500 and 13 100 varve years BP.     

Evidence of the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake and the brackish phase of the Yoldia Sea in glacial varves from the Baltic Sea

A clay-varve chronology based on 14 cross-correlated varve graphs from the Baltic Sea and a mean varve thickness curve has been constructed. This chronology is correlated with the Swedish Time Scale and covers the time span 11530 to 10250 varve years BP. Two cores have been analysed for grain size, chemistry, content of diatoms and changes in colour by digital colour analysis. The final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake is dated to c . 10800 varve years BP and registered in the cores analysed as a decrease in the content of clay. This event can be correlated with atmospheric Δ14 C content and might have resulted in an increase in these values recorded between 11565 and 11545 years BP. The results of the correlation between the varve chronology from the Baltic Sea, the Greenland GRIP ice core and the atmospheric Δ14 C record indicate that c . 760 years are missing in the Swedish Time Scale in the part younger than c. 10250 varve years BP. A change in colour from a brownish to grey varved glacial clay recorded c . 10770 varve years BP is found to be the result of oxygen deficiency due to an increase in the rate of sedimentation in the early Preboreal. The first brackish influence is recorded c . 10540 varve years BP in the northwestern Baltic Sea and some 90 years later in the eastern Gotland Basin.     

AMS dating Swedish varved clays of the last glacial/interglacial transition and the potential/difficulties of calibrating Late Weichselian 'absolute' chronologies

The increasing focus on the chronology of environmental and climatic changes of the last glacial-interglacial transition has led to several independent attempts to try to calibrate the ¹⁴C time-scale beyond the Holocene. The Late Weichselian Gotiglacial varved clays of the Swedish Time Scale could potentially be used for this purpose. The reliability of the Swedish Time Scale is discussed as well as different ways of using the Swedish varved clays for calibrating the ¹⁴C chronology. The strategy and initial results from an ongoing calibration project are presented. They show clearly that, if the right strategy is adopted, varved clay may be dated by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C measurement of terrestrial macrofossils. A Late Weichselian 'event stratigraphy', including the Vedde Ash fall-out, is established for south Scandinavia using three dating categories: clay varve measurements, terrestrial macrofossil measurement, and lake sediment (including aquatic mosses) measurements. It suggests that a ¹⁴C chronology based on terrestrial organic remains is not consistent with the traditional Late Weichselian chronostratigraphy based on lake-sediment samples, and that 'clay varve years' exceed 'terrestrial ¹⁴C years' by c. 900 years at the end of, and by 1100–1200 years at the beginning of the Younger Dryas Chronozone. Further back in time, the time-scales appear to converge. These results are compared with other recently published calibration studies.     

湖泊沉积物年纹层的研究方法及其意义

文章总结了前人对湖泊沉积物年纹层类型的划分,并根据年纹层的形成过程和组分特征分为3个大类,即碎屑年纹层、生物成因年纹层(如硅藻年纹层等)和化学成因年纹层(如方解石年纹层、菱铁矿年纹层、黄铁矿年纹层、蒸发盐年纹层等)。介绍了目前应用于湖泊沉积物年纹层研究的主要方法和技术包括:1)新鲜沉积物表面照相、X射线照相技术;2)光学显微镜观察;3)数字化图像分析;4)扫描电子显微镜技术等。而岩相学大薄片是目前年纹层研究工作中应用非常广泛的材料,对目前制作大薄片比较普遍采用的快速冷冻-冷冻干燥和水-丙酮-环氧树脂交换这两种方法进行了介绍并比较了各自的优劣。湖泊沉积物年纹层研究的古环境意义主要体现在两个方面,一是提供了高精度的纹层年代学时间标尺,在诸如气候突变事件的时限、大气¹⁴C浓度变化、火山灰层定年、古地磁场长期变化主曲线重建等方面有重要意义;二是年纹层性质研究如年纹层厚度和年纹层微相变化本身所蕴藏的高分辨率古气候环境变化信息,在太阳活动周期、ENSO等气候事件的研究中也有重要意义。最后,文章简单介绍了我国东北龙岗火山区四海龙湾玛珥湖沉积物中年纹层的特征并展望了其研究潜力。     

湖泊沉积物年纹层研究的古地磁学意义综述

年纹层发育的湖泊沉积物可以提供独立的、绝对定年的时间标尺,为重建高分辨率的区域古地磁场长期变化主曲线提供了难得的条件;基于长而连续的湖泊沉积物年纹层时间标尺建立的区域磁偏角和磁倾角长期变化参考曲线大大增强了岩芯对比和古地磁定年结果的精确性。此外,满足特定条件的湖泊沉积物还可以提供古地磁场强度长期变化的记录并有助于反映宇宙成因核素(如^14C、^10Be等)产生速率的变化、太阳活动等信息;目前,湖泊沉积物纹层年代学时间标尺及古地磁研究程度较高的主要是瑞典、芬兰和北美一些地区,区域古地磁场长期变化主曲线的地理分布并不均匀,因此在全球范围内寻找长序列的、连续的年纹层发育的湖泊进行古地磁研究可以更好地理解仪器观测记录以前的地磁场行为。     

Palaeomagnetic records from two varved clay sequences in the Middle Swedish ice marginal zone

Two varved clay sequences, at Rystad and Tottnäs, situated in the Middle Swedish ice marginal zone were analysed palaeomagnetically. Two parallel profiles were sampled and analysed at each site. The varved clay at Rystad was dated by floating varve chronology. The varves at Tottnäs can be linked to Swedish time scale, expressed in calendar years B.P. Due to the distance between the sites they cannot be correlated by means of varve diagrams. Palaemagnetic methods were used as an alternative. Based an AF demanetization of pilot samples, the palaeomanetic to be too low, in the order of15, compared to the site latitude. At Tottnäs the inclination records are very close to the expected inclination with respect to the site latitude. Because of a systematic inclination error in the Rystad profiles the correlation was based on the declination records. Statistical comparisons of these records between the two sites indicate that the sediment successions are partly synchronous. It is concluded that the deglaciation at Tottnäs started c. 130 years earlier than at Rystad. This mean that the Swedish ice marginal zone east of Rystad will have a more northeasterly extension than previously thought.     

Long varve series in Finland

Thinly varved 'postglacial' organic sediments are quite common in Finnish lakes, and attempts have been made to locate a site where they could be connected with the varved 'lateglacial' clays in order to he able to count the entire time since the ice retreat within one varved sequence. One promising site is Lake Valkiajärvi near Ruovesi in the Lake Region. The known sedimentary record covers nearly 9,500 years, which means that it starts very close to the time of the deglaciation of the Valkiajärvi area, around 9,600 B.P., or + 600 according to the original Finnish varve chronology (of Sauramo).     

The multiple chronological techniques applied to the Lake Suigetsu SG06 sediment core,central Japan

The varved sediment of Lake Suigetsu (central Japan) provides a valuable opportunity to obtain high‐resolution, multi‐proxy palaeoenvironmental data across the last glacial/interglacial cycle. In order to maximize the potential of this archive, a well‐constrained chronology is required. This paper outlines the multiple geochronological techniques being applied – namely varve counting, radiocarbon dating, tephrochronology (including argon–argon dating) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) – and the approaches by which these techniques are being integrated to form a single, coherent, robust chronology. Importantly, we also describe here the linkage of the floating Lake Suigetsu (SG06) varve chronology and the absolute (IntCal09 tree‐ring) time scale, as derived using radiocarbon data from the uppermost (non‐varved) portion of the core. This tie‐point, defined as a distinct (flood) marker horizon in SG06 (event layer B‐07–08 at 1397.4 cm composite depth), is thus derived to be 11 255 to 11 222 IntCal09 cal. years BP (68.2% probability range).     

Occurrence of varved lake sediment sequences in Varmland, west central Sweden: lake characteristics, varve chronology and AMS radiocarbon dating

Varved lake sediments can be used to set multiple environmental proxies within a calendar year time scale. We undertook a systematic survey of lakes in the Province of Värmland, west central Sweden, with the aim of finding continuous varved lake sediment sequences covering the majority of the Holocene. In Fennoscandia, such sediments have previously only been recorded in northern Sweden and in southern and central Finland. By following a selective process and fieldwork we discovered three new varved sites (i.e. Furskogstjärnet, Mötterudstjärnet and Kälksjön). We found that lakes with varved sediments have several common lake morphometry properties and lake catchment characteristics such as maximum water depth, maximum water depth/lake surface area ratio, catchment soil types, altitude and number of inflows. Varve chronologies, supported by AMS-¹⁴C dating and tephrochronology were established for two of the sediment profiles. These varve chronologies are the longest geological records with an annual resolution known to exist in Sweden. In Furskogstjärnet, the AMS- ¹⁴C dates based on terrestrial plant macrofossils at several levels deviate significantly from the varve based time-depth curve. In Motterudstjarnet, a fully reasonable time-depth model based on the ¹⁴C dates gives older ages in the lower part of the sequence compared to the varve chronology. These results highlight that seemingly acceptable AMS radiocarbon dates may be erroneous. They also point to the fact that varved lake sediments are reliable geological archives with respect to chronological control and accuracy. Thus, these archives should be of prime interest for studies of climate and environmental change undertaken with the aim of providing sub-decadal resolution proxy data sets.     

Correlation of stadial and interstadial events in the south Swedish glacial varves with the GRIP oxygen isotope record

A number of correlated varve sequences from the local varve chronology in southeastern Sweden have been selected to make a 1040 varve years long mean varve thickness curve. Pollen analyses were carried out over an interval of 373 varve years in the northern part of the study area. The pollen stratigraphical data have been divided into local pollen assemblage zones which have been correlated with the radiocarbon-dated regional pollen assemblage zones. Based on variations in herb and tree pollen content of the analysed varve sequences, it has been possible to identify well-documented lateglacial pollen zones for southern Sweden, i.e. the Bölling interstadial (GI-1e), the Older Dryas cold event (GI-1d) and the early part of the Alleröd interstadial (GI-1c). The event stratigraphy in this study, based on varying varve thicknesses and the composition of the pollen flora in the varves, has been correlated with the oxygen isotope stratigraphy of the GRIP ice-core on Greenland between 13600 and 14400 GRIP ice-core years BP. It is concluded that five decadal warm events and one centennial warm event (15–60 and 100 varve years long, respectively) occur in the clay varve record along with one centennial cold event (150 varve years long), the Older Dryas (GI-1d).     

The use of varved clay chronology for dating paleoseismic events: the Erstavik record in the Stockholm area, south Sweden

Geological structures suggest that the Fennoscandian Shield was subjected to a higher seismicity at the end of the last glaciation than today. This article demonstrates the use of varved clay chronology for dating paleoseismic events. It is argued that the deposited annually layered glacial varves were sensitive to past ground movements. In the Stockholm area, the Erstavik varved clay chronology suggests four paleoseismic events: a first (I) dating from varve year 10,473 to 10,468 BP; a second (II) 10,451 to 10,445 BP; a third (III) 10,429 to 10,425 BP; and a fourth (IV) 10,409 to 10,404 BP. In De Geer's ‘old' (1940) chronology the first (I) dating corresponds with −1117 to −1112, the second (II) with −1095 to −1089, the third (III) with −1073 to −1069, and the fourth (IV) with −1053 to −1048. The most pronounced event was the one at around varve year 10,429 BP (varve −1073 in De Geer's ‘old' chronology). The recurrence time of about 20 years suggests a totally different seismic regime at the time of deglaciation than what exists today. It coincided with the period of maximum isostatic uplift. The complexity of the varved clay response to seismic events is also discussed.     

Late Weichselian pollen stratigraphy, clay varve chronology and palaeomagnetic secular variations in Lake Bolmen, Småland, south Sweden

Pollen analysis, glacial varve chronology and palaeomagnetic measurements were carried out on Late Weichselian lake sediments from southwestern Smaland, south Sweden. The sequence is correlated to the GRIP event stratigraphy, expressed in calendar years BP, and covers the period from the deglaciation at c. 14 400 to 11 300 calendar years BP. The series encompasses c. 930 varves and has been connected to the local varve chronology. Varve thickness increases markedly after the Older Dryas stadial, which indicates an accelerated deglaciation and melting of dead ice. The pollen diagram displays the vegetation development from the deglaciation at c. 14 400 calendar years BP to the transition to the Holocene. The vegetation succession starts with an arctic pioneer vegetation at the deglaciation, changes to a more stable tundra environment and displays a development which concurs with the traditional lateglacial pollen stratigraphy for southern Sweden. A palaeo-magnetic secular variation curve is presented displaying two westerly declination swings at 14200-13800 and 12 800-11 600 calendar years BP, respectively. The upper one can be recognized from other palaeomagnetic stratigraphies from southern Sweden and Estonia.     

高分辨率古环境指示器--湖泊纹泥研究综述

作为高分辨率古环境指示器,湖泊纹泥在重建晚第四纪特别是近代全球环境变化中具有特殊的地位和意义。纹泥携带的各种季节信息反映了区域生物学、地球化学、沉积学对季节性驱动力的响应,而且纹泥本身可以提供反映沉积环境和气候变化的精确计年,近３０年来湖泊纹发展历史表明,纹泥的应用主要集中于以下三个方面：纹波计年、纹泥厚度变化和纹泥沉积物分析,其中纹 精确测年是一切应用的基础。可以看出,在古环境研究中,纹泥作为一     

Timing of the first drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake synchronous with the onset of Greenland Stadial 1

Glacial varves can give significant insights into recession and melting rates of decaying ice sheets. Moreover, varve chronologies can provide an independent means of comparison to other annually resolved climatic archives, which ultimately help to assess the timing and response of an ice sheet to changes across rapid climate transitions. Here we report a composite 1257‐year‐long varve chronology from southeastern Sweden spanning the regional late Allerød–late Younger Dryas pollen zone. The chronology was correlated to the Greenland Ice‐Core Chronology 2005 using the time‐synchronous Vedde Ash volcanic marker, which can be found in both successions. For the first time, this enables secure placement of the Lateglacial Swedish varve chronology in absolute time. Geochemical analysis from new varve successions indicate a marked change in sedimentation regime accompanied by an interruption of ice‐rafted debris deposition synchronous with the onset of Greenland Stadial 1 (GS‐1; 12 846 years before AD 1950). With the support of a simple ice‐flow/calving model, we suggest that slowdown of sediment transfer can be explained by ice‐sheet margin stabilization/advance in response to a significant drop of the Baltic Ice Lake level. A reassessment of chronological evidence from central‐western and southern Sweden further supports the hypothesis of synchronicity between the first (penultimate) catastrophic drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake and the start of GS‐1 in Greenland ice‐cores. Our results may therefore provide the first chronologically robust evidence linking continental meltwater forcing to rapid atmosphere–ocean circulation changes in the North Atlantic.     

Lake Mullsjön - a key site for understanding the final stage of the Baltic Ice Lake east of Mt. Billingen

The deglaciation pattern at Mt. Billingen, within the Middle Swedish end moraine zone, and its relationship with dramatic water level changes in the Baltic Ice Lake is a classic topic of Swedish Quaternary Geology. Based on data west of Mt. Billingen, the authors (in two earlier papers) presented a stratigraphic model associated with this subject. This study is an attempt to test the model east of Mt. Billingen, i.e. inside the Baltic Ice Lake itself. Lake Mullsjon is situated 30 km southeast of the drainage area of the Baltic Ice Lake and within the final drainage zone. About 8 m of Late Weichselian sediments (mostly varved clay) were recovered from the lake and analysed from different stratigraphic viewpoints, including lithology, grainsize, varve chronology, and pollen. These analyses show that the site was deglaciated in the later part of the Allerød Chronozone. Shortly thereafter the first drainage of the Baltice Ice Lake took place but without isolating Lake Mullsjon. After a short period of disturbed sedimentation varved clay continued to form as the glacier receded for another 120 varve years until the onset of the Younger Dryas cooling, as registered both in the pollen and in the varve stratigraphies. After c. another 120 varve years our analyses suggest that the Baltic Ice Lake was dammed once again. About 230 varve years of further ice readvance followed west of Mt. Billingen, while the ice margin in the east was more or less stationary. Rapid melting set in, at first producing coarse varves, but soon the clay was thin-varved and fine. This continued for 140 varve years until suddenly the lake became isolated. At this isolation thick beds of silty-sandy deposits were deposited on the lake floor. The isolation is dated to 10,400–10,500 ¹⁴C years B.P., which corresponds to the assumed age of the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. It was also isolated at the same time as lakes (on the same isobase) situated 20 m lower, but west of Mt. Billingen, were raised above sea level. This strongly suggests that Lake Mullsjön was isolated as an effect of the drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. Significant differences between the clay-varve and the ¹⁴C chronologies are also presented.     

Complexity of the 8 ka climate event in Sweden recorded by varved lake sediments

Mineral magnetic and carbon analyses of a continuous varved lake sediment sequence in west-central Sweden (Lake Mötterudstjärnet) complement similar palaeoclimate proxies obtained from two varved lake sediment sequences in northern Sweden and one in central Finland. The varve chronology is supported by tephrochronology, palaeomagnetic secular variations and ¹⁴C AMS dating of terrestrial macrofossils. We apply a simple model in which the transport and deposition of catchment mineral matter reflect the amount of winter snow accumulation, spring snow-melt and stream discharge. Our data show that winter snow accumulation was generally enhanced in Sweden between 8100 and 7750 cal. yr BP. If dating errors are taken into account, the 350-year period of increased erosion is the geomorphic response to a multi-centennial scale climatic cooling that occurred some time between 8500 and 7500 cal. yr BP. The most significant erosion event in central Sweden was centred at 8050 cal. yr BP. It lasted 150 years (between 8100 and 7950 cal. yr BP) and is equivalent to the most extreme Holocene climate anomaly in the northern hemisphere, known as the 8 ka or 8200 cal. yr BP climate event. Our high-resolution paramagnetic susceptibility and ferrimagnetic grain-size parameters suggest that snowpack accumulation increased most significantly in northern Sweden between 7900 and 7750 cal. yr BP. We suggest that this north–south difference was a response to the re-establishment of moisture-laden westerly air masses, as meridional Atlantic overturning circulation was re-established at the beginning of the Holocene thermal maximum.     

Climate variability and glacial processes in eastern Iceland during the past 700 years based on varved lake sediments

Striberger, J., Björck, S., Ingólfsson, Ó., Kjær, K. H., Snowball, I. & Uvo, C. B. 2010: Climate variability and glacial processes in eastern Iceland during the past 700 years based on varved lake sediments. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00153.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Properties of varved sediments from Lake Lögurinn in eastern Iceland and their link to climate and glacial processes of Eyjabakkajökull, an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull icecap, were examined. A varve chronology, which covers the period AD 1262–2005, was constructed from visual observations, high‐resolution images, X‐ray density and geochemical properties determined from X‐radiography and X‐ray fluorescence scanning. Independent dating provided by ¹³⁷Cs analysis and eight historical tephras verify the varve chronology. The thickness of dark‐coloured seasonal laminae, formed mainly of coarser suspended matter from the non‐glacial river Grímsá, is positively correlated (r=0.70) with winter precipitation, and our 743‐year‐long varve series indicates that precipitation was higher and more varied during the later part of the Little Ice Age. Light‐coloured laminae thickness, controlled mainly by the amount of finer suspended matter from the glacial river Jökulsáí Fljótsdal, increased significantly during the AD 1972 surge of Eyjabakkajökull. As a consequence of the surge, the ice‐dammed Lake Háöldulón formed and recurrently drained and delivered significant amounts of rock flour to Lake Lögurinn. Based on these observations, and the recurring cyclic pattern of periods of thicker light‐coloured laminae in the sediment record, we suggest that Eyjabakkajökull has surged repeatedly during the past 743 years, but with an increased frequency during the later part of the Little Ice Age.     

A new middle Holocene varve diagram from the river Ångermanalven, northern Sweden: indications for a possible error in the Holocene varve chronology

A new varve diagram from the river Ångermanälven could be correlated to the postglacial varve chronology to between 4903 and 4415 varve years BP. An AMS ¹⁴C measurement on terrestrial macrofossils obtained between 4715 and 4706 varve years BP gave a calibrated age of between 5730 and 5040 calendar years BP. The discrepancy between varve and calender-year age indicates that an error or part of an error in the Swedish varve chronology may be situated between 2000 and 5000 varve years BP.     

Palynological analyses in the laminated sediment of Lake Holzmaar (Eifel, Germany): duration of Lateglacial and Preboreal biozones

The laminated sediment of Lake Holzmaar (Germany) has provided a continuous varve chronology for the last 3500 varve years (vy) and beyond that a floating varve chronology back to more than 22500 vy BP. This chronology in calendar years, in combination with palynology, enables us to determine the timing and the magnitude of Lateglacial and Early Holocene environmental changes on land (from 13838 to 10930 vy BP). The palynological diagram has a mean time resolution of 27 vy between samples. This paper establishes for the first time the biozonation for Lake Holzmaar below the Laacher See Tephra. Fifteen pollen subzones grouped in four biozones are defined by cluster analysis. After a period disturbed by microturbidites, only a part of the Bølling is present. Three cold periods have been evidenced by pollen analyses: the Older Dryas (96-vy-long), the Younger Dryas (654-vy-long) and the Rammelbeek phase (237-vy-long). The Allerød (883-vy-long) is bipartite with a first Betula -dominated period followed by a Pinus -dominated one. The Younger Dryas is also bipartite, with first a decrease of winter temperatures along with a change to a more continental climate. It is followed by a drier phase with a second decrease in temperatures, probably this time also affecting summer temperatures. The Preboreal is 702-yr-long. The duration of most phases corresponds to published records, except for that of the Younger Dryas. Cluster and rate-of-change analyses indicate a sharp change in the terrestrial vegetation assemblages that may be caused by a sedimentary hiatus of erosive origin during this cold and dry period. As a result, the chronology of Holzmaar has to be revised most likely below the middle of the Younger Dryas. Comparison with the varve record of Meerfelder Maar, a neighbour maar lake, suggests adding 320 vy below 12025 vy.     

Varve chronology based upon glacial sediments in the area between Karlskrona and Kalmar, southeastern Sweden

Varve series of fine-grained glacial sediments have been studied in an area of the Baltic Ice Lake near the border between the provinces of Blckinge and Smalånd, southeastern Sweden. The main purpose of the investigation was to establish a more reliable connection than earlier between the varve chronologies of the Karlskrona area (Ringberg 1971 and 1979) and the Kalmar area (Rudmark 1975). The varve series have been linked to the local chronology of Antevs (1915) as the most recent revision of the Swedish time scale has not yet been completed. The investigation has led to two alternative connections. There are no differences between the alternatives in the southern part of the study area. In the middle of the area there is a difference of 17 years and in the northern part of the area there is a difference of 85 years between the two alternatives. Continued investigations will show which is the most reliable alternative. At present, the uncertainty of the ice recession chronology is at most 85 years in the investigation area.