Holocene lake-level fluctuations in Jura and the northern subalpine ranges, France: regional pattern and climatic implications

Holocene lake-level fluctuations in Jurassian and French subalpine lakes are reconstructed using sedimentological analysis, and a regional pattern of palaeohydrological changes is put forward. Major transgressive phases culminated at about 8500 BP, 6500 BP, 4800 BP, 3500–2300 BP and 450 BP. (1) The synchroncity of Holocene lake-level changes demonstrated for a large number of lakes, (2) close correlations attested between certain lakes and (3) the coincidence between rises in lake-levels in Jura and French subalpine ranges, and glacier advances in Swiss and Austrian Alps argue for a climatic control of these Holocene lake-level fluctuations.     

Late Younger Dryas and early Holocene palaeoenvironments in the Skagerrak,eastern North Atlantic: a multiproxy study

Erbs‐Hansen, D. R., Knudsen, K. L., Gary, A. C., Jansen, E., Gyllencreutz, R., Scao, V. & Lambeck, K. 2011: Late Younger Dryas and early Holocene palaeoenvironments in the Skagerrak, eastern North Atlantic: a multiproxy study. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00205.x. ISSN 0300‐9843 A high‐resolution study of palaeoenvironmental changes through the late Younger Dryas and early Holocene in the Skagerrak, the eastern North Atlantic, is based on multiproxy analyses of core MD99‐2286 combined with palaeowater depth modelling for the area. The late Younger Dryas was characterized by a cold ice‐distal benthic foraminiferal fauna. After the transition to the Preboreal (c. 11 650 cal. a BP) this fauna was replaced by a Cassidulina neoteretis‐dominated fauna, indicating the influence of chilled Atlantic Water at the sea floor. Persisting relatively cold bottom‐water conditions until c. 10 300 cal. a BP are presumably a result of an outflow of glacial meltwater from the Baltic area across south‐central Sweden, which led to a strong stratification of the water column at MD99‐2286, as also indicated by C. neoteretis. A short‐term peak in the C/N ratio at c. 10 200 cal. a BP is suggested to indicate input of terrestrial material, which may represent the drainage of an ice‐dammed lake in southern Norway, the Glomma event. After the last drainage route across south‐central Sweden closed, c. 10 300 cal. a BP, the meltwater influence diminished, and the Skagerrak resembled a fjord with a stable inflow of waters from the North Atlantic through the Norwegian Trench and a gradual increase in boreal species. Full interglacial conditions were established at the sea floor from c. 9250 cal. a BP. Subsequent warm stable conditions were interrupted by a short‐term cooling around 8300–8200 cal. a BP, representing the 8.2 ka event.     

Dynamic landscape changes in Glen Roy and vicinity,west Highland Scotland,during the Younger Dryas and early Holocene: a synthesis

This paper introduces a special issue devoted to the sequence of events in and around Glen Roy during the Loch Lomond or Younger Dryas Stadial, the short but important cold period dated to between ∼12,900 and 11,700 years ago, during which glaciers last expanded to occupy the Scottish Highlands, and during the subsequent transition to warmer conditions at the start of the Holocene. The Glen Roy area is internationally famous for the ‘Parallel Roads’, pre-eminent examples of ice-dammed lake shorelines which were formed during the stadial. What makes these shorelines unique, however, is their role as distinctive time markers, allowing the order of formation of landforms and sediments to be construed with unprecedented detail. Varved lake sediments preserved within Glen Roy and nearby Loch Laggan provide a precise timescale – the Lochaber Master Varve Chronology (LMVC) – for establishing the rates and timing of some of the events. This introductory paper first sets the geological context for those new to this topic, with a digest of key advances in understanding made between the nineteenth century and the publication of the LMVC in 2010. It then summarises the evidence and ideas that have emerged from new research investigations reported in this special issue for the first time, and which shine new light on the subject. Two final sections synthesise the new data and consider future prospects for further refinement of the precise sequence and timing of events. A major conclusion to emerge from this new body of work is that the ice-dammed lakes, and the glaciers that impounded them, persisted in the area until around 11,700 to perhaps 11,600 years ago. This conflicts with recently promoted suggestions that the last glaciers in Scotland were already in a state of considerable decline by ∼12,500 years ago.     

Abrupt resumption of the African Monsoon at the Younger Dryas—Holocene climatic transition

A high-resolution sedimentary record from Lake Masoko (Tanzania), based on pollen assemblages and magnetic susceptibility, shows that the most prominent environmental change of the last 45 000 years occurred ca 11.7 cal. ka BP, near the end of the Younger Dryas event. During this climatic transition, the Masoko catchment vegetation changed from being intolerant to a long/severe dry season to being tolerant, while the inferred lake-dynamics indicates strengthened seasonal fluctuations and/or lower levels than before. Comparison of the Masoko record with other regional palaeoclimatic data shows that evidence of this climatic transition is widespread in tropical Africa. The proposed failure of the African Monsoon during the Younger Dryas, associated with a southward position/migration of the meteorological equator in East Africa, was followed by an abrupt and lasting resumption of monsoon activity, and more pronounced migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the African continent. Such a reorganisation of the atmospheric circulation, equally observed across the whole tropical region (South America, East and West Asia, and Africa), could have been a strong amplifier of northern high latitude changes in temperature and precipitation across this major climatic transition.     

Hydrological changes in the European midlatitudes associated with freshwater outbursts from Lake Agassiz during the Younger Dryas event and the early Holocene

Recent studies of lake-level fluctuations during the last deglaciation in eastern France (Jura Mountains and Pre-Alps) and on the Swiss Plateau show distinct phases of higher water level developing at the beginning and during the latter part of Greenland Stade 1 (i.e., Younger Dryas event) and punctuating the early Holocene period at 11,250-11,050, 10,300-10,000, 9550-9150, 8300-8050, and 7550-7250 cal yr B.P. The phases at 11,250-11,050 and 8300-8050 cal yr B.P. appear to be related to the cool Preboreal Oscillation and the 8200 yr event assumed to be associated with deglaciation events. A comparison of this mid-European lake-level record with the outbursts from proglacial Lake Agassiz in North America suggests that, between 13,000 and 8000 cal yr B.P., phases of positive water balance were the response in west-central Europe to climate cooling episodes, which were induced by perturbation of the thermohaline circulation due to sudden freshwater releases to oceans. This probably was in response to a southward migration of the Atlantic Westerly Jet and its associated cyclonic track. Moreover, it is hypothesized that, during the early Holocene, varying solar activity could have been a crucial factor by amplifying or reducing the possible effects of Lake Agassiz outbursts on the climate.     

青藏高原东北缘冬给错纳湖全新世湖面波动

青藏高原处于东亚季风、印度季风和西风环流交互作用区.末次冰消期以来,太阳辐射对该地区的古气候环境产生了重要影响,湖泊随着季风系统的变化发生了明显的水位升降,对湖岸阶地的形成起到了直接作用.本项研究重建了青藏高原东北缘冬给错纳湖湖岸阶地记录的湖面波动历史,试图了解青藏高原季风系统演变过程.通过湖泊北岸265 cm厚湖岸阶地沉积物粒度、碳酸盐、矿物、元素和介形虫古环境指标,结合OSL年代模式,分析表明在约10. 2 ka B. P.之前水体较浅;约10. 2~9. 0 ka B. P.湖面开始上升,气候凉湿;9. 0~8. 5 ka B. P.为印度季风强盛期,湖面明显上升,降雨量增高、温度上升;8. 5~7. 9 ka B. P.湖面降低与气候变冷有关;7. 9~7. 0 ka B. P.印度季风开始减弱,气温、降雨下降,但有效湿度较大,湖面降低;7. 0~6. 1 ka B. P.湖面上升可能与低蒸发作用有关,印度季风仍然影响该地区;6. 1~5. 2 ka B. P.,印度季风衰退,气候逐渐变冷、降雨量减小、水体变浅;5. 2~4. 6 ka B. P.气候冷干,有效湿度减小,湖面进一步下降;4. 6 ka B. P.至今气候干冷,东亚季风衰退,湖面下降,期间也可能受西风环流影响而有短暂的降雨增加时期.     

Reconstruction and regional correlation of Holocene lake-level fluctuations in Lake Bysjön, South Sweden

Holocene lake-level fluctuations in Lake Bysjön are reconstructed from recorded changes in the sediment limit and the content of reworked minerogenic matter in the sediment. These recorded changes are related to past lake-level fluctuations by correlation to fluctuations convincingly demonstrated in earlier studies. A correlation of regionally significant fluctuations in South Sweden is presented, and the climatic interpretation is discussed. A distinct lowering in lake level culminated at about 9,500-9,200 B.P., recording a major period of drier climate in the earlier part of the Holocene. After a succeeding period of increased humidity, recorded by rising and relatively higher lake level, another major period of increased dryness began at about 6,800-6,500 B.P. In contrast to the older period, the climate was not uniformly drier, but anumber of demonstrated lake-level fluctuations suggest a fluctuating climate. From the reconstruction in Bysjön, dryness culminated at about 4,900-4,600 B.P., and the major period lasted until about 2,900-2,600 B.P. After a succeeding rise in lake level, another distinct lowering is recorded some time between 1,800 B.P. and 1,200 B.P.     

Younger Dryas deglaciation at Mt. Billingen, and clay varve dating of the Younger Dryas/Preboreal transition

A clay varve chronology has been established for the Late Weichselian ice recession east of Mt. Billingen in Västergötland, Sweden. In this area the Middle-Swedish end moraine zone was built up as a consequence of cold climate during the Younger Dryas stadial. A change-over from rapid to slow retreat as a result of climatic deterioration at the Alleröd/Younger Dryas transition cannot be traced with certainty in the varve sequences, but it seems to have taken place just before 11,600 varve years BP. The following deglaciation was very slow for about 700 years — within the Middle-Swedish end moraine zone the annual ice-front retreat was only c . 10 m on average. A considerable time-lag is to be expected between the Younger Dryas climatic event and this period of slow retreat. The 700 years of slow retreat were succeeded by 200 years of more rapid recession, about 50–75 m annually, and then by a mainly rapid and uncomplicated retreat of the ice-front by 100–200 m/year or more, characterizing the next 1500 years of deglaciation in south and central Sweden. The change from about 50–75 m to 100–200 m of annual ice-front retreat may reflect the Younger Dryas/Preboreal transition. Clay-stratigraph-ically defined, the transition is dated at c . 10,740 varve years BP, with an error of +100 to -250 years. In the countings of ice layers in Greenland ice cores (GRIP and GISP-2) the end of the Younger Dryas climatic event is 800–900 years older. However, a climatic amelioration after the cold part of the Younger Dryas and in early Preboreal should rapidly be reflected by for example chemical components and dust in Greenland ice cores, and by increasing δ¹³C content in tree rings. On the other hand, the start of a rapid retreat of the inland ice margin can be delayed by several centuries. This can explain at least a part of the discrepancy between the time-scales.     

Atmospheric C variations derived from tree rings during the early Younger Dryas

Atmospheric radiocarbon variations over the Younger Dryas interval, from 13,000 to 11,600 cal yr BP, are of immense scientific interest because they reveal crucial information about the linkages between climate, ocean circulation and the carbon cycle. However, no direct and reliable atmospheric ¹⁴C records based on tree rings for the entire Younger Dryas have been available. In this paper, we present (1) high-precision ¹⁴C measurements on the extension of absolute tree-ring chronology from 12,400 to 12,560 cal yr BP and (2) high-precision, high-resolution atmospheric ¹⁴C record derived from a 617-yr-long tree-ring chronology of Huon pine from Tasmania, Australia, spanning the early Younger Dryas. The new tree-ring ¹⁴C records bridge the current gap in European tree-ring radiocarbon chronologies during the early Younger Dryas, linking the floating Lateglacial Pine record to the absolute tree-ring timescale. A continuous and reliable atmospheric ¹⁴C record for the past 14,000 cal yr BP including the Younger Dryas is now available. The new records indicate that the abrupt rise in atmospheric Δ¹⁴C associated with the Younger Dryas onset occurs at 12,760 cal yr BP, 240 yrs later than that recorded in Cariaco varves, with a smaller magnitude of 40‰ followed by several centennial Δ¹⁴C variations of 20–25‰. Comparing the tree-ring Δ¹⁴C to marine-derived Δ¹⁴C and modelled Δ¹⁴C based on ice-core ¹⁰Be fluxes, we conclude that changes in ocean circulation were mainly responsible for the Younger Dryas onset, while a combination of changes in ocean circulation and ¹⁴C production rate were responsible for atmospheric Δ¹⁴C variations for the remainder of the Younger Dryas.     

The Younger Dryas Event and Holocene Climate Fluctuations Recorded in a Stalagmite from the Panlong Cave of Guilin

Comprehensive studies on a stalagmite from the Panlong cave, Guilin, have shown that the isotopic records and sedimentary characteristics can reflect the changes of both palaeotemperatures and palaeorainfall, that is to say, it is possible to get some information about the changes in climate of the area from the speleothem. The results suggest that: (1) the Younger Dryas event might have persisted in the area from 11 300 to 10 800 a B.P.; (2) from 9000 to 7000 a B.P., the climate got warmer and wetter, and the summer monsoon was gradually enhanced; (3) from 7000 to 4500 a B.P., the climate was warm and wet, and the summer monsoon prevailed; and (4) from 4500 a B.P. on, the summer monsoon was weakened and the modern climate pattern appeared, but there were several cold and dry periods, namely, from 4000 to 2500 a B.P., ca. 2400 a B.P. and < 1000 a B.P.     

Climate change, patch choice, and intensification at Pont d'Ambon (Dordogne, France) during the Younger Dryas

This paper considers the impact of the Younger Dryas on the prehistoric inhabitants of Pont d'Ambon, a site in the Dordogne region of southwestern France, through an examination of the zooarchaeological remains from this site. An investigation of patch choice indicates that patch choice evenness declines during the Younger Dryas due to increasing local dominance of the grassland patch. Analyses of demographic composition, cutmark frequency, and marrow processing in the wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) assemblage suggest intensified rabbit use during this period. This study thus supports the hypothesis that changing climate had significant impacts on the prehistoric inhabitants of Pont d'Ambon. However, the traditional climate hypothesis—that changing climate negatively impacted the availability of larger fauna, forcing a switch to smaller, lower-ranked prey items—is not supported here. The inhabitants of Pont d'Ambon seem to have adapted to changing climate by efficiently exploiting the new species available to them, and possibly, during the Younger Dryas, by intensifying their use of one of these new species, the European rabbit.     

Rapid climatic changes during the Greenland stadial 1 (Younger Dryas) to early Holocene transition on the Norwegian Barents Sea coast

A pollen-based quantitative climate reconstruction from a lake-sediment core on the Norwegian Barents Sea coast provides insights about climatic change over the Greenland stadial 1 (GS-1) to early-Holocene transition. GS-1 was characterized by low July mean temperatures ( c . 6.0°C) and dry conditions probably resembling modern arctic deserts. The increase in July mean temperatures to the Holocene level (10.0-12.0°C) took place in a two-step pattern interrupted by a short cool period with July mean temperatures of c . 8.0°C during the early Preboreal at c . 11450-11200 cal. yr BP. The reconstruction also suggests two other early-Holocene coolings of c . 1.5°C, dating to 10900-10800 cal. yr BP and 10400-10200 cal. yr BP, synchronously with short-term decreases in δ18 O values in the Greenland ice cores. These results reflect the highly unstable nature of the early-Holocene climate in northernmost Fennoscandia. Apart from the cooling at 10900-10800 cal. yr BP, the reconstructed cold events correlate with fluxes of fresh water to the North Atlantic and related reductions of North Atlantic deep-water formation, suggesting that the rapid climate changes resulted from the dynamics of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and oceanic energy transport during the GS-1 to early-Holocene transition.     

Sea-level fluctuations imply that the Younger Dryas ice-sheet expansion in western Norway commenced during the Allerød

After the first emergence following deglaciation, relative sea level rose by 10 m in western Norway and culminated late in the Younger Dryas (YD). The relative sea-level history, reconstructed by dating deposits in isolation basins, shows a sea-level low-stand between ∼13 640 and 13 080 cal yr BP, a 10 m sea-level rise between ∼13 080 and 11 790 cal yr BP and a sea-level high-stand between ∼11 790 and 11 550 cal yr BP. Shortly after the YD/Holocene boundary, sea level fell abruptly by ∼37 m. The shorelines formed during the sea-level low-stand in the mid-Allerød and during the sea-level high-stand in the YD have almost parallel tilts with a gradient of ∼1.3 m km⁻¹, indicating that hardly any isostatic movement has taken place during this period of sea-level rise. We conclude that the transgression was caused by the major re-advance of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet that took place in western Norway during the Lateglacial. The extra ice load halted the isostatic uplift and elevated the geoid due to the increased gravitational attraction on the sea. Our results show that the crust responded to the increased load well before the YD (starting ∼12 900 cal yr BP), with a sea-level low-stand at 13 640 cal yr BP and the subsequent YD transgression starting at 13 080 cal yr BP. Thus, we conclude that the so-called YD ice-sheet advance in western Norway started during the Allerød, possibly more than 600 years before the Allerød/YD transition.     

Marine transgression in Younger Dryas in Norway

BOREAS Anundsen, K. 1978 03 01: Marine transgression in Younger Dryas in Norway. Boreas, Vol. 7, pp. 49–60. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
The lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of sediment cores from two basins in southwestern Norway have been studied and radiocarbon dated. The diatom and the Hystrix content indicates a marine Younger Dryas transgression that reached its maximum level at the transition Younger Dryas/Preboreal Chronozone. No Allerød transgression to the same altitude can be demonstrated, and the suggested Allerød transgression at Bømlo (Faegri 1944) is most likely of Younger Dryas age, too.     

Younger Dryas in southern South America?

Two high resolution pollen records, Caunahue from mid-latitudes and Harberton from high latitudes, illustrate the issues in defining the Younger Dryas episode in records from southern South America. At mid-latitudes in the Chilean lake region, previous claims for the existence of a substantially cooler and wetter episode between 11,000 and 10,000 BP can no longer be supported by new pollen records with high temporal and paleoenvironmental resolution, such as Caunahue. The transition from glacial to interglacial conditions occurred in several steps, one shortly after 13,000 BP, when open Nothofagus woodland was replaced by cool-temperate North Patagonian forest, and one at 9,500 BP, when warmtemperate Validivian forest elements replaced the North Patagonian elements. At high latitudes, on the other hand, high resolution records do show marked short-term changes during the late-glacial, inclding the 11,000 to 10,000 BP Interval. However, neither the exact timing nor the duration of these changes is synchronous for specific taxa, neither within one record nor between different records. One of the two intervals of low pollen influx that has been singled out as evidence for a cooler episode is consistently dated between 11,000 and 12,000 BP, while the other interval dates between 10,800 and 9,000 BP. Based on all this information I believe that there is no evidence of Younger Dryas episode for the midlatitudes. For the high latitudes, on the other hand, the overall high paleoenvironmental variability in the records offers multiple choices for a Younger Dryas-type interval if specific taxa are selected without considering the overall context. However, the lack of synchroneity between short-term changes of specific taxa between different records suggests primarily a response to local disturbances, rather than a response to a global forcing.     

Holocene climate changes in the central Mediterranean as recorded by lake-level fluctuations at Lake Accesa (Tuscany,Italy)

This paper presents a high-resolution lake-level record for the Holocene at Lake Accesa (Tuscany, north-central Italy) based on a range of sedimentological techniques validated in previous studies, with a chronology derived from 43 radiocarbon dates and four tephra layers. It gives evidence of centennial-scale fluctuations with major highstands at ca 11 500, 11 100, 10 200, 9400, 8200, 7300, 6200, 5700–5200, 4850, 4200, 3400, 2600, 1200 and 400 cal BP. Except for the Early Holocene until ca 10 500 cal BP, this pattern of hydrological changes appears to be in agreement with the regional pattern established for west-central Europe. Correlations with the Preboreal oscillation and the 8.2 ka event as well as with the atmospheric ¹⁴C residual series suggest that lake-level fluctuations developed at Accesa in response to (1) final steps of the deglaciation in the North Atlantic area and (2) variations in solar activity. For the period after 4500 cal BP, correlations with other palaeohydrological records from central Italy indicate that lake-level changes reconstructed at Accesa were mainly driven by climatic variations while anthropic activities and local geomorphological factors only played a secondary role. The Accesa lake-level record also highlights millennial-scale variations with a maximal lowstand at ca 9200–7700 cal BP contemporaneous with Sapropel event 1 in the Mediterranean. It was followed by generally higher lake-level conditions. This appears to be the opposite of that observed in Sicily (southern Italy) where a lake-level maximum developed at ca 9000–8200 cal BP and was followed by a general trend towards aridification. These opposite patterns were interpreted as contrasting hydrological responses to orbitally induced changes in summer insolation. This interpretation has to be tested by further lake-level studies in the central Mediterranean region. Finally, correlations between major lowstands and periods of maximal representation of Quercus ilex point to convergences between climate oscillations and Holocene vegetation history in the Accesa region. However, the maximal representation of Abies during the first half of the Holocene, including a time window where lake level reached a minimal level, suggests a more subtle impact of seasonality processes.     

The Younger Dryas and the Sea of Ancient Ice

We propose that prior to the Younger Dryas period, the Arctic Ocean supported extremely thick multi-year fast ice overlain by superimposed ice and firn. We re-introduce the historical term paleocrystic ice to describe this. The ice was independent of continental (glacier) ice and formed a massive floating body trapped within the almost closed Arctic Basin, when sea-level was lower during the last glacial maximum. As sea-level rose and the Barents Sea Shelf became deglaciated, the volume of warm Atlantic water entering the Arctic Ocean increased, as did the corresponding egress, driving the paleocrystic ice towards Fram Strait. New evidence shows that Bering Strait was resubmerged around the same time, providing further dynamical forcing of the ice as the Transpolar Drift became established. Additional freshwater entered the Arctic Basin from Siberia and North America, from proglacial lakes and meltwater derived from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Collectively, these forces drove large volumes of thick paleocrystic ice and relatively fresh water from the Arctic Ocean into the Greenland Sea, shutting down deepwater formation and creating conditions conducive for extensive sea-ice to form and persist as far south as 60°N. We propose that the forcing responsible for the Younger Dryas cold episode was thus the result of extremely thick sea-ice being driven from the Arctic Ocean, dampening or shutting off the thermohaline circulation, as sea-level rose and Atlantic and Pacific waters entered the Arctic Basin. This hypothesis focuses attention on the potential role of Arctic sea-ice in causing the Younger Dryas episode, but does not preclude other factors that may also have played a role.