Ice-core pollen record of climatic changes in the central Andes during the last 400 yr

This paper presents a high-resolution ice-core pollen record from the Sajama Ice Cap, Bolivia, that spans the last 400 yr. The pollen record corroborates the oxygen isotopic and ice accumulation records from the Quelccaya Ice Cap and supports the scenario that the Little Ice Age (LIA) consisted of two distinct phases—a wet period from AD 1500 to 1700, and a dry period from AD 1700 to 1880. During the dry period xerophytic shrubs expanded to replace puna grasses on the Altiplano, as suggested by a dramatic drop in the Poaceae/Asteraceae (P/A) pollen ratio. The environment around Sajama was probably similar to the desert-like shrublands of the Southern Bolivian Highlands and western Andean slopes today. The striking similarity between the Sajama and Quelccaya proxy records suggests that climatic changes during the Little Ice Age occurred synchronously across the Altiplano.     

Holocene vegetation and land‐use changes in response to climatic changes in the forelands of the southwestern Alps,Italy

The Holocene sediment of Lago Piccolo di Avigliana (Piedmont, Italy, 356 m a.s.l.) was dated by ¹⁴C and analysed for pollen to reconstruct the vegetation history of the area. The early‐ and mid‐Holocene pollen record shows environmental responses to centennial‐scale climatic changes as evidenced by independent palaeoclimatic proxies. When human impact was low or negligible, continental mixed‐oak forests decreased at ca. 9300 BC in response to the early‐Holocene Preboreal climatic oscillation. Abies alba expanded in two phases, probably in response to higher moisture availability at ca. 6000 and ca. 4000 BC , while Fagus expanded later, possibly in response to a climatic change at 3300 BC . During and after the Bronze Age five distinct phases of intensified land use were detected. The near synchroneity with the land‐use phases detected in wetter regions in northern and southern Switzerland points to a common forcing factor in spite of cultural differences. Increasing minerogenic input to the lake since 1000 BC coincided with Late Bronze—Iron Age technical innovations and probably indicate soil erosion as a consequence of deforestation in the lake catchment. The highest values for cultural indicators occurred at 700–450 and at 300–50 BC , coinciding with periods of high solar activity (inferred from Δ¹⁴C). This suggests that Iron Age land use was enhanced by high solar activity, while re‐occupation of partly abandoned areas after crises in earlier periods match better with the GRIP stable isotope record. On the basis of our data and comparison with independent palaeoclimatic proxies we suggest that precipitation variation was much more important than temperature oscillations in driving vegetation and societal changes throughout the Holocene. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pliensbachian-Toarcian biotic turnover in north Siberia and the Arctic region

The biotic turnover in the Pliensbachian-Toarcian transition and changes in assemblages of bivalves, ostracodes, foraminifers, dinocysts, spores, and pollen are described. Only five of 24 bivalve genera and two of four ostracode genera cross the Pliensbachian-Toarcian boundary so that composition of genera and families to be entirely renewed at the base of the Harpoceras falciferum Zone. In the interval of three ammonite zones, diversity of foraminifers is reducing from 27 genera in the Amaltheus margaritatus Zone (upper Pliensbachian) to 17 and then to 15 genera in the Tiltoniceras antiquum (lower Toarcian) and Harpoceras falciferum zones, respectively. Single dinocysts of the Pliensbachian are replaced by their abundant specimens at the base of the Toarcian, and substantial changes in composition of palynological assemblages are simultaneously established. Factors responsible for “mass extinctions” of marine invertebrates are suggested to be the paleogeographic reorganization, anoxic events, eustatic sea-level changes, and climatic fluctuations. The biotic turnover in the Arctic region is interrelated mainly with thermal changes, which caused the southward displacements of taxa distribution areas during a rapid cooling and their gradual return to former habitat areas in the period of warming, rather than with extinction events.     

New data on the natural environment of the Middle and Late Neopleistocene interglacial periods in the east of the European Subarctic Region of Russia

The data obtained from investigation of the Middle and Late Neopleistocene lake sediments in the European Subarctic Region of Russia are reported. Chirva, Rodionovo (Scklov), Sula (Mikulino), and Byzovaya (Leningrad) sediments were subject to palynological analysis and investigation of particle size distribution and mineral composition. The spore–pollen spectra of the Chirva sediments demonstrate two climatic optima: the lower optimum is dominated by the pollen of Pinus sylvestris and broad-leaved species (up to 10%); the upper optimum is dominated by Picea sp. and Pinus sylvestris, while the pollen of Picea sect. Omorica and broad-leaved species are sporadic. The Rodionovo flora is characterized by a more xerophilous composition relative to the Chirva flora and a higher pollen content of pine, birch, wormseed plants, and wormwood. The climatic optimum of the Sula interglacial is distinguished by boreal vegetation, including spruce, birch, and birch–spruce forests with sparse broad-leaved species. The Byzovaya interstadial is marked by seven stages of changes in the vegetation: from tundra and forest-tundra communities to taiga forests with some broad-leaved species. The natural climatic sedimentation conditions in the Middle and Late Neopleistocene interglacial periods are reconstructed. The mineral composition of sediments was largely formed owing to underlying deposits.     

Charcoal and pollen analyses and vegetation reconstruction of the Alpine foreland in West Hungary

In the area of archaeological excavations that were performed prior to the construction of Main Road No. 86 in Vas County (West Hungary) in the Alpine foreland new geoarchaeological analyses have been conducted. We used anthracology and pollen analyses to reconstruct the former vegetation cover at the study site. Charcoal data provide site-related information about the local woodland composition, management and human impact, while pollen data provide information on the arboreal and non-arboreal vegetation on a regional or local scale. Adequate samples for anthracological analyses derive from the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Imperial and Migration Periods and Middle-Ages archaeological objects. The core for pollen analyses originates from alluvial sediments of the Borzó Creek and covers the late Pleistocene and the Holocene until the Medieval Period. Charcoal analyses show the dominance of Quercus trees in the vicinity of the human settlements that might indicate a strong human selection, or the fragmentation of samples. Pollen analyses indicate thermophilous vegetation from the beginning of the Holocene, with increasing values of Fagus and Carpinus. Pollens of cereals indicate human activity, which is also demonstrated by the presence of pollen from Juglans and Vitis in the Iron Age sequence. Extensive forest clearance occurred in the Late Iron Age and the Imperial Period.     

Sensitivity of cool-temperate forests and their fossil pollen record to rapid temperature change

Simulations of cool-temperate forest growth in response to climatic change using the JABOWA computer model show that a decrease of 600 growing degree-days (equivalent to a 2°C decrease in mean annual temperature) causes red spruce (Picea rubens) to replace sugar maple (Acer saccharum) as the dominant tree. These changes are delayed 100–200 yr after the climatic cooling, producing gradual forest changes in response to abrupt temperature changes, and reducing the amplitude of response to brief climatic events. Soils and disturbances affect the speed and magnitude of forest response. The delayed responses are caused by the difference in sensitivity of adult trees and younger stages. The length of the delay depends on the life history characteristics of the dominant species. Delayed responses imply that fossil pollen deposits, even if they faithfully record the abundances of trees in forests, may not be able to resolve climatic changes within 100–200 yr, or to record very brief climatic events. This explains why pollen deposits do not as yet show responses to climatic changes during the past 100 yr. Only the Little Ice Age, which lasted several centuries, caused sufficient forest change to be recorded in fossil pollen, and only at certain sites.     

Vegetation development in the Middle Euphrates and Upper Jazirah (Syria/Turkey) during the Bronze Age

Vegetation changes are reconstructed based on more than 51,000 charcoal fragments of more than 380 samples from nine Bronze Age sites in northern Syria and southern Turkey. In addition to fragment proportions, special attention was paid to the frequency of Pistacia relative to Quercus and Populus/Salix relative to Tamarix, fruit-tree ubiquity, and riverine diversity in order to gain an improved understanding of the human versus climatic impact on the vegetation. The results indicate that human impacts first took place within the riverine forest. This phase was followed by land clearing within the woodland steppe, especially in the northern portion of the study area. In the south near Emar, the woodland steppe probably disappeared by the Late Bronze Age. It is uncertain whether this was caused by aridification and/or human clearing. The northward shift of the Pistacia-woodland steppe is very likely a result of climatic drying that occurred throughout the entire period under investigation. Although increased deforestation is evident through time, the small proportions of imported wood indicate that local resources were still available.     

New insights on Late Quaternary Asian palaeomonsoon variability and the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum in southwestern China

A ～6.35 m core (06SD) was retrieved from Lake Shudu, Yunnan Province, China. The sediments spanning the period ～22.6–10.5 kcal. yr BP (6.35–1.44 m) were analysed using a combination of variables including pollen, charcoal, particle size, magnetic susceptibility and loss-on-ignition. The resulting palaeorecord provides a high-resolution reconstruction of Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene climatic and environmental changes in southwestern China. Our findings indicate that from c. 22.6 to 17.7 kcal. yr BP, vegetation assemblages were primarily aligned to sparse xerophytic grassland/tundra or cold-tolerant boreal Pinus forest, indicating that climatic conditions in southwestern China were cold and dry. However, from c. 17.7 to 17.4 kcal. yr BP, the Lake Shudu record is punctuated by marked environmental changes. These include the establishment of denser vegetation cover, a marked expansion of boreal Pinus forest and enhanced hydrological activity in the catchment over centennial timescales, perhaps suggesting that stepwise variations in the Asian Monsoon were triggering fundamental environmental changes over sub-millennial timescales. Thereafter, the pollen record captures a period of environmental instability reflected in fluctuations across all of the variables, which persists until c. 17.1 kcal. yr BP. After c. 17.1 kcal. yr BP, the expansion of steppe vegetation cover and cold–cool mixed forest consisting of mesophilous vegetation such as Tsuga and Picea, thermophilous trees including Ulmus and deciduous Quercus inferred from the Lake Shudu pollen record point to the establishment of warmer, wetter and perhaps more seasonal conditions associated with a strengthening Asian Summer Monsoon during the shift from Pleistocene to Holocene climatic conditions.     

Late Glacial, Early Holocene and Late Holocene life at the interface of a distinct landscape — relationship of humans and environments in the Sub-Carpathian region (N Hungary)

Relationships between the communities and environment surrounding these communities can be disclosed by the application of different archeological, geological and environmental historical methods. This includes the deployment of numerous tools in scientific investigation including the application of chronological, sedimentological, geochemical and paleoecological analytical methods on sequences accumulated in historical catchment basins of peat-bog. The Nádas-tó at Nagybárkány is a small peatbog in the northern part of Hungary, on the Sub-Carpathian region. The formation of the lake can be traced back to the Late Glacial period. The sediments deposited in the lakebed provide a record of climatic and hydrologic changes. A higher water level could be demonstrated from the Late Glacial to the Mid-Holocene, when the reed-beds covered a small area only. This was followed by a hiatus spanning ca. 4400 years, caused by the deepening and cleaning of the lakebed during the Late Iron / Imperial Age, between 2100 - 1900 cal BP years. After this change the water level decreased and the water quality was more eutrophic. A reed-bed evolved around the lake. Paludification started with a bulrush floating mat phase at the close of the Middle Age, ca. 1500 cal AD years. The endowments and settlement pattern persisted from the Neolithic onwards until the terminal Modern Age, when measures aimed to ordain the area substantially altered the natural landscape. Although some anthropogenic disturbances can be reconstructed in the development of the peatland, some climatic effects and authogenic processes might be separated by paleoecological analyses.     

The Last Glacial Maximum and Heinrich Event 1 in terms of climate and vegetation around the Alboran Sea: a preliminary model-data comparison

The Heinrich Event 1, the most recent of the glacial North Atlantic large iceberg discharges, is well documented in continental and marine records, but this large perturbation of the climate system has rarely been simulated. Here we propose a preliminary model-data comparison for this period, which we compare to the Last Glacial Maximum state. The pollen record from one specific core from the western Mediterranean Sea (ODP site 976) is analysed both in terms of vegetation distribution and climatic implication. The climate and vegetation of both periods are then simulated and compared to the pollen-based data. To cite this article: M. Kageyama et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Fine‐resolution pollen‐analytical study of Holocene woodland dynamics and land use in north Sligo,Ireland

The results of detailed pollen‐analytical investigations of a core from Lough Dargan, Co. Sligo, Ireland are presented. The pollen diagram spans much of the postglacial and documents changes in woodland composition and cover, and farming activity. Special attention is paid to prehistoric farming and to the significance of cereal‐type pollen. The first sign of arable farming coincides with the Elm Decline at c. 3760 BC. This early Neolithic farming phase extended over c. 750 years, the main Landnam phase having a duration of ～700 years. After a break of about three centuries, Neolithic farming resumed. Late Neolithic farming was at first predominantly pastoral, but later (c. 2360–2130 BC) it had a distinct arable component. In the early Bronze Age, beginning c. 2130 BC, farming increased and woodland was substantially reduced for the first time. From then until the beginning of the late Iron Age (c. 80 BC), there was a sustained and strong human impact. In the late Iron Age, a distinct lull in pastoral farming lasted for about four centuries (c. 80 BC–AD 350). This facilitated woodland regeneration that included yew. Substantial woodland clearance, and farming that included a considerable arable component, characterized the Medieval and later periods. The changes recorded at L. Dargan and other sites in the region are discussed in the light of evidence for climate change provided by regional and super‐regional climate proxies. It is argued that climate may not have been a decisive factor in determining human impact and farming activity.     

Holocene climate variability in northernmost Europe

The sediments of a small lake on Nordkinnhalvøya, Finnmark, Norway, were investigated in order to test the hypothesis that this region was sensitive to centennial–millennial climatic fluctuations during the Holocene related to changes in ocean circulation. Sedimentation at the site began during the Younger Dryas, although the site chronology, developed using a series of ¹⁴C age measurements, reveals an early Holocene hiatus in accumulation. Pollen analysis confirmed that the regional vegetation responded to Holocene climatic variability at centennial–millennial time scales and provided data used to make quantitative palaeoclimate reconstructions. The latter indicate that marked changes in seasonality characterised Holocene climatic fluctuations. Intervals with warmer summers, higher temperature sums and higher precipitation, but cooler winters and generally reduced moisture availability, alternated with intervals with cooler summers, lower temperature sums, lower precipitation, warmer winters and greater moisture availability. The former conditions were more prevalent between ca 8950 and 3950 cal BP, whereas the latter were predominant before ca 8950 and since ca 3950 cal BP. Sediment geochemistry indicates minerogenic material deposited in the lake was probably derived from two or more distinct sources or transport pathways that differed in their responses to palaeoclimatic conditions. A series of cryptotephras were located, although the small size of the shards rendered them unsuitable for electron microprobe analyses. Time-series analysis of pollen analytical and sediment geochemical data indicates that each exhibits statistically significant periodic behaviour (at periods of ca 190, 410, 1050, 1650 and 1810 yr). The periods detected suggest this behaviour may reflect regional expression of climate system responses to solar variability and/or of effects upon tides and ocean circulation of periodic lunar orbital variation. Comparison with records of fluctuations in ocean thermohaline circulation strength indicate some concordance with respect to timing of warmer and cooler intervals, but also some differences. The 8.2 ka event, that is evident in marine records from the Barents Sea, is clearly expressed by both the palaeovegetation and geochemical records. Distinctive temporal behaviour of the palaeovegetation and of different geochemical components indicates complexity in the underlying causes and mechanisms of regional climatic variability; ocean circulation variability alone cannot account for the complex climatic variability observed.     

Palynology of cushion bogs of the Cordillera Pelada,Province of Valdivia,Chile

Fossil pollen identified in the earliest sediments of three cushion bogs in the Cordillera Pelada (40°10′S, 73°30′W) dated 10,425 ¹⁴C yr B.P. includes the subantarctic species Dacrydium fonckii, Tetroncium magellanicum, Astelia pumila, Gaimardia australis, Donatia fascicularis, and Drosera uniflora. All grow today in the Cordillera Pelada and range poleward to the southernmost Province of Magallanes; one species, Drapetes muscosa, included with the pollen of these plants in the earliest record, is no longer a constituent of the flora but is limited only to subantarctic Chile. Available evidence indicates that plants survived the last glaciation north of the glacial border with the course of postglacial migration southward following the wastage of the glacier complex. Holocene climatic and vegetational changes in the Cordillera Pelada are interpreted in the context of regional reconstructions which show maximum warmth about 9000 yr ago with a pronounced dry period lasting from 9000 to 6500 yr B.P. Maximum precipitation was later reached around 4000 yr ago but has decreased overall since then. The regional decline of the endemic gymnosperm Fitzroya cupressoides, which today is extensively destroyed in the Cordillera Pelada, follows this decrease in precipitation. These climatic data suggest a net south ward shift in the zone of westerly winds that bring rainfall to the region over the past 4000 yr.     

Pollen‐based biome reconstructions for Colombia at 3000, 6000, 9000, 12 000, 15 000 and 18 000 14C yr ago: Late Quaternary tropical vegetation dynamics

Colombian biomes are reconstructed at 45 sites from the modern period extending to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The basis for our reconstruction is pollen data assigned to plant functional types and biomes at six 3000‐yr intervals. A reconstruction of modern biomes is used to check the treatment of the modern pollen data set against a map of potential vegetation. This allows the biomes reconstructed at past periods to be assessed relative to the modern situation. This process also provides a check on the a priori assignment of pollen taxa to plant functional types and biomes. For the majority of the sites, the pollen data accurately reflect the potential vegetation, even though much of the original vegetation has been transformed by agricultural practices. At 18 000 ¹⁴C yr BP, a generally cool and dry environment is reflected in biome, assignments of cold mixed forests, cool evergreen forests and cool grassland–shrub; the latter extending to lower altitudes than presently recorded. This signal is strongly recorded at 15 000 and 12 000 ¹⁴C yr BP, the vegetation at these times also reflecting a relatively cool and dry environment. At 9000 ¹⁴C yr BP there is a shift to biomes thought to result from slightly cooler environmental conditions. This trend is reversed by 6000 ¹⁴C yr BP; most sites, within a range of different environmental settings, recording a shift to more xeric biome types. There is an expansion of steppe and cool mixed‐forest biomes, replacing tropical dry forest and cool grassland–shrub biomes, respectively. These changes in biome assignments from the modern situation can be interpreted as a biotic response to mid‐Holocene climatic aridity. At 3000 ¹⁴C yr BP the shift is mainly to biomes characteristic of slightly more mesic environmental conditions. There are a number of sites that do not change biome assignment relative to the modern reconstruction, although the affinities that these sites have to a specific biome do change. These ‘anomalies’ are interpreted on a site‐by‐site basis. Spatially constant, but differential response of the vegetation to climatic shifts are related to changes in moisture sources and the importance of edaphic controls on the vegetation. The Late Quaternary reconstruction of large‐scale vegetation dynamics in Colombia allows an understanding of the environmental controls on these to be developed. In particular, shifts in the character of the main climatic systems that influence Colombian vegetation are described. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vegetation context and climatic limits of the Early Pleistocene hominin dispersal in Europe

The vegetation and the climatic context in which the first hominins entered and dispersed in Europe during the Early Pleistocene are reconstructed, using literature review and a new climatic simulation. Both in situ fauna and in situ pollen at the twelve early hominin sites under consideration indicate the occurrence of open landscapes: grasslands or forested steppes. The presence of ancient hominins (Homo of the erectus group) in Europe is only possible at the transition from glacial to interglacial periods, the full glacial being too cold for them and the transition interglacial to glacial too forested. Glacial–interglacial cycles forced by obliquity showed paralleled vegetation successions, which repeated c. 42 times during the course of the Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.78 Ma), providing 42 narrow windows of opportunity for hominins to disperse into Europe.The climatic conditions of this Early Pleistocene vegetation at glacial-interglacial transitions are compared with a climatic simulation for 9 ka ago without ice sheet, as this time period is so far the best analogue available. The climate at the beginning of the present interglacial displayed a stronger seasonality than now. Forest cover would not have been hampered though, clearly indicating that other factors linked to refugial location and soils leave this period relatively free of forests. Similar situations with an offset between climate and vegetation at the beginning of interglacials repeated themselves throughout the Quaternary and benefitted the early hominins when colonising Europe.The duration of this open phase of vegetation at the glacial–interglacial transition was long enough to allow colonisation from the Levant to the Atlantic.The twelve sites fall within rather narrow ranges of summer precipitation and temperature of the coldest month, suggesting the hominins had only a very low tolerance to climate variability.     

Late second-early first millennium BC abrupt climate changes in coastal Syria and their possible significance for the history of the Eastern Mediterranean

The alluvial deposits near Gibala-Tell Tweini provide a unique record of environmental history and food availability estimates covering the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The refined pollen-derived climatic proxy suggests that drier climatic conditions occurred in the Mediterranean belt of Syria from the late 13th/early 12th centuries BC to the 9th century BC. This period corresponds with the time frame of the Late Bronze Age collapse and the subsequent Dark Age. The abrupt climate change at the end of the Late Bronze Age caused region-wide crop failures, leading towards socio-economic crises and unsustainability, forcing regional habitat-tracking. Archaeological data show that the first conflagration of Gibala occurred simultaneously with the destruction of the capital city Ugarit currently dated between 1194 and 1175 BC. Gibala redeveloped shortly after this destruction, with large-scale urbanization visible in two main architectural phases during the Early Iron Age I. The later Iron Age I city was destroyed during a second conflagration, which is radiocarbon-dated at circa 2950 cal yr BP. The data from Gibala-Tell Tweini provide evidence in support of the drought hypothesis as a triggering factor behind the Late Bronze Age collapse in the Eastern Mediterranean.     

Stable oxygen isotope and pollen records from eastern Scotland and a consideration of Late-glacial and early Holocene climate change for Europe

The presence of marl deposits belonging to the Lateglacial period in a former lake basin at Lundin Tower in Fife, Scotland has allowed palaeoenvironmental investigations by means of carbonate δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O, and organic matter δ¹³C, in addition to palynology. The variations that emerge reveal strong similarities between the pollen and isotope records and these are interpreted as reflecting climatic shifts. The classic Late-glacial pattern of Oldest Dryas–Bølling–Older Dryas–Allerød–Younger Dryas may be evident and other climatic oscillations are shown to have occurred not only during the Allerød but also in the Preboreal. The problem of the time discordance between isotopic change and pollen representation is addressed through explanations involving lags in plant colonization. A comparison of the δ¹⁸O records from 43 sites across Europe reveals two different regional patterns, which raises fundamental questions over the nature of Late-glacial palaeoclimates.     

Diatom responses to limnological and climatic changes at Ribains Maar (French Massif Central) during the Eemian and Early Würm

High-resolution diatom analysis was carried out to assess the limnological and climatic changes that took place at Ribains maar (French Massif Central) during the Late Pleistocene (∼131–∼105 ka BP), with a focus on the Eemian interglacial in particular. Numerical analyses were used to show that most of the variability in the fossil diatom assemblages was due to climate independently from the changes in the lake catchment vegetation (as represented by pollen data). Diatom-based quantitative reconstructions of the past limnological conditions, as well as a comprehensive literature review on the auto-ecological requirements for the principal diatom taxa, were used to interpret the record. An absolute time-scale for the sequence was derived by matching the major pollen shifts with the radiometrically dated changes in oxygen isotopes observed in Italian stalagmites. This study shows that at Ribains maar, the transition from the Riss (=Saalian) Glacial to the Eemian interglacial was marked by a gradual increase in the contribution of spring-blooming diatom species, indicating a longer growing season and milder winter/spring conditions at that time. A short cooling event interrupts this trend and may correspond to a stadial. At the start of the Eemian a peak in benthic taxa and the suppression of spring-blooming flora probably reflects the effects of deglaciation on the catchment. During the Eemian interglacial itself three main phases were distinguished within the diatom record. The first phase (∼8000 years in duration) was dominated by Stephanodiscus minutulus, which suggests that intense mixing in the water-column took place during spring. The pollen record was simultaneously dominated by Quercus and Corylus that typify this phase as the climatic optimum of the Eemian. The second phase, almost equal in duration to the first phase (∼7000 years), is generally dominated by Cyclotella taxa and suggests a less productive lake and much reduced period of spring mixing compared with the first phase. In the pollen diagram this corresponds to an interval dominated by Carpinus–Picea–Abies that indicates a cooler and wetter climate. The third and last phase of the Eemian, ∼2000 year long, saw the return to Stephanodiscus-dominated assemblages, indicating a warming that may correspond to the Dansgaard–Oeschger event 25 identified in the Greenland ice-core record. In the early stage of the Würm Glacial (=Weichselian), assemblages in the Melisey I stadial (∼3000 year long) were dominated by either Aulacoseira subarctica or Asterionella formosa, which suggest colder spring conditions than during the late Eemian, but not as cold as the ones indicated by the pollen record. Stephanodiscus spp. again dominate during the Saint-Germain Ia interstadial (∼5000 year long) suggesting a return to the conditions that prevailed before the Melisey stadial, in agreement with the pollen record. The record ends with the Montaigu cold event, which is characterised by a Pinus peak in the pollen record, and corresponds to a large abundance of A. subarctica in the diatom sequence. Throughout the Eemian the abundance of Stephanodiscus spp., which is thought to be driven by winter conditions, show cyclic fluctuations that most likely match the cooling events identified in a pollen record from Germany. Variation in insolation throughout the Eemian may have been the driving factor behind the species succession observed in the diatom sequence. While this study demonstrates that diatom analysis of lake sediment can provide very detailed information on long-term climate change, a review of the few other diatom investigations published on European Eemian deposits shows that this technique has been so far seldom used to its full potential in this context in central and southern Europe.     

Paleoecological studies at Lake Patzcuaro on the west-central Mexican Plateau and at Chalco in the basin of Mexico

A 1520-cm sediment core from Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico, is 44,000 yr old at the base. All parts of the core have abundant pollen of Pinus (pine), Alnus (alder), and Quercus (oak) with frequent Abies (fir). The interval dated from 44,000 to 11,000 yr ago has a homogeneous flora characterized by abundant Juniperus (juniper) pollen and frequent Artemisia (sagebrush). It is believed to represent an appreciably drier and colder climate than at present. The Holocene at Lake Patzcuaro is characterized by a moderate increase in Pinus pollen and the loss of Juniperus pollen, as the modern type of climate succeeded. Alnus was abundant until about 5000 yr ago; its abrupt decrease with the first appearance of herbaceous weed pollen may reflect the cutting of lake-shore and stream-course alder communities for agricultural purposes, or it may simply reflect a drying tendency in the climate. Pollen of Zea (corn) appears at Lake Patzcuaro along with low peaks of chenopod and grass pollen at 3500 yr B.P. apparently recording a human population large enough to modify the natural environment, as well as the beginning of agriculture. A rich aquatic flora in this phase suggests eutrophication of the lake by slope erosion. In the most recent period corn is absent from the sediments, perhaps reflecting a change in agricultural practices. The environment changes at Lake Patzcuaro are similar to and correlate with those in the Cuenca de Mexico, where diatom stratigraphy from the Chalco basin indicates fluctuations in lake levels and lake chemistry in response to variations in available moisture. Before 10,000 yr ago climates there were cool and dry, and the Chalco basin was occupied by a shallow freshwater marsh that drained north to Lake Texcoco, where saline water accumulated by evaporation. Increases in effective moisture and possible melting of glaciers during the Holocene caused lake levels to rise throughout the Cuenca de Mexico, and Lake Texcoco flooded the Chalco basin with brackish water. After 5000 yr ago such flooding decreased, and shallow freshwater ponds and marshes were restored in the Chalco basin. This environmental change coincides with the appearance of Zea pollen and suggests cultural control of lake levels and salinity.     

Vegetation and climate change since 14,810 C yr B.P. in southeastern Uruguay and implications for the rise of early Formative societies

This article presents a combined pollen and phytolith record of a 1.70-m sediment core from the wetlands of India Muerta (33° 42′ S, 53° 57′ W) in the lowland Pampa (grasslands) of southeastern Uruguay. Six ¹⁴C dates and the pollen and phytolith content of the samples permitted the recognition of four distinct climatic periods between 14,850 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and the present. The Late Pleistocene period (between ca. 14,810 and ca. 10,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) was characterized by drier and cooler conditions indicated by the presence of a C3-dominated grassland. These conditions prevailed until the onset of the warmer and more humid climate of the Holocene around 9450 ¹⁴C yr B.P. The early Holocene (between around 10,000 and 6620 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) was characterized by the establishment of wetlands in the region as evidenced by the formation of black peat, the increase in wetland taxa, and the replacement of C3 Pooideae by C4 Panicoideae grasses. During the mid-Holocene, around 6620 ¹⁴C yr B.P., began a period of environmental change characterized by drier climatic conditions, which resulted in the expansion of halophytic communities in the flat, low-lying areas of the wetlands of India Muerta. About 4020 ¹⁴C yr B.P. a massive spike of Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae coupled with a radical drop in wetland species indicates another major and more severe period of dryness. After ca. 4000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., a decrease of halophytic species indicates the onset of more humid and stable climatic conditions, which characterized the late Holocene.The findings reported in this article substantially improve our knowledge of the late Glacial and Holocene climate and vegetation in the region. The data provide a detailed record of the timing and severity of mid-Holocene environmental changes in southeastern South America. Significantly, the mid-Holocene drying trend coincided with major organizational changes in settlement, subsistence, and technology of the pre-Hispanic populations in the region, which gave rise to early Formative societies. This study also represents the first combined pollen and phytolith record for southeastern South America reinforcing the utility of phytoliths as significant indicators of long-term grassland dynamics.