Podzol development, vegetation change and glacier variations at Haugabreen, southern Norway

¹⁴C dating and pollen analysis of the surface organic (LFH) horizons of several humo-ferric podzol profiles forming a soil catena close to the 'Little Ice Agc' outer moraine ridge of Haugabreen, southern Norway, are used to examine the timing and nature of podzol development at the low-/sub-alpine margin of the Jostedalsbreen area. Comparison with results from a palaeosol buried beneath the outer moraine shows that FH horizon development began as early as 5,265 ± 65 B.P., but that it was not synehronous across the profiles, the latest profile having a date of 3,590 ± 65 B.P. It is argued that surface organic horizons developed as a response to a deterioration of climate and possibly the recrudescence of the Myklebustbreen ice cap at c . 5,000 B.P., and that the dates for horizon initiation vary according to local topographic and soil-hydrologic conditions. It is still uncertain whether the hump-ferric podzols were preceded by brown earths or weakly podzolised sub-alpine podzolic soils, but at all sites where pollen evidence is available it appears that FH initiation took place beneath Betula woodland.     

Two millennia of glacier advances from southern Iceland dated by tephrochronology

Two glaciers at Eyjafjallajökull, south Iceland, provide a record of multiple episodes of glacier advance since the Sub-Atlantic period, ca. 2000 yr ago. A combination of tephrochronology and lichenometry was applied to date ice-marginal moraines, tills and meltwater deposits. Two glacier advances occurred before the 3rd century AD, others in the 9th and 12th centuries bracketing the Medieval Warm Period, and five groups of advances occurred between AD 1700 and 1930, within the Little Ice Age. The advances of Eyjafjallajökull before the Norse settlement (ca. AD 870) were synchronous with other glacier advances identified in Iceland. In contrast, medieval glacier advances between the 9th and 13th centuries are firmly identified for the first time in Iceland. This challenges the view of a prolonged Medieval Warm Period and supports fragmentary historical data that indicate significant medieval episodes of cooler and wetter conditions in Iceland. An extended and more detailed glacier chronology of the mid- and late Little Ice Age is established, which demonstrates that some small outlet glaciers achieved their Little Ice Age maxima around AD 1700. While Little Ice Age advances across Iceland appear to synchronous, the timing of the maximum differs between glacier type and region.     

华北平原小冰期以来干湿变化与人类活动特征

气候变化尤其干湿变化对人类活动具有重要影响,高分辨率地重建过去的干湿变化是研究区域干湿变化的基础,同时也为未来气候变化提供依据。目前针对华北地区小冰期高分辨率的气候变化研究还较少,特别是干湿变化研究更少。本研究在3个AMS-14C测年的基础上,通过99个样品的孢粉、炭屑、粒度等指标高分辨率地重建了该地区小冰期以来的气候干湿变化特征及与人类活动强度的关系。结果表明:小冰期之前(约1340 A.D.)乔木花粉含量多在25%以上,指示流域植被以森林草地景观为主,沉积物颗粒较粗,沉积环境不稳定,气候较为湿润。小冰期期间(1340~1920 A.D.)乔木花粉多降低至15%以下,喜干的藜科、荨麻属和葎草属花粉含量明显增加,指示气候整体变干,但不同阶段变干程度又存在明显差异:小冰期早期(1340~1580 A.D.)孢粉组合中喜干的藜科花粉含量逐渐增加,湿生植物花粉含量减少,PCA axis 1得分值多在0~1之间,显示气候偏干。该时期与人类活动有关的炭屑浓度、农作物(禾本科≥35μm)花粉和磷(P)含量均最低,说明小冰期早期研究区人类活动强度相对较弱;小冰期中期(1580~1800 A.D.)喜干的藜科、荨麻属和葎草属花粉含量达到最高值,PCA axis 1得分值较小冰期早期更正偏,指示气候更为干旱。炭屑浓度、伴人植物、磷(P)含量和农作物(禾本科≥35μm)花粉均达最高值,指示人类活动强度明显增强;小冰期晚期(1800~1920 A.D.)湿生的禾本科和水生植物狐尾藻属等花粉含量达到最高值,PCA axis 1得分值负偏,指示气候变湿润。该阶段农作物(禾本科≥35μm)花粉、炭屑浓度和磷(P)含量较上一时期均略有降低,表明人类活动强度较小冰期中期略有降低。小冰期以后(1920年至今)喜湿的禾本科和水生植物狐尾藻属花粉含量减少,与小冰期晚期相比,气候向着干旱化方向发展.     

Holocene (Neoglacial) moraine and proglacial lake chronology, Barnes Ice Cap, Canada

Lichen diameters and radiocarbon dates from the western and southern margins of the Barnes Ice Cap yield a growth curve similar to that from southeastern Baffin Island. As a consequence, the moraine chronology of the northern and western Barnes Ice Cap needs revision, as does the chronology of the large proglacial lakes that existed north of the present Barnes Ice Cap. The revised chronology indicates that moraines were formed along the western margin of the Barnes Ice Cap during the following intervals: (1) less than 100 years ago; (2) 400–500 B.P.; (3) ca. 750 B.P.; (4) ca. 1000 B.P.; (5) ca. 1600 B.P.; (6) ca. 2100 B.P.; and (7) 2800 to 3100 B.P. As the western margin of the Barnes Ice Cap retreated, punctuated by stillstands and readvances, the northern margin of the Barnes Ice Cap lay athwart a series of westerly draining valleys, and a complex of proglacial lakes were dammed between the ice margin and the height of land. This sequence is traced by means of well-developed shorelines, lacustrine deltas, and spillways; specific lake levels are dated by lichenometry.
The Barnes Ice Cap moraine sequence is more complex than other Neoglacial records fringing mountain glaciers in Colorado, Alaska and Lappland. However, the chronology for the western Barnes Ice Cap closely resembles independent moraine chronology of mountain glaciers in Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, and thus indicates that the difference between the Baffin Island climatic record and the general Neoglacial/Holocene climatic record (Denton & Karlén, Quaternary Research 7 , 1977) is real. Comparison of specific data from Swedish Lappland and Baffin Island shows substantial agreement. Although Neoglacial records may be globally synchronous, the case for a 2500 year periodicity of glacial fluctuations is not proven: a 300 to 600 year return interval is suggested for the period between 0 and 3000 B.P.     

Environmental changes in the northern Altai during the last millennium documented in Lake Teletskoye pollen record

A high-resolution pollen record from Lake Teletskoye documents the climate-related vegetation history of the northern Altai Mountain region during the last millennium. Siberian pine taiga with Scots pine, fir, spruce, and birch dominated the vegetation between ca. AD 1050 and 1100. The climate was similar to modern. In the beginning of the 12th century, birch and shrub alder increased. Lowered pollen concentrations and simultaneous peaks in herbs (especially Artemisia and Poaceae), ferns, and charcoal fragments point to colder and more arid climate conditions than before, with frequent fire events. Around AD 1200, regional climate became warmer and more humid than present, as revealed by an increase of Siberian pine and decreases of dry herb taxa and charcoal contents. Climatic conditions were rather stable until ca. AD 1410. An increase of Artemisia pollen may reflect slightly drier climate conditions between AD 1410 and 1560. Increases in Alnus, Betula, Artemisia, and Chenopodiaceae pollen and in charcoal particle contents may reflect further deterioration of climate conditions between AD 1560 and 1810, consistent with the Little Ice Age. After AD 1850 the vegetation gradually approached the modern one, in conjunction with ongoing climate warming.     

Holocene alluvial sequences,cumulic soils and fire signatures in the middle Rio Puerco basin at Guadalupe Ruin,New Mexico

We describe a geoarchaeological survey of a 5‐km reach of the Rio Puerco channel and its tributaries, centered on the Guadalupe Ruin, a pueblo of the late 10th–12th centuries A.D. in north‐central New Mexico, with associated pollen, charcoal, micromorphological, and radiocarbon analyses. Severe erosion has drastically bisected the Puerco valley with four primary arroyos entering the western side of the Guadalupe reach of the valley: Tapia, Salado, Guadalupe and “No Name.” We recorded an 11‐m‐tall alluvial sequence marked by four phases of cumulic soil development, interrupted by six major periods of channel entrenchment that occurred at about 4100–3700 B.C. and 2900–2400 B.C., between 2200 B.C. and ca. A.D. 400, pre‐ and post‐ca. A.D. 900–1300, and in the late A.D. 1800s. Relative floodplain stability and associated cumulic soil development occurred prior to ca. 5700 B.C., between ca. 2600 to 2200 B.C. and A.D. 350 and 550, and ca. A.D. 900–1300. Multiple signatures of fires (oxidized sediment and charcoal) were observed in the Arroyo Tapia tributary sequence, especially in deposits dated ca. 6000 and 2600 B.C. These fires may have helped to enhance food resources for game animals by encouraging grass and shrub growth and/or to increase the growth of wild plants and eventually cultigens such as maize. Palynological evidence of maize in the Arroyo Tapia, dated ca. 2600–2200 B.C. may be the earliest thus far identified in the Southwest. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Environmental Change and Terrestrial Resource Use by the Thule and Inuit of Labrador,Canada

The object of this study is to document how the Inuit on the northern coast of Labrador, Canada used terrestrial resources such as peat and wood during the Little Ice Age (LIA; A.D. 1500–1870). Paleoecological investigations consisting of pollen and macrofossil analyses were undertaken in conjunction with archaeological excavations at the Inuit winter settlement sites of Oakes Bay 1, located in the Nain region of north‐central Labrador. Our data indicate that the major changes in terrestrial ecosystems of this coastal region were triggered by climate change. From ca. 5700 to 3000 cal. yr B.P., climatic conditions were relatively warm and moist. At ca. 3000 cal. yr B.P. conditions became significantly drier and colder, which corresponds to broader climatic trends during the Neoglacial period. At ca. 1000 cal. yr B.P., the reappearance of hygrophilic species and the establishment of Larix laricina provide evidence of a return to more humid conditions that in turn triggered the onset of the paludification of sandy terraces in the Dog Island region. Peat accumulation persisted after ca. 580 cal. yr B.P. likely due to the elevation of the frost table during the LIA. Elevated frost tables contributed to water saturation of the surface during the spring, creating conditions that were conducive to the preservation of organic material. Natural resources such as trees and peat were therefore readily available and more abundant during the LIA and extensively used by the Inuit for house construction and heating in the Dog Island region.     

The Holocene glacial history of Lyngshalvöya, northern Norway: chronology and climatic implications

Up to four nested Neoglacial moraines occur in front of glaciers on Lyngshalvöya. Lichenometric measurements at 21 glaciers demonstrate that these represent five episodes of glacier expansion, one of which predated the Little Ice Age. Lichenometric, dendrochronological and historical evidence indicates that the oldest Little Ice Age moraines date to the mid-18th century, and the youngest to A.D. 1910-30. At nine small glaciers the A.D. 1910-30 moraine represents the Neoglacial maximum; only larger glaciers were more extensive in the 18th century. It is inferred that conditions for glacier growth were less favourable in the 18th century than in A.D. 1880–1910 because of low winter snowfall. Comparison of the relative magnitude of 18th- and 20th-century advances on Lyngshalvöya with those of southern Norway suggests that the diminished winter precipitation was due to the southerly location of the North Atlantic oceanic polar front in the 18th century, which resulted in a reduction in winter cyclonic activity in northern Scandinavia but in an increase in snowfall farther south.     

Late Holocene climatic changes in Tierra del Fuego based on multiproxy analyses of peat deposits

A ca. 1400-yr record from a raised bog in Isla Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, registers climate fluctuations, including a Medieval Warm Period, although evidence for the ‘Little Ice Age’ is less clear. Changes in temperature and/or precipitation were inferred from plant macrofossils, pollen, fungal spores, testate amebae, and peat humification. The chronology was established using a ¹⁴C wiggle-matching technique that provides improved age control for at least part of the record compared to other sites. These new data are presented and compared with other lines of evidence from the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. A period of low local water tables occurred in the bog between A.D. 960-1020, which may correspond to the Medieval Warm Period date range of A.D. 950-1045 generated from Northern Hemisphere tree-ring data. A period of cooler and/or wetter conditions was detected between ca. A.D. 1030 and 1100 and a later period of cooler/wetter conditions estimated at ca. cal A.D. 1800-1930, which may correspond to a cooling episode inferred from Law Dome, Antarctica.     

Late Holocene δC and pollen records of paleosalinity from tidal marshes in the San Francisco Bay estuary, California

Records of stable carbon isotopes (δ¹³C) are presented from cores collected from four San Francisco Bay marshes and used as a proxy for changes in estuary salinity. The δ¹³C value of organic marsh sediments are a reflection of the relative proportion of C₃ vs. C₄ plants occupying the surface, and can thus be used as a proxy for vegetation change on the marsh surface. The four marshes included in this study are located along a natural salinity gradient that exists in the San Francisco Bay, and records of vegetation change at all four sites can be used to infer changes in overall estuary paleosalinity. The δ¹³C values complement pollen data from the same marsh sites producing a paleoclimate record for the late Holocene period in the San Francisco Bay estuary. The data indicate that there have been periods of higher-than-average salinity in the Bay estuary (reduced fresh water inflow), including 1600-1300 cal yr B.P., 1000-800 cal yr B.P., 300-200 cal yr B.P., and ca. A.D. 1950 to the present. Periods of lower-than-average salinity (increased fresh water inflow) occurred before 2000 cal yr B.P., from 1300 to 1200 cal yr B.P. and ca. 150 cal yr B.P. to A.D. 1950. A comparison of the timing of these events with records from the California coast, watershed, and beyond the larger drainage of the Bay reveals that the paleosalinity variations reflected regional precipitation.     

2000年来华南沿海气候与环境变化

通过华南沿海两个钻孔剖面的孢粉分析，并用14种热带、南亚热带木本植物花粉含量之和与5种中、北亚热带和暖温带木本植物花粉含量之和的比值作为冷热变化的温度半定量曲线；利用2000年来古籍、地方志记载的典型热带动、植物分布、兴衰的变化作冷暖变化事件；以华南沿海罕见的降雪记载，特别是对15世纪以来的降雪现象分纬度统计其出现频率，探讨华南的小冰期。据此分析华南沿海2000年来的气候和环境变化。     

23,000 yr of vegetation history of the Upper Lerma, a tropical high-altitude basin in Central Mexico

Pollen analysis on a 9.54-m sediment core from lake Chignahuapan in the upper Lerma basin, the highest intermontane basin in Central Mexico (2570 m asl), documents vegetation and limnological changes over the past ∼23,000 ¹⁴C yr. The core was drilled near the archaeological site of Santa Cruz Atizapán, a site with a long history of human occupation, abandoned at the end of the Epiclassic period (ca. 900 AD). Six radiocarbon AMS dates and two well-dated volcanic events, the Upper Toluca Pumice with an age of 11,600 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and the Tres Cruces Tephra of 8500 ¹⁴C yr B.P., provide the chronological framework for the lacustrine sequence. From ca. 23,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. to ca. 11,600 ¹⁴C yr B.P. the plant communities were woodlands and grasslands based on the pollen data. The glacial advances MII-1 and MII-2 correlate with abundant non-arboreal pollen, mainly grasses, from ca. 21,000 to 16,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., and at ca. 12,600 ¹⁴C yr B.P. During the late Pleistocene, lake Chignahuapan was a shallow freshwater lake with a phase of lower level between 19,000 and 16,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. After 10,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., tree cover in the area increased, and a more variable lake level is documented. Late Holocene (ca. 3100 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) deforestation was concurrent with human population expansion at the beginning of the Formative period (1500 B.C.). Agriculture and manipulation of the lacustrine environment by human lakeshore populations appear at 1200 ¹⁴C yr B.P. (550 A.D.) with the appearance of Zea mays pollen and abundant charcoal particles.     

A late Wisconsin and Holocene vegetation history from the central brooks range: Implications for Alaskan palaeoecology

Five pollen diagrams reveal late Wisconsin and Holocene vegetation changes in the Walker Lake/Alatna Valley region of the central Brooks Range, approximately 100 km west of the area studied by D. A. Livingstone (1955, Ecology36, 587–600). New insights into the vegetation history of this region are provided by calculations of pollen influx and by the use of linear discriminant analysis to separate Picea glauca and P. mariana pollen. Three major pollen zones are identified: (1) a basal herb zone, characterized by high percentages of Cyperaceae, Gramineae, Salix, and Artemisia, and low total pollen influx; (2) a shrub Betula zone with increased total pollen influx and very high percentages of Betula pollen, predominantly in the size range of B. nana and B. glandulosa; and (3) and Alnus zone dominated by Alnus pollen. Lakes currently within the boreal forest or near tree line show relatively high percentages of Picea pollen in the Alnus zone. Several striking vegetation changes occurred between ca. 10,000 and 7000 yr B.P. Between ca. 11,000 and 10,000 yr B.P., Populus balsamifera pollen percentages as great as 30% indicate that this species was present at low-elevation sites near Walker Lake. These populations declined abruptly ca. 10,000 yr ago and have never regained prominence. About 8500 yr B.P., Picea glauca pollen reached 10–15%, indicating the arrival of P. glauca in or near the study area. P. glauca populations evidently decreased ca. 8000 yr ago, when Picea pollen percentages and influx fell to low values. About 7000 yr B.P., Alnus pollen percentages and influx rose sharply as alder shrubs became established widely. Picea once more expanded ca. 5000 yr ago, but these populations were dominated by P. mariana rather than P. glauca, which increased slowly at this time and may still be advancing northward. Some vegetation changes have been remarkably synchronous over wide areas of interior Alaska, and probably reflect responses of in situ vegetation to environmental changes, but others may reflect the lagged responses of species migrating into new areas.     

Aspects of the Weichselian chronology in central East Greenland

From central East Greenland, C₁₄ ages between 19,500 > 40,000 years B.P. have been obtained for six samples of marine bivalve shells. The ages seem to be consistent with geological observations and form the basis for a tentative chronology for the Weichselian ice age in the region. It appears that the maximum glaciation during Weichselian times was attained more than 40,000 years ago, and that since then ice-free areas have existed. This assumption agrees with evidence of botanical refugia in the region, and the restricted glacier activity especially during the Upper Pleniglacial (ca. 30,000–15,000 years B.P.) is explained by a reduced supply of moisture. A comparison with evidence from other parts of Greenland indicates that different glacial histories can be expected for different sectors of the Greenland Inland Ice.     

A pollen record from the Agassiz Ice Cap, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada

A continuous pollen record from the last glacial period to 100 B.P. was obtained from an ice core drilled in 1977 near the top of the Agassiz Ice Cap. Pollen concentrations are low ( c . 15–173 grains/100 I) through-out the core and exotic pollen grains (from distant sources) dominate over regional pollen grains (from Ellesmere Island). The very low concentrations during the Wisconsinan glacial period and the early Holocene are attributed to the increased distance of potential sources as most of northern North America was ice-covered or supported tundra vegetation. An increase of exotic grains (mainly birch and alder) at c . 7,600 B.P. corresponds to the period of alder migration into the Low Arctic regions. The subsequent fluctuations of exotic pollen, especially the increase at c . 3,100 B.P., are unexplained at present. Regional pollen concentrations start to increase at c . 6,100 B.P. and a maximum concentration is reached at c . 3,100 B.P. The pollen record suggests that plant migration into northern Ellesmere was limited until 6,100 B.P., then increased gradually and continued to do so for about 1,000 years after the climate had started to deteriorate at about 4,000 B.P.     

A comparison of evidence for late Holocene summer temperature variations in the northern hemisphere

Data on glacier, tree-line, tree-ring, pollen, and ice-core variations in North America, Greenland, and Europe during the last 2000 yr (up to A.D. 1800) are compared in detail on the century time scale. Only data that may be indicative of summer temperature changes are included, since these comprise most of the available paleoclimatic information, although some variations (especially of glaciers) may have been in response to precipitation changes instead. Radiocarbon dates and ¹⁴C-dated records are converted to calendar (dendrochronological) years using the calibration of M. Stuiver (1982, Radiocarbon 24, 1–26). Despite the basic uncertainties in dating, interpretation, response times, and “noise level” of proxy climatic data, there is at times good agreement among different kinds of evidence from within a region to suggest an episode of generally warmer or cooler summers. Three previously identified episodes find expression in records from all of the regions considered: the “Little Ice Age” of the last few centuries, a “Medieval Warm Period” around the 12th century A.D., and an earlier cold period some time between the 8th and 10th centuries. However, the timing of minima and maxima within these episodes seems to have varied from region to region (although the evidence is consistent within regions). In the 15th century, summers were warm in the eastern Canadian Arctic and southern Greenland while there was a cold episode in Europe and western North America.     

小冰期气候的研究

本文总结分析了近年来国内外对小冰期气候的研究，对亚洲、欧洲、北美、南美、非洲、北极地区及南极洲的各种重建气温序列进行了整理。所有序列均取１０００－１９８９年每５０年的平均值(最后一个仅有４０年)，并统一对近千年平均求距平。发现１７世纪及１９世纪的冷期有很大普遍性。平均比２０世纪后半低１．０℃左右。火山活动与太阳活动(¹⁴Ｃ)指数及平均气温序列的相关系数分别为－０．４９及－０．７３，说明这两个因素可能是小冰期形成的原因。     

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.     

陕西渭南北庄村晚更新世晚期古植被的再研究

通过渭南北庄村约31,000—18,000aB.P.沉积物中花粉百分含量、浓度和沉积率分析,对该时期古植被取得一些新认识,即当时云杉、冷杉等亚高山针叶树可能并未形成较大面积的森林,而是呈岛状分布于水体周围,并与区域性蒿草草原呈镶嵌状分布,植被并不稳定,亚高山针叶树曾两度出现又消失。从20,000aB.P.无乔木花粉出现,到18,000aB.P.难以找到任何花粉,本区变为无乔木生长的荒漠草原,气候曾经过数次冷偏湿与冷干的交替后,从18,000aB.P.起变得极度干燥和寒冷。     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene Paleoenvironments of Chalco Lake, Central Mexico

In order to establish paleoenvironmental conditions during the late Quaternary, four cores from the Basin of Mexico (central Mexico) were drilled in Chalco Lake, located in the southeastern part of the basin. The upper 8 m of two parallel cores were studied, using paleomagnetic, loss-on-ignition, pollen, and diatom analyses. Based on 11 ¹⁴C ages, the analyzed record spans the last 19,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Volcanic activity has affected microfossil abundances, both directly and indirectly, resulting in absence or reduction of pollen and diatom assemblages. Important volcanic activity took place between 19,000 and 15,000 yr B.P. when the lake was a shallow alkaline marsh and an increase of grassland pollen suggests a dry, cold climate. During this interval, abrupt environmental changes with increasing moisture occurred. From 15,000 until 12,500 yr B.P. the lake level increased and the pollen indicates wetter conditions. The highest lake level is registered from 12,500 to ca. 9000 yr B.P. The end of the Pleistocene is characterized by an increase in humidity. From 9000 until ca. 3000 yr B.P. Chalco Lake was a saline marsh and the pollen record indicates warmer conditions. After 3000 yr B.P. the lake level increased and human disturbance dominates the lacustrine record.