Fossil pollen from Los Toldos locality: A record of the Late-glacial transition in the Extra-Andean Patagonia

Paleoenvironmental changes during the Late-glacial transition are interpreted from a pollen record from two caves at Los Toldos (47°22′S; 68°58′W) in Extra-Andean Patagonia in Argentina. The paleoenvironmental interpretation is based on changes in the ratio between shrub and grass steppe taxa and on comparison with other pollen records from the region. Between 12,600 and 8750 yr BP two vegetational changes occurred thought to reflect the establishment of Holocene-type atmospheric circulation patterns. The first change is at ca. 11,000 yr BP expressed by replacement of shrub steppe with Ephedra by a grass steppe. The second change occurred ca. 10,000 yr BP when the grass steppe was replaced by a shrub steppe dominated by Asteraceae. Before ca. 11,000 yr BP the environmental conditions were extremely arid with precipitation lower than 200 mm. Between ca. 11,000 and ca. 10,000 yr BP effective moisture increased, probably related to an increase in precipitation to about 200 mm under cold conditions. A grass steppe extended through Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, at least as far north as 47°S. It is difficult to find modern analogues for pollen associations south of 47°S older than 10,000 yr BP. Possibly at that time climate patterns were markedly different from today. At about this time of environmental changes Level 11 industry associated with extinct grazing herbivores developed. Starting at ca. 10,000 yr BP, with expansion of the shrub steppe of Asteraceae east of the Andes at 47° to 52°S and forest at 51°–54°S west of the Andes, temperature increased while water availability decreased. Precipitation probably was similar to the present, which suggests that the modern climate patterns were established at the beginning of the Holocene. The Toldense Industry, which is associated with remains of modern fauna as well as with the last remains of the Pleistocene fauna, developed in this period. The beginning of this development coincides with the extinction of Pleistocene fauna.     

Holocene vegetation and climate dynamics of the boreal alpine ecotone of northwestern Fennoscandia

Climate change with respect to summer temperature throughout the Holocene is inferred from oscillations in the local Pinus sylvestris, Alnus incana and Betula pubescens forest‐lines, as recorded by fossil pollen and plant macrofossils in lake sediments at four altitudinal levels. Mt Skrubben (848 m a.s.l.), in Dividalen, was deglaciated down to below 280 m a.s.l. during 10 800–10 300 cal. yr BP. Betula pubescens established 10100 cal. yr BP at 280 m a.s.l. and expanded up to near the summit during the next 700 years. Birch woodland prevailed on the mountain plateau until 3300 cal. yr BP. Local Pinus sylvestris stands are recorded up to 400 m a.s.l. at 8450 cal. yr BP and >548 m a.s.l. about 8160 cal. yr BP. Alnus incana expanded from 400 to nearly 790 m a.s.l. during the period 7900–7600 cal. yr BP. The maximum forest distribution lasted until ca. 6000 cal. yr BP. Marked climatic deteriorations caused lowering of the forest‐lines around 4600 and 3000 cal. yr BP. Reconstruction of the summer temperature indicated mean July temperatures at 400 m a.s.l. of 1.5–3°C above the present during the period of maximum forest expansion, whereas >3°C above the present temperature at 548 m a.s.l. This is in accordance with other regional temperature reconstructions from northern Europe. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A 11,000 yr palaeotemperature reconstruction from the southern boreal zone in Finland

The ecotone between the boreo-nemoral (hemiboreal) and the southern boreal vegetation zones constitutes the northern distributional limit of a number of thermophilous tree species in northern Europe and is, to a large extent, controlled by climatic conditions. We present a quantitative annual mean temperature reconstruction from a high-resolution pollen stratigraphy in southern boreal Finland, using a pollen-climate calibration model with a cross-validated prediction error of 0.9°C. Our model reconstructs low but steadily rising annual mean temperature from 10,700 to 9000 cal yr BP. At 8000–4500 cal yr BP reconstructed annual mean temperature reaches a period of highest values (Holocene thermal maximum) with particularly high temperatures (2.0–1.5°C higher than at present) at 8000–5800 cal yr BP. From 4500 cal yr BP to the present-day, reconstructed annual mean temperature gradually decreases by ca 1.5°C. Comparison of present results with palaeotemperature records from the Greenland ice cores, notably with the NorthGRIP δ¹⁸O record, shows marked similarities, suggesting parallel large-scale Holocene temperature trends between the North Atlantic and North European regions. The verification of the occurrence, timing, and nature of the short-term temperature fluctuations during the Holocene in the southern boreal zone in Europe requires replicate, high-resolution climate reconstructions from the region.     

Pollen sequence from the Chilean Lake District during the Llanquihue glaciation in marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 4–2

Pollen stratigraphy of a core taken from a fen at Fundo Nueva Braunau (40°17.49′S, 73°04.83′W), situated 2 km beyond the western border of Llanquihue‐age glacial drift, spans an age range from an estimated 60 000–70 000 BP to about 14 000 ¹⁴C yr BP (marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 4–2). The location at present is in the contact zone of Valdivian Evergreen Forest and Lowland Deciduous Beech Forest. Early and late in the pollen record, as indicated by assemblages of southern beech (Nothofagus dombeyi type) and grass (Gramineae), the site was located in Subantarctic Parkland. Intervening assemblages represent expansion of Valdivian–North Patagonian Evergreen Forest (> 49 355 to about 40 000 ¹⁴C yr BP) and North Patagonian Evergreen Forest–Subantarctic Parkland (approximately 40 000 to 30 000 ¹⁴C yr BP). Climate over the time span was under the storm regime of the Southern Westerlies and apparently uninterruptedly wet. When Subantarctic Parkland expanded, cold conditions with summer temperatures estimated at 8–9°C (7°C lower than present) resulted in episodes of glacier maxima. Climate moderated during the period of forest expansion, at which time glaciers were in a state of recession. Contrasting with the continuously wet climate of the Lake District for the period of record, climate in semi‐arid–arid, subtropical Chile underwent extended intervals of precipitation. Data from both the terrestrial and marine realm implicate the Southern Westerlies as the cause of intensified storm activity at lower latitudes. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late‐glacial and Holocene record of vegetation and climate from Cynthia Bay,Lake St Clair,Tasmania

A Late‐glacial–Holocene pollen record was obtained from a 3.96 m sediment core taken from Lake St Clair, central Tasmania. Modern vegetation and pollen analyses formed the basis for interpretation of the vegetation and climate history. Following deglaciation and before ca. 18450 yr BP Podocarpus lawrencei coniferous heath and Astelia–Plantago wet alpine herbfield became established at Lake St Clair. A distinct Poaceae‐Plantago peak occurs between 18450 and 11210 yr BP and a mean annual temperature depression from ca. 6.2°C to 3°C below present is inferred for this period. The marked reduction in Podocarpus and strong increase of Poaceae suggests reduced precipitation levels during the period of widespread deglaciation (ca. 18.5–11 kyr BP). The local Late Pleistocene–Holocene non‐forest to forest biostratigraphical boundary is dated at 11.2 kyr BP. It is characterised by expansion of the subalpine taxa Athrotaxis/Diselma with Nothofagus gunnii, and by the establishment of Nothofagus cunninghamii with Eucalyptus spp. A ‘Phyllocladus bulge’ prior to the expansion of Nothofagus cunninghamii, reported at other Tasmanian sites, is not present at Lake St Clair. Nothofagus cunninghamii cool temperate rainforest peaked at 7800 yr BP, probably under wetter climatic conditions than present. The maximum development of rainforest in the early–middle Holocene may indicate that the temperature was slightly warmer than present, but the evidence is not definitive. The expansion of Eucalyptus spp. and Poaceae after 6000 yr BP may be partly a disclimax effect as a result of Aboriginal burning, but appears also to reflect reduced precipitation. The changes in vegetation and inferred climate can be explained by major changes in synoptic patterns of southern Australia and the adjacent southwest Pacific. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Altitudinal and latitudinal migration of Cryptomeria japonica for the past 20,000 years in Japan

Biostatistical analysis of modern pollen assemblages in 152 Japanese surface samples shows that Cryptomeria japonica can normally grow in areas with a mean January temperature of approximately −7° to 7°C, a mean August temperature of 19° to 27°C, and an effective precipitation (total precipitation during the growing season) of over 1000 mm. The full-glacial distribution of the species on both the Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts (35–36°N lat) indicates that in these areas the maximum possible reduction of temperature was 8.7–10.2°C in January and 6.0–7.3°C in August, and that the effective precipitation was low, being 1000–1350 mm, or 40–55% below the modern level, provided that the species has not changed its physiological characteristics. Populations of C. japonica expanded northward and upslope from their full-glacial areas of distribution immediately after late-glacial climatic amelioration. This expansion appears to have been regulated mainly by the availability of effective precipitation which became high in northeastern Honshu about 4000 yr ago. After about 2500 yr B.P., C. japonica was planted extensively by humans in moist, temperate climatic regions (excluding Hokkaido), and now has its widest distribution since at least the last full-glacial interval.     

Holocene vegetation dynamics and inferred climate changes at Svanåvatnet, Mo i Rana, northern Norway

Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses from Svanåvatnet in northern Norway provide records of past vegetation and climate in this region from c . 8700 cal. yr BP until the present. Pollen accumulation rates and the presence of plant macrofossils indicate that Betula pubescens (birch) was present from c . 8600 cal. yr BP and Pinus sylvestris (pine) from c . 8200 cal. yr BP. Quantitative climate is reconstructed using modern pollen-climate transfer functions based on weighted-averaging partial least squares regression. A rapid increase in mean July temperature (T_jul) and mean annual precipitation (P_ann) is inferred for the early Holocene. At times when tree abundance is at its highest and most diverse, inferred T_jul indicates maximum temperatures during the mid-Holocene of about 2°C warmer than at present. During the same time period, inferred P_ann is 200–300 mm above present-day conditions until c . 3000 cal. yr BP. Mean January temperatures (T_jan) are reconstructed to be about 2°C warmer than today from 8000 to 3500 cal. yr BP. After 3500 cal. yr BP until today, a gradual decrease is seen in all the reconstructed climate parameters, together with a reduction in tree abundance and the development of a mosaic of open vegetation with grasses, dwarf shrubs and wet areas, and of woodland containing B. pubescens , P. sylvestris and Picea abies (spruce).     

Vegetation and climate near Lago Llanquihue in the Chilean Lake District between 20200 and 9500 14C yr BP

Radiocarbon-dated pollen records of two adjacent sediment cores from Canal de la Puntilla (40°57′09″S, 72°54′18″W) in the Chilean Lake District reveal that a sparsely vegetated landscape prevailed during the portion of the Last Glacial Maximum between 20200 and about 14800 ¹⁴C yr BP. Dominating the vegetation was Nothofagus, Gramineae and Compositae, along with taxa commonly found today above the Andean treeline (Perezia-type, Valeriana) and in Magellanic Moorlands (Donatia, Astelia). Nothofagus expanded between 20200 and 15800 ¹⁴C yr BP, interrupted by a reversal at 19200 ¹⁴C yr BP and followed by a prominent increase in Gramineae pollen between 15800 and about 14800 ¹⁴C yr BP. A major increase in Nothofagus started at about 14800 ¹⁴C yr BP, followed by an abrupt expansion of thermophilous Valdivian/North Patagonian Rain Forest taxa (Myrtaceae, Lomatia/Gevuina, Hydrangea, etc.) at about 14000 ¹⁴C yr BP. An opening of the rain forest and an expansion of Podocarpus nubigena, Misodendrum, and Maytenus disticha-type subsequently occurred between 11000 and 10000 ¹⁴C yr BP. These results suggest that mean annual temperature was 6–7°C colder than at present, with twice the modern annual precipitation between 20200 and 14000 ¹⁴C yr BP, implying a northward shift and intensification of the westerlies storm-tracks. Slight climate warming occurred between 20200 and 15800 ¹⁴C yr BP, featuring cooling reversals at 19200 ¹⁴C yr BP, and later at 15800 ¹⁴C yr BP. The warming of the last termination started at about 14800 ¹⁴C yr BP, and reached a total temperature rise of ≥5°C by 12400 ¹⁴C yr BP, followed by cooling between 11000 and 10000 ¹⁴C yr BP. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Full-glacial — late-glacial palaeoclimate of the Southern Andes: evidence from pollen,beetle and glacial records

Palaeoecological studies carried out in the Chilean Lake District and Chilotan Archipelago (41°–43°S) record full-glacial and late-glacial pollen assemblages beginning just after 21000 and beetle assemblages after 18000, both sets extending until 10000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Pollen records indicate that Subantarctic Parkland, the vegetation of the early millennia of record, changed after about 14000 yr BP to become open woodland and later North Patagonian Evergreen Forest. Assemblages of plants and beetles, responding more or less in unison to a strong rise in temperature (≥ 6°C), behaved in accord at around 14000 until 13000–12500 yr BP, the beetle fauna displaying a marked increase in obligate forest types. During full-glacial conditions (17400–16100 and 15300 and 14400 yr BP) and in the late-glacial interval (after about 13000 yr BP), however, climate evidently coerced populations dissimilarly, the pollen sequence showing an increase in plant taxa indicative of colder climate, whereas the beetle fauna underwent little or no variation. Contrasting climate modes implied by plants and beetles may be attributed to differential responses to apparent low-order temperature changes (≤ 2–3°C).     

Mid-Wisconsin seasonal temperatures reconstructed from fossil beetle assemblages in eastern North America: comparisons with other proxy records from the Northern Hemisphere

Mutual climatic range (MCR) analysis was applied to 15 North American beetle assemblages spanning the interval from > 52 000 to 17 200 yr BP, bracketing a Mid-Wisconsin interstadial interval. The analyses yielded estimates of mean July (TMAX) and mean January (TMIN) temperatures. The oldest assemblage (> 52 ka) yielded TMAX values 7.5–8°C lower than present and TMIN values 15–18°C lower than present. A Mid-Wisconsin interstadial warming dating from 43.5–39 ka was rapid and intense. At the peak of the warming event, about 42 ka, TMAX values were only 1–2°C lower than modern. This level of amelioration apparently lasted only about 2000–3000 yr. By 23.7 ka, TMAX values declined to 11.5–10°C lower than modern, but another, small-scale amelioration is indicated by assemblages dating from 20.5 to 19.7 ka. The interstadial event recorded from the site at Titusville, Pennsylvania closely matches the timing and intensity of the climate change estimated from British beetle faunas in the Upton Warren interstadial. Another warm interval (ca. 31–32.5 ka) has been documented from fossil beetle assemblages in Europe and North America. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The environment of Upper Palaeolithic (Magdalenian and Azilian) hunters at Hauterive‐Champréveyres,Neuchâtel,Switzerland, interpreted from coleopteran remains

An excavation primarily intended to investigate the Bronze Age deposits at Hautrive‐Champréveyres, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, encountered beneath the Bronze Age levels a sequence of Late‐glacial sediments that were deposited between about 13000 yr BP and 11800 yr BP. Within these deposits Upper Palaeolithic hearths, bones and flint implements were found in a context that left no doubt that they accumulated on the actual living floors. Two separate cultures were involved; an earlier Magdalenian one overlain by a rather later Azilian assemblage. Coleoptera from the associated organic silts and sands provide detailed ecological and climatic information about the time when these people lived in the area. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Magdalenians lived in the area at about 13000 yr BP. The Coleoptera show that the mean July temperature at this time was about 9°C and mean temperature of the coldest month was about −25°C. The landscape was bare of trees with an open patchy vegetation. Shortly after the area was abandoned by the Magdalenian hunters, the climate became suddenly warmer and mean July temperatures rose abruptly to at least 16°C and winter temperatures rose to levels not much different from those of the present day. There is evidence that at this time, intense slope instability and mud flows may have rendered the locality unsuitable for human occupation. About seven centuries after the episode of sudden climatic warming, namely at about 12300 yr BP, palaeolithic Azilian hunters occupied the area at a time when the climate was thoroughly temperate and the landscape was clothed in birch and willow woodland. This was gradually replaced by pine forest at the top of the sequence and Late‐glacial deposition ceased by about 11800 yr BP. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative reconstruction of Holocene precipitation changes in southern Patagonia

Holocene variations in annual precipitation (P_ann) were reconstructed from pollen data from southern Argentinian Patagonia using a transfer function developed based on a weighted-averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) regression. The pollen–climate calibration model consisted of 112 surface soil samples and 59 pollen types from the main vegetation units, and modern precipitation values obtained from a global climate database. The performance (r² = 0.517; RMSEP = 126 mm) of the model was comparable or slightly lower than in other comparable pollen–climate models. Fossil pollen data were obtained from a sediment core from Cerro Frias site (50°24'S, 72°42'W) located at the forest-steppe ecotone. Reconstructed P_ann values of about 200 mm suggest dry conditions during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition (12,500–10,500 cal yr BP). P_ann values were about 300–350 mm from 10,500 to 8000 cal yr BP and increased to 400–500 mm between 8000 and 1000 cal yr BP. An abrupt decrease in P_ann at about 1000 cal yr BP was associated with a Nothofagus decline. The reconstructed P_ann suggests a weakening and southward shift of the westerlies during the early Holocene and intensification, with no major latitudinal shifts, during the mid-Holocene at high latitudes in southern Patagonia.     

The Loch Lomond Readvance on north Arran,Scotland: glacier reconstruction and palaeoclimatic implications

Geomorphological mapping of northern Arran provides evidence for two advances of locally nourished glaciers, the younger being attributable to the Loch Lomond Stade (LLS) of ca. 12.9–11.5 k yr BP, primarily through the mutually exclusive relationship between glacial limits and Lateglacial periglacial features. The age of the earlier advance is unknown. Inferred LLS glacier cover comprised two small icefields and eight small corrie or valley glaciers and totalled 11.1 km². ELAs reconstructed using area–altitude balance ratio methods range from 268 m to 631 m for individual glaciers, with an area‐weighted mean ELA of 371 m. ELAs of individual glaciers are strongly related to snow‐contributing areas. The area‐weighted mean ELA is consistent with a north–south decline in LLS ELAs along the west coast of Great Britain. This decline has an average latitudinal gradient of 70 m 100 km^?1, equivalent to a mean southwards ablation‐season temperature increase of ca. 0.42°C 100 km^?1. Mean June–August temperatures at the regional climatic ELA, estimated from chironomid assemblages in SE Scotland, lay between 5.7 ± 0.1°C and 4.1 ± 0.2°C. Empirical relationships between temperature and precipitation at modern glacier ELAs indicate equivalent mean annual precipitation at the ELA lay between 2002 ± 490 mm and 2615 ± 449 mm. These figures suggest that stadial precipitation on Arran fell within a range between +8% and ?33% of present mean annual precipitation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An improved methodology of the modern analogues technique for palaeoclimate reconstruction in arid and semi-arid regions

Jiang, W., Guiot, J., Chu, G., Wu, H., Yuan, B., Hatté, C. & Guo, Z. 2009: An improved methodology of the modern analogues technique for palaeoclimate reconstruction in arid and semi-arid regions. Boreas , 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00115.x. ISSN 0300-9483.
This study presents an improved method of the plant functional type modern analogues technique (PFT-MAT) in which environmental proxies and a moisture index (α, i.e. ratio of actual evapotranspiration to potential evapotranspiration) are used to constrain the selection of modern analogues. The method is tested using high-resolution, precisely dated palaeorecords (pollen, Pediastrum and δ¹⁸O of authigenic carbonate) from Lake Bayanchagan, northern China. The unconstrained and constrained PFT-MAT produces general agreement for Holocene climate changes, with a wet period between 11 000 and 5500 cal. yr BP and a warm interval between 11 000 and 8000 cal. yr BP. However, there are significant differences in the details of their reconstruction. The constrained PFT-MAT generally yields smaller error bars for the reconstructed climate parameters than the unconstrained PFT-MAT. In addition, three prominent climatic events are identified from the constrained reconstructions; namely, a cold event around 8400 cal. yr BP and two warm events around 6000 and 2000 cal. yr BP, which is consistent with other regional palaeoclimatic records. Our data show that changes in tree components correlate well with α variations during the entire Holocene, with the highest tree components and highest α values between 8000 and 5500 cal. yr BP, indicating the dominant role of α in the growth of trees in northern China rather than single temperature or precipitation. The improved PFT-MAT is therefore an efficient method for quantitative reconstructions of palaeoclimate in arid and semi-arid regions.     

Late Quaternary glaciation of the Cordillera Real,Bolivia

Glacial geological studies in tropical mountain areas of the Southern Hemisphere can be used to address two issues of late Pleistocene climate change: the global synchroneity of deglaciation and the magnitude of temperature reduction in the tropics. Radiocarbon dates from the Cordillera Real and from other areas in Perú and Bolivia suggest that late Pleistocene glaciation culminated between 14 000 and 12 000 yr BP, followed by rapid deglaciation. Because deglaciation was apparently synchronous with that in Northern Hemisphere regions, insolation change at high latitudes may not have been the only factor that produced global deglaciation at this time. Late Pleistocene glaciation in the Cordillera Real culminated when precipitation was 200 mm yr^?1 higher and temperatures were 3.5° ±1.6°C lower than today; this produced an equilibrium-line altitude depression of about 300 ± 100 m on the western side of the cordillera. Prior to this, conditions were drier and probably at least as cold. However, the lack of moraines in the Cordillera Real dated to the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 18000 yr BP) precludes using the equilibrium-line altitude method to quantitatively evaluate the discrepancy between warm sea-surface temperatures and cold terrestrial conditions reconstructed with other proxies for this time period.     

The Holocene vegetation history of the Khibiny Mountains: implications for the post‐glacial expansion of spruce and alder on the Kola Peninsula,northwestern Russia

Pollen and peat botanical investigations of the Lutnermayok peat bog, Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia, were carried out, and 21 surface pollen samples were studied. Combined with previous studies our data form the basis for the vegetation history over the last 7000 yr of the Khibiny Mountains. Pinus sylvestris was the dominant species between 7000 and 5000 yr BP and Picea obovata penetrated to the Khibiny Mountains ca. 5500/5300 yr BP. Since 4500 yr BP, Picea replaced Pinus in major parts of the area and dominated the forest cover. Picea immigrated to the Kola Peninsula after 7000 yr BP. There were two paths of spruce migration: from the southeast and the southwest. Grey alder, Alnusincana, immigrated to the Kola Peninsula from the southwest and northwest about ca. 8000 yr BP. Grey alder has been restricted to its modern range since 4000 yr BP. The range of vertical movement of the treeline in Khibiny Mountains during the last 700 yr was 240–260 m, which corresponds to an amplitude of summer temperature change of 2°C. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glacier response in the European Alps to Heinrich Event 1 cooling: the Gschnitz stadial

The Gschnitz stadial was a period of regionally extensive glacier advance in the European Alps that lies temporally between the breakdown of the Last Glacial Maximum piedmont lobes and the beginning of the Bølling warm interval. Moraines of the Gschnitz stadial are found in medium to small catchments, are steep‐walled and blocky, and reflect a snowline lowering of 650–700 m in comparison to the Little Ice Age reference snowline. ¹⁰Be surface exposure dating of boulders from the moraine at the type locality at Trins (Gschnitz valley, Tyrol, Austria) shows that it stabilised no later than 15 400 ± 1400 yr ago. The overall morphological situation and the long reaction time of the glacier suggest that the climatic downturn lasted about 500 ± 300 yr, indicating that the Gschnitz cold period began approximately 15 900 ± 1400 yr ago, if not somewhat earlier. This is consistent with published radiocarbon dates that imply that the stadial occurred sometime between 15 400 ¹⁴C yr BP (18 020–19 100 cal. yr) and 13 250 ¹⁴C yr BP (15 360–16 015 cal. yr). A palaeoclimatic interpretation of the Gschnitz glacier based on a simple glacier flow model and statistical glacier‐climate models shows that precipitation was about one‐third of modern‐day precipitation and summer temperatures were about 10 K lower than today. In comparison, during the Younger Dryas, precipitation in this area was only about 10% less and T_s (summer temperature) was only 3.5–4 K lower than modern values. Based on the age of the moraine and the cold and dry climate at that time, we suggest that the Gschnitz stadial was the response of Alpine glaciers to cooling of the North Atlantic Ocean associated with Heinrich Event 1. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stable isotope composition of subfossil Cerastoderma glaucum shells from the Szczecin Bay brackish deposits and its palaeogeographical implications (South Baltic Coast,Poland)

The environmental conditions of the Szczecin Bay, which existed prior to Szczecin Lagoon, have been reconstructed on the basis of the stable carbon and oxygen isotope (¹⁸O and ¹³C) analysis and radiocarbon dates obtained for subfossil shells of Cerastoderma (Cardium) glaucum. The shells in the collected core were well preserved in their life positions, representing a geochemical record of past temperature variation over the middle Holocene. Three major periods with different thermal conditions have been distinguished in the interval ~ 6000–4300 cal yr BP, when the important Littorina regional transgression took place. During the first period, 6000–5250 cal yr BP, water temperature decreased by 1.4°C, and then remained constant over the second period (5250–4750 cal yr BP). In contrast, during the third period (4750–4300 cal yr BP) both δ-values were highly variable and the mean summer temperature (March–November) increased by about 3.5°C. During first two periods, δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C were significantly correlated, indicating stability of the environmental conditions.     

基于孢粉数据的珠江三角洲QZK6孔全新世气候定量重建

依据珠江三角洲QZK6钻孔孢粉组合特征及AMS14C测年结果,基于CONISS软件对剖面孢粉组合进行分带分析,其结果分为A、B、C和D四个孢粉带。根据10981a cal BP以来的孢粉组合特点,结合东亚孢粉数据库中位于广东的122个天然植被下的表层土壤样点的孢粉组成特征,利用软件Polygon 1.5定量重建了QZK6孔的全新世古气候参数。结果显示,全新世气候基本以暖湿为主,总体趋势为凉干—热湿—温凉;D带(10981~8500a cal BP)年均温度为21.7~22.1°C,年降水量1778~1888mm,年均温度和年降水量均比较高;C带(8500~8105a cal BP)年均温度为21.9~22.3°C,年降水量为1845~1929mm,达到各带中最高值;B带(8105~4343a cal BP)年均温度和年降水量开始降低,年均温度为20.8~21.7°C,年降水量为1595~1806mm。人类活动从B带开始增强(在A带达到最强);A带(4343a cal BP至今)年均温度为20.3~21.5°C,年降水量为1587~1765 mm,为各带中年均温度最低、年降水量最少的阶段。     

A high-resolution diatom record of late-Quaternary sea-surface temperatures and oceanographic conditions from the eastern Norwegian Sea

Core MD95‐2011 was taken from the eastern Vøring Plateau, near the Norwegian coast. The section between 250 and 750 cm covers the time period from 13 000 to 2700 cal. yr BP (the Lateglacial and much of the Holocene). Samples at 5 cm intervals were analysed for fossil diatoms. A data‐set of 139 modern sea‐surface diatom samples was related to contemporary sea‐surface temperatures (SSTs) using two different numerical methods. The resulting transfer functions were used to reconstruct past sea‐surface temperatures from the fossil diatom assemblages. After the cold Younger Dryas with summer SSTs about 6°C, temperatures warmed rapidly to about 13°C. One of the fluctuations in the earliest Holocene can be related to the Pre‐Boreal Oscillation, but SSTs were generally unstable until about 9700 cal. yr BP. Evidence from diatom concentration and magnetic susceptibility suggests a change and stabilization of water currents associated with the final melting of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet at c. 8100 cal. yr BP. A period of maximum warmth between 9700 and 6700 cal. yr BP had SSTs 3–5°C warmer than at present. Temperatures cooled gradually until c. 3000 cal. yr BP, and then rose slightly around 2750 cal. yr BP. The varimax factors derived from the Imbrie & Kipp method for sea‐surface‐temperature reconstructions can be interpreted as water‐masses. They show a dominance of Arctic Waters and Sea Ice during the Younger Dryas. The North Atlantic current increased rapidly in strength during the early Holocene, resulting in warmer conditions than previously. Since about 7250 cal. yr BP, Norwegian Atlantic Water gradually replaced the North Atlantic Water, and this, in combination with decreasing summer insolation, led to a gradual cooling of the sea surface. Terrestrial systems in Norway and Iceland responded to this cooling and the increased supply of moisture by renewed glaciation. Periods of glacial advance can be correlated with cool oscillations in the SST reconstructions. By comparison with records of SSTs from other sites in the Norwegian Sea, spatial and temporal changes in patterns of ocean water‐masses are reconstructed, to reveal a complex system of feedbacks and influences on the climate of the North Atlantic and Norway.