Paleoclimatic reconstruction in northern Oman based on carbonates from hyperalkaline groundwaters

A paleoclimatic reconstruction for the past 35,000 years for northern Oman is based on an unusual approach using travertines and fracture calcites associated with hyperalkaline springs. High-pH groundwaters (pH up to 11.9) discharge from the mantle sequence of the Oman Ophiolite as the product of modern, low-temperature serpentinization. Under arid climatic conditions, hyperalkaline discharge occurs at the surface. Uptake of atmospheric CO₂ precipitates characteristic laminated travertines, accompanied by strong kinetic depletion of ¹³C and ¹⁸O. Pluvial climates supporting a shallow bicarbonate-groundwater flow system and vegetation are recorded by fracture calcites with equilibrium stable isotope contents and calcite-replaced roots and stems. All such carbonates have modern initial ¹⁴C contents, allowing radiocarbon dating and paleoclimatic reconstruction for the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Our reconstruction shows a dominantly wet late Pleistocene up to 19,000 yr B.P., when a phase of climatic deterioration began, leading to a period of hyperaridity which dominated from ca. 16,300 to 13,000 yr B.P. The early Holocene pluvial occurred from 12,500 to ca. 6500 yr B.P. and was followed by renewed climatic deterioration and the current phase of hyperaridity. Comparison of this paleoclimatic reconstruction with that for lacustrine deposits from the A'Rub al Khali of central Saudi Arabia and the summer insolation-driven monsoon record of east Africa and the Arabian Sea is remarkably good.     

Fluctuations of Outlet and Valley Glaciers in the Southern Andes (Argentina) during the Past 13,000 Years

In the southern Argentine Andes, ten advances of valley glaciers were used to reconstruct the late-glacial and Holocene glacier history. The accumulation areas of these glaciers lie in the Precordillera and are thus independent of fluctuations of the South Patagonian Icefield. Like the Viedma outlet glacier, the valley glaciers advanced three times during late-glacial time (14,000–10,000 yr B.P.). The youngest advance correlates with the Younger Dryas Stade, based on two minimum AMS¹⁴C dates of 9588 and 9482 yr B.P. The second oldest advance occurred before 11,800 yr B.P. During the first half of the Holocene, (ca. 10,000–5000 yr B.P.), advances culminated about 8500, 8000–7500, and 5800–5500 yr B.P. During the second half of the Holocene, advances occurred between ca. 4500 and 4200 yr B.P., as well as between 3600 and 3300 yr B.P. In the Río Cóndor valley three subsequent advances have been identified.     

Holocene climate variability in Sicily from a discontinuous stalagmite record and the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition

Fabric and stable isotopic composition of a Holocene stalagmite (CR1) from a cave in northern Sicily record changes in paleorainfall in the early Holocene. High δ¹³C stable isotope values in the calcite deposited from ca. 8500 to ca. 7500 yr ago are interpreted as reflecting periods of high rainfall. The wet phase was interrupted by two periods of multi-century duration characterized by relatively cool and dry winters centered at ca. 8200 and ca. 7500 yr ago, highlighted by low δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values. A high variability of δ¹³C values is recorded from ca. 7500 to ca. 6500 yr ago and indicates that the transition from a pluvial early Holocene to the present-day climate conditions was punctuated by decadal-scale periods of relatively dry winters. In northern Sicily, the traditional elements of the Neolithic appear at ca. 7700 yr ago. It is possible that changes in rainfall influenced the passage from hunter-gathering to farming and sheep-herding economies.     

Timing of atmospheric precipitation in the Zagros Mountains inferred from a multi-proxy record from Lake Mirabad, Iran

A sediment core 7.2 m long from Lake Mirabad, Iran, was examined for loss-on-ignition, mineralogy, oxygen-isotopic composition of authigenic calcite, and trace-element composition of ostracodes to complement earlier pollen and ostracode-assemblage studies. Pollen, ostracode-inferred lake level, and high Sr/Ca ratios indicate that the early Holocene (10000 to 6500 cal yr BP) was drier than the late Holocene. Low δ¹⁸O values during this interval are interpreted as resulting from winter-dominated precipitation, characteristic of a Mediterranean climate. Increasing δ¹⁸O values after 6500 cal yr BP signal a gradual increase in spring rains, which are present today. A severe 600-yr drought occurred at ca. 5500 cal yr BP, shortly after the transition from pistachio-almond to oak forest. During the late Holocene, two milder droughts occurred at about 1500 and 500 cal yr BP. Within the resolution of the record, no drought is evident during the collapse of the Akkadian empire (4200–3900 cal yr BP). Rather, a decrease in δ¹⁸O values to early-Holocene levels may indicate the return to a Mediterranean precipitation regime.     

New data on the stratigraphy and pedology of the Clovis and Plainview sites, Southern High Plains

The well known Clovis and Plainview archaeological sites of New Mexico and Texas have yielded new data on regional late Quaternary geologic, paleoclimatic, and pedologic histories. Eolian sedimentation at the Clovis site from about 10,000 to less than 8500 yr B.P. was followed by the formation of a cumulic soil between 8500 and 5000 yr B.P. Episodic eolian and slope wash deposition then culminated in massive eolian sedimentation about 5000 yr B.P. after which a Haplustalf formed then was subsequently buried by part of a dune system within the last 1000 yr. At the Plainview site, a basal stream gravel contains Plainview cultural material (ca. 10,000 yr B.P.), which is followed by a localized early Holocene lacustrine deposit, two eolian deposits (the younger dating to about 5000 yr B.P.), and a marsh deposit which slowly accreted as an Argiustoll formed in the younger eolian unit. The data indicate that on the Southern High Plains (1) between 12,000 and 8500 yr B.P. sedimentation varied from site to site, (2) there was a regional climate change toward warming and drying in the early Holocene, (3) two episodes of severe drought apparently occurred in the middle Holocene (6500 to 4500 yr B.P.), (4) between 4500 yr B.P. and the present an essentially modern climate existed, but with several shifts toward aridity within the last 1000 yr, (5) argillic horizons have developed in late Holocene soils, (6) clay illuviation can occur in calcareous soils, and (7) long-distance correlation of Holocene stratigraphy in the region is possible, particularly with the aid of soil morphology.     

From Pleniglacial to Holocene: a 14C chronostratigraphy of environmental changes in the Konya Plain,Turkey

In the endoreic, semi-arid Konya basin on the central Anatolian plateaux, long-term hydrological evolution has left various landforms and lacustrine deposits reflecting the regional climatic evolution, as well as human influence on the local environments. This paper presents results from a cooperative programme grouping several institutes from Turkey and France, on lacustrine, marshy and aeolian sediment sequences of Upper Pleistocene and Holocene age. The detailed study of environmental evolution is based on the reconstruction as well as on the characterization of the extension and contraction phases of wetlands occupying the lowest parts of the Konya plain. A soil and a marsh layer are ¹⁴C dated ca. 28,000–25,000 yr bp. Three phases of Pleniglacial (from ca. 22,000 to 17,000 yr bp) high lake levels are distinguished. Complementary OSL dates on aeolian dunes confirm the occurrence of two drought periods: the first occurs around the start of the Late Glacial, the second after the Mid-Holocene climatic optimum, the latter being ‘in phase’ with a similar drought in other Eastern Mediterranean regions. After 17,000 yr bp, no lacustrine phase reached as high a level as the Pleniglacial lake. During the Late Glacial, a shallow freshwater lacustrine phase is identified from >12,500 to 11,000 yr bp. The Late Glacial to Holocene transition corresponds to a general absence of deposits and dateable material, thus suggesting a period of drought, to which no aeolian features have so far been related. The Holocene environmental evolution shows a period of marsh and shallow lake extansion from 6000 to 5500 yr bp; this wetter period is interrupted by the second drought (ca. 5500 yrs bp) as indicated by aeolian dune activity. During the Late Holocene, a renewal of marshes, as well as soil development on slopes, can be interpreted either as climatic changes or as impacts of human use of water and soil resources during prehistoric and historic times.     

Phytolith evidence for C4-dominated grassland since the early Holocene at Long Pocket, northeast Queensland, Australia

Preliminary phytolith analysis of ephemeral lake fill sediment at Long Pocket, near Toomba, northeast Queensland, Australia, indicates that a C4-dominated grassland with a minor woody component has been present in the region since ca. 8000 cal yr B.P. Based on the modern distribution of C4 and C3 native grasses in Australia, this suggests that mean summer temperatures of at least 14°C (ca. 10°C cooler than present) were maintained since the early Holocene. This interpretation is comparable with previous studies, which together imply that the establishment of C4-dominated grasses in central and northeast Australia occurred between the last glacial maximum (most likely after ca. 16,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) and ca. 7200 ¹⁴C yr B.P. (ca. 8000 cal yr B.P.). Taxonomic composition of the grassland appears relatively consistent since the early Holocene at Long Pocket and includes phytoliths comparable with those from modern Arundinoideae, Panicoideae, and Chloridoideae. Rare non-grass phytoliths are also present. A gradual decrease in abundance of saddle phytolith forms (attributed to Chloridoideae grasses) from the base of the record at ca. 6500-7000 cal yr B.P. suggests decreasing aridity throughout the Holocene. This trend could reflect a locally drawn out effect of the end of the postglacial arid period due to the well-drained basalt flow catchment maintaining a local arid habitat for the Chloridoideae grasses.     

Palaeoenvironmental records in Holocene Spanish tufas: a stable isotope approach in search of reliable climatic archives

Tufa deposits are potential terrestrial archives of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic information. This study assesses the potential of stable isotopic archives from two closely juxtaposed Holocene tufa sites in SE Spain. The Ruidera site contains deep‐water lacustrine micrites and tufas, whereas the nearby Alcaraz site represents a shallow barrage tufa. Understanding site characteristics is critical to interpreting the stable isotopic variations. These Holocene lacustrine micrites have isotopic compositions consistent with modern European lake shore microbial carbonates, where the isotopic chemistry is strongly influenced by hydrological and residence time effects. All the lacustrine micrite δ¹³C values were influenced by microenvironmental microbial effects to some degree. Because of these effects, stable isotope data from lacustrine microbial micrites and tufas will not normally yield precise information on the isotopic composition of palaeoprecipitation, temperature or vegetation composition of an area. In contrast, Holocene tufas that formed in shallow, fast‐flowing riverine settings may contain valuable palaeoclimatic archives. The tufa deposits must be largely autochthonous, as at Alcaraz, where in situ reed stem encrustations are present. Records of relative change in air temperature and changes in the source of airmasses are potentially resolvable in the δ¹⁸O data. These interpretations can be verified by other independent climatic data where chronology is constrained. Variations in riverine tufa δ¹³C values probably record changes in local vegetation and/or soil respiration. Covariation between δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values may be intrinsically linked to climatic factors such as aridity. Tentative palaeoclimatic interpretations for the middle Holocene at Alcaraz based on the isotope data suggest warming (or increasing influence of Mediterranean‐sourced precipitation) between approximately 5000–3000 radiocarbon years BP, accompanied by increased aridity. These interpretations are consistent with the sparse independent palaeoclimatic data and climate modelling results for the Holocene of SE Spain. This study supports the growing evidence that well‐chosen tufa sites could yield valuable palaeoclimatic information.     

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.     

Isotopic Fingerprints of Paleoclimates during the Last 30,000 Years in Deep Confined Groundwaters of Southern India

Isotopic and geochemical evidence of paleoclimates, especially for the last glaciation, has been obtained from deep confined groundwaters of southern India. The δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, chloride, and deuterium analyses of groundwaters show distinct excursions inferred to be related to climatic variations. The arid climatic episode associated with the last glaciation (18,000 ± 2000 yr B.P.) is conspicuously identified by signatures of relatively enriched δ¹³C (−10 to −12‰ PDB) and δ¹⁸O (−5.3 to −4.8‰ SMOW) values, and high chloride concentration (80 to 160 mg/l). The transition from an arid to humid period ca. 12,000–8000 yr B.P. is shown by a decreasing trend in the δ¹³C (−9.5 to −17‰) and δ¹⁸O (−4.5 to −6.3‰) contents of groundwaters. The late Holocene (since 4000 yr B.P.), marked by a more humid but unstable climate, is identified by further depletion of δ¹³C (−13 to −20‰) and δ¹⁸O (−5.2 to −6.3‰). Similar variation between δ¹⁸O and chloride values in confined groundwaters further demonstrates two distinct climatic excursions (arid and humid) governed by the “amount effect.” This is the first time that isotopic and geochemical signatures related to changing paleoclimates have been identified in the confined groundwaters of the southern Indian landmass.     

Climatic change recorded by stable isotopes and trace elements in a British Holocene tufa

Combined stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) and trace element (Mg, Sr) geochemistry from bulk tufa calcite and ostracod shell calcite from an early Holocene British tufa reveal clear records of Holocene palaeoclimatic change. Variation in δ¹⁸O is caused principally by change in the isotopic composition of Holocene rainfall (recharge), itself caused mainly by change in air temperature. The δ¹³C variability through much of the deposit reflects increasing influence of soil‐zone CO₂, owing to progressive woodland soil development. Bulk tufa Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca are controlled by their concentrations in the spring water. Importantly, Mg/Ca ratios are not related to δ¹⁸O values and thus show no temperature dependence. First‐order sympathetic relationships between δ¹³C values and Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca are controlled by aquifer processes (residence times, CO₂ degassing and calcite dissolution/reprecipitation) and probably record intensity of palaeorainfall (recharge) effects. Stable isotope records from ostracod shells show evidence of vital effects relative to bulk tufa data. The ostracod isotopic records are markedly ‘spiky’ because the ostracods record ‘snapshots’ of relatively short duration (years), whereas the bulk tufa samples record averages of longer time periods, probably decades. The δ¹⁸O record appears to show early Holocene warming, a thermal maximum at ca. 8900 cal. yr BP and the global 8200 yr BP cold event. Combined δ¹³C, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca data suggest that early Holocene warming was accompanied by decreasing rainfall intensity. The Mg/Ca data suggest that the 8200 yr BP cold event was also dry. Warmer and wetter conditions were re‐established after the 8200 yr BP cold event until the top of the preserved tufa sequence at ca. 7100 cal. yr BP. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene Climate in the Northern Great Plains Inferred from Sediment Stratigraphy, Stable Isotopes, Carbonate Geochemistry, Diatoms, and Pollen at Moon Lake, North Dakota

Seismic stratigraphy, sedimentary facies, pollen stratigraphy, diatom-inferred salinity, stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C), and chemical composition (Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca) of authigenic carbonates from Moon Lake cores provide a congruent Holocene record of effective moisture for the eastern Northern Great Plains. Between 11,700 and 9500¹⁴C yr B.P., the climate was cool and moist. A gradual decrease in effective moisture occurred between 9500 and 7100¹⁴C yr B.P. A change at about 7100¹⁴C yr B.P. inaugurated the most arid period during the Holocene. Between 7100 and 4000¹⁴C yr B.P., three arid phases occurred at 6600–6200¹⁴C yr B.P., 5400–5200¹⁴C yr B.P., and 4800–4600¹⁴C yr B.P. Effective moisture generally increased after 4000¹⁴C yr B.P., but periods of low effective moisture occurred between 2900–2800¹⁴C yr B.P. and 1200–800¹⁴C yr B.P. The data also suggest high climatic variability during the last few centuries. Despite the overall congruence, the biological (diatom), sedimentological, isotopic, and chemical proxies were occassionally out of phase. At these times the evaporative process was not the only control of lake-water chemical and isotopic composition.     

Holocene Monsoon Changes Inferred from Lake Sediment Pollen and Carbonate Records, Northeastern Cambodia

Major Holocene monsoon changes in continental Southeast Asia are reconstructed from analysis of ¹⁴C-dated changes in pollen and organic/inorganic carbon in sediment cores taken from permanent, closed-basin, volcanic lakes in Ratanakiri Province, northeastern Cambodia. Analysis focuses on the nature and timing of monsoon changes, inferred from changes in vegetation and lake conditions. These data provide the first well-dated palynological record, covering most of the Holocene and continuous up to the present, from a terrestrial site in mainland Southeast Asia. The record from a 15-m core retrieved from Kara Lake, representing the last 9300 years, shows that the late Glacial conditions ended about 8500 ¹⁴C yr B.P., more than 1000 years later than sites in southwest China. Summer monsoon intensity increased over the period ca. 8400–5300 ¹⁴C yr B.P., similar to most other sites in the Asian monsoon region. A subsequent expansion of secondary forests at the expense of dense semievergreen forests suggest a drier climate leading to more frequent fire disturbance. After ca. 3500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. disturbance frequency may have increased further with increasing seasonality. From ca. 2500 ¹⁴C yr B.P. to the present, dense forest has recovered in a mosaic with annually burned dry forest, but climate may not be the main control on local vegetation dynamics in the late Holocene.     

Regional atmospheric circulation change in the North Pacific during the Holocene inferred from lacustrine carbonate oxygen isotopes, Yukon Territory, Canada

Analyses of sediment cores from Jellybean Lake, a small, evaporation-insensitive groundwater-fed lake, provide a record of changes in North Pacific atmospheric circulation for the last ∼7500 yr at 5- to 30-yr resolution. Isotope hydrology data from the southern Yukon indicate that the oxygen isotope composition of water from Jellybean Lake reflects the composition of mean-annual precipitation, δ¹⁸O_p. Recent changes in the δ¹⁸O of Jellybean sedimentary calcite (δ¹⁸O_ca) correspond to changes in the North Pacific Index (NPI), a measure of the intensity and position of the Aleutian Low (AL) pressure system. This suggests that δ¹⁸O_p variability was related to the degree of fractionation during moisture transport from the Gulf of Alaska across the St. Elias Mountains and that Holocene shifts were controlled by the intensity and position of the AL. Following this model, between ∼7500 and 4500 cal yr B.P., long-term trends suggest a predominantly weaker and/or westward AL. Between ∼4500 and 3000 cal yr B.P. the AL shifted eastward or intensified before shifting westward or weakening between ∼3000 and 2000 cal yr B.P. Rapid shifts eastward and/or intensification occurred ∼1200 and 300 cal yr B.P. Holocene changes in North Pacific atmospheric circulation inferred from Jellybean Lake oxygen isotopes correspond with late Holocene glacial advances in the St. Elias Mountains, changes in North Pacific salmon abundance, and shifts in atmospheric circulation over the Beaufort Sea.     

The palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrological evolution of Padul Peat Bog (Granada, Spain) over one million years, from elemental, isotopic and molecular organic geochemical proxies

The elemental (concentration of organic carbon, atomic H/C and C/N ratios), isotopic (δ¹³C values of organic matter) and molecular (predominant n-alkane chain length and carbon preference index (CPI)) organic components were measured for 600 samples taken from a 107-m long core from the Padul Basin (Andalusia, Spain). The record runs from the Lower Pleistocene (ca. 1 Ma B.P.) to the mid-Holocene (ca. 4.5 ka B.P.) with, in general, little diagenesis (removal of components). Two markedly different hydrogeological scenarios were interpreted: (1) From ca. 1 Ma to ca. 400 ka B.P. run-off recharge was significant and water depths were greater (lacustrine scenario). From ca. 400 to 4.5 ka B.P., the Padul Basin became a peat bog s.s. with the major water input coming from groundwater inflow. From ca. 400 to ca. 180 ka B.P. alternating episodes with either predominant grasses, trees or aquatic macrophytes which were linked to wet/dry phases, took place. An important deglaciation episode has been interpreted to occur between ca. 180 and 170 ka B.P. The global climatic changes occurring from ca. 170 to 25 ka B.P. were not recorded in the proxies, though they do show important variations linked to the Last Glacial Maximum and the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 25–10 ka B.P.): (2) Cold phases coexisting with dry periods produced the recession of forests and the development of grasses. After these periods, as both temperature and precipitation increased, forests expanded and the water level, linked to thaw, rose, especially at ca. 20 ka B.P. Few changes occurred during the Holocene, although there were short alternations between wet and dry episodes. Overall, the techniques applied proved to be excellent palaeoenvironmental proxies for studying the basin’s palaeoclimatological and palaeohydrological evolution.     

Integrating Stalagmite, Vertebrate, and Pollen Sequences to Investigate Holocene Vegetation and Climate Change in the Southern Midwestern United States

Speleothem carbon and oxygen isotopic records from Onondaga Cave, south-central Missouri, and Beckham Creek Cave, north-central Arkansas, are compared with the Cupola Pond and Oldfield Swamp pollen series from southeastern Missouri and the Rodgers Shelter and Modoc Shelter vertebrate biostratigraphic sequences from central Missouri and southwestern Illinois. Similar, and roughly contemporaneous, shifts between deciduous forest and steppe indicators throughout the Holocene are revealed in each database. These independent proxies record steppe conditions between approximately 9000 and 1500 cal yr B.P. A shift toward lighter speleothem carbon may reflect a change from warm and dry to cool and dry conditions between 4500 and 3000 yr B.P. The sensitive response of speleothem δ¹³C to changes in vegetation emphasizes their importance as paleoclimate records in an area containing few other millenial-scale climate proxies.     

Patterns of Holocene environmental change in the midwestern United States

Four pollen sequences along a transect from north-central Iowa to southeast Wisconsin reveal the distribution of prairie and forest during the Holocene and test the use of pollen isopolls in locating the Holocene prairie-forest border. Prairie was dominant in central Iowa and climate was drier than present from about 8000 to 3000 yr B.P. During the driest part of this period in central Iowa (6500-5500 yr B.P.), mesic forest prevailed in eastern Iowa and Wisconsin, suggesting conditions wetter than at present. Prairie replaced the mesic forest about 5400 yr B.P. in eastern Iowa but did not extend much farther east; mesic forests were replaced in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois about 5400 yr B.P. by xeric oak forests. This change from mesic to xeric conditions at 5400 yr B.P. was widespread and suggests that the intrusion of drier Pacific air was blocked by maritime tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico until the late Holocene in this area.     

Late Devensian and Holocene relative sea‐level changes on the Isle of Skye,Scotland, UK

Detailed litho‐ and biostratigraphical analyses from three coastal sites in contrasting coastal settings on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK, reveal evidence for several changes in relative sea level during the Late Devensian and Holocene. At the start of the record, relative sea level in the area was high at ca. 12 500 ¹⁴C (ca. 14 800 cal.) yr BP but then fell, reaching a low point during the Younger Dryas, at ca. 11 000–10 000 ¹⁴C (ca. 13 000–11 600 cal.) yr BP, when a rock platform, correlated with the Main Rock Platform, was formed. In the early–middle Holocene, relative sea level was rising by ca. 8000 ¹⁴C (ca. 8800 cal.) yr BP and in northeast Skye a lagoonal surface, correlated with the Main Postglacial Shoreline, was formed at ca. 6600 ¹⁴C (ca. 7500 cal.) yr BP. By the late Holocene, relative sea level was again falling, but a rise, registered at at least two sites, began probably before ca. 4000 ¹⁴C (ca. 4500 cal.) yr BP, and a second lagoonal surface in northeast Skye, correlated with the Blairdrummond Shoreline, was formed, although by ca. 3000 ¹⁴C (ca. 3200 cal.) yr BP relative sea level in the area had resumed its downward trend. The pattern of relative sea‐level changes disclosed is compared with evidence elsewhere in Scotland. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene Climate Inferred from Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Lake Sediments, Central Brooks Range, Alaska

Analyses of sediment cores from two lakes in the central Brooks Range provide temperature and moisture balance information for the past 8500 cal yr at century-scale resolution. Two methods of oxygen isotope analysis are used to reconstruct past changes in the effective moisture (precipitation minus evaporation) and temperature. Effective moisture is inferred from oxygen isotope ratios in sediment cellulose from Meli Lake (area 0.13 km², depth 19.4 m). The lake has a low watershed-to-lake-area ratio (7) and significant evaporation relative to input. Summer temperature shifts are based on oxygen isotope analyses of endogenic calcite from Tangled Up Lake (area 0.25 km², depth 3.5 m). This basin has a larger watershed-to-lake-area ratio (91) and less evaporation relative to input. Sediment oxygen isotope analyses from the two sites indicate generally more arid conditions than present prior to 6000 cal yr B.P. Subsequently, the region became increasingly wet. Temperature variability is recorded minimally at centennial scale resolution with values that are generally cool for the past 6700 cal yr. The timing and direction of climate variability indicated by the oxygen isotope time series from Meli and Tangled Up lakes are consistent with previously established late Holocene glacier advances at 5000 cal yr B.P. in the central Brooks Range, and high lake-levels at Birch Lake since 5500 cal yr B.P. This unique use of oxygen isotopes reveals both moisture balance and temperature histories at previously undetected high-resolution temporal scales for northern Alaska during the middle to late Holocene.     

Palaeoecological evidence of changes in vegetation and climate during the Holocene in the pre‐Polar Urals,northeast European Russia

This study investigated Holocene tree‐line history and climatic change in the pre‐Polar Urals, northeast European Russia. A sediment core from Mezhgornoe Lake situated at the present‐day alpine tree‐line was studied for pollen, plant macrofossils, Cladocera and diatoms. A peat section from Vangyr Mire in the nearby mixed mountain taiga zone was analysed for pollen. The results suggest that the study area experienced a climatic optimum in the early Holocene and that summer temperatures were at least 2°C warmer than today. Tree birch immigrated to the Mezhgornoe Lake area at the onset of the Holocene. Mixed spruce forests followed at ca. 9500–9000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Climate was moist and the water level of Mezhgornoe Lake rose rapidly. The hypsithermal phase lasted until ca. 5500–4500 ¹⁴C yr BP, after which the mixed forest withdrew from the Mezhgornoe catchment as a result of the climate cooling. The gradual altitudinal downward shift of vegetation zones resulted in the present situation, with larch forming the tree‐line. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.