Eastern Mediterranean sea during the last glacial maximum; an 18,000-years B.P. reconstruction

An ecological transfer function based on the distribution of planktonic foraminifera in 66 Mediterranean and 8 North Atlantic surface-sediment samples is used to estimate sea-surface temperatures and salinities for the eastern Mediterranean during the last glacial maximum (18,000 yr B.P.). The present-day distribution of planktonic foraminifera can be explained by four faunal assemblages, each of which has diagnostic environmental preferences. Factor 1 is a tropical-subtropical assemblage; factor 2 is a transitional assemblage; factor 3 is a low-salinity assemblage; and factor 4 is a subpolar assemblage. The geographic distribution of these faunal assemblages reflect the variation in overlying hydrographic conditions. The 18,000-yr B.P. samples were selected based on total faunal stratigraphy, oxygen-isotope stratigraphy, and previously determined radiometric dates for eastern Mediterranean volcanic ash layers. Estimated temperature and salinity patterns show that the greatest change between present-day and 18,000-yr B.P. sea-surface conditions existed in the Aegean Sea and immediately south of Crete. The winter temperature anomaly (18,000 yr B.P.-present) within the Aegean Sea is 6°C cooler than present. In contrast to this, the maximum summer temperature anomaly exists to the south of Crete, where sea-surface temperatures were 4°C cooler than present. Estimated sea-surface salinities also show that the greatest change took place within the Aegean Sea, being 5‰ less saline than present. The estimated temperature and salinity patterns seem to reflect changing drainage patterns during glacial times and the diversion of cool, low-salinity water into the Aegean Sea. The source of this glacial runoff appears to be large freshwater lakes that existed during this time over parts of eastern Europe and western Siberia.     

Warming at 18,000 yr B.P. in the Tropical Andes

Palynological, paleopedological, and glacial geomorphological evidence from the area of the high plain of Bogotá in the Colombian Eastern Cordillera indicates a significant climatic warming around 18,000¹⁴C yr B.P. Comparison of dated vegetation changes, pedogenic episodes, and glacier fluctuations provides the basis for defining the so-called “La Laguna Interstadial” that lasted from 19,500 to 17,000 yr B.P. During this interstadial period, mean annual temperatures in the tropical Andes were up to 4°C higher than during the preceding and following stadial periods, when full-glacial conditions prevailed and temperatures were up to 8°C colder than at present.     

Southern Westerlies during the last glacial maximum

Vegetation and climate over approximately the past 13,000 yr are reconstructed from fossil pollen in a 9.4-m mire section at Caleta Róbalo on Beagle Channel, Isla Navarino (54°56′S, 67°38′W), southern Tierra del Fuego. Fifty surface samples reflecting modern pollen dispersal serve to interpret the record. Chronologically controlled by nine radiocarbon dates, fossil pollen assemblages are: Empetrum-Gramineae-Gunnera-Tubuliflorae (zone 3b, 13,000–11,850 yr B.P.), Gramineae-Empetrum-assorted minor taxa (zone 3a, 11,850-10,000 yr B.P.), Nothofagus-Gramineae-Tubuliflorae-Polypodiaceae (zone 2, 10,000–5000 yr B.P.), Nothofagus-Empetrum (zone 1b, 5000-3000 yr B.P.), and Empetrum-Nothofagus (zone 1a, 3000-0 yr B.P.). Assemblages show tundra under a cold, dry climate (zone 3), followed by open woodland (zone 2), as conditions became warmer and less dry, and later, with greater humidity and lower temperatures, by closed forest and the spread of mires (zone 1). Comparisons drawn with records from Antarctica, New Zealand, Tasmania, and the subantarctic islands demonstrate broadly uniform conditions in the circumpolar Southern Hemisphere. The influences of continental and maritime antarctic air masses were apparently considerable in Tierra del Fuego during cold late-glacial time, whereas Holocene climate was largely regulated by interplay between maritime polar and maritime tropical air.     

Source of a freshwater influx at the last glacial maximum in the Indian Ocean: An alternative interpretation

Recent analysis of a sediment core in the eastern Arabian Sea revealed a negative pulse of about 1% in the δ¹⁸O value of the planktonic Foraminifera around the last glacial maximum (LGM). This pulse has been attributed to (i) increased runoff into the Bay of Bengal from the east-flowing south Indian rivers due to enhancement of the northeast winter monsoon, and (ii) an increase in Arabian sea-surface temperature caused by the weakening of the southwest monsoon at the LGM. We show that the speculation on which the latter hypothesis is based, is not supported by observational data and cannot fully account for the observed magnitude of the spike. With a view to assessing the validity of the first mechanism, we have modelled the mixed layer of the Bay of Bengal as a well-mixed box. The model calculations show that to account for the pulse requires a change of about 10% in either the annual rate of river input or its isotopic composition. For the northeast monsoon to account for the pulse it would mean that the rainfall should have increased by a factor of five to ten during the LGM. No evidence for such an increase is indicated in the available palaeoclimatic data. We explain the freshwater spike by invoking increased discharge of glacial meltwater from the Tibetan plateau into the Bay of Bengal. We show that the proxy climate data from the Indo-Tibetan region that has become available recently provides substantial evidence for the occurrence of a warming event around the LGM, which supports our mechanism.     

Map of vegetation during the last glacial maximum in Japan

A vegetation map reconstructed for the Japanese Archipelago (based upon pollen data from 28 sites and plant macrofossil data from 33 sites) at the time of last glacial maximum shows that coniferous forests covered extensive areas of the land. Boreal conifer forests (dominated by the Picea jezoensis complex, P. glehnii, Abies sachalinensis, A. mariesii, Tsuga diversifolia, and Pinus with Larix gmelinii, though the latter species was confined only to the northern part of northeastern Honshu and Hokkaido) occupied the modern cool-temperature deciduous broadleaf and mid-temperate conifer forest zones, and temperate coniferous forests (mainly Picea maximowiczii, P. polita, P. bicolor, P. koyamai, Abies firma, A. homolepis, Tsuga sieboldii, and Pinus), the present warm-temperate evergreen (laurilignosa) forest zone. Small populations of various broadleaf forest species were scattered in the full-glacial temperate conifer forest mainly along the coastal belt, and the true laurilignosa forest was limited in distribution, occurring only in the paleo-Yaku Peninsula.     

The continental record of environmental conditions at 18,000 yr B.P.: An initial evaluation

The development of reliable paleoclimatic maps at a global scale requires data at the following three levels of analysis: (1) well-recorded observations of evenly positioned, well-dated geological evidence (Level I), (2) paleoclimatic estimates derived from this evidence by well-defined quantitative repeatable methods (Level II), and (3) maps synthesizing the estimates from several independent sources of geological evidence (Level III). Our paper describes much of the currently available paleoclimatic data from unglaciated terrestrial areas at ca. 18,000 yr B.P. and illustrates the quantity and quality of the data at both the Level I and the Level II stages of analysis. Although the scarcity of well-dated evidence for this time period precluded any major Level III syntheses of the information, comparisons were drawn where possible between the geological evidence and the climatic conditions simulated by general-circulation model experiments of Gates, 1976a, Gates, 1976b and Manabe and Hahn (1977). Of the more than 320 sites with data from 18,000 yr B.P., only 65 are well-dated with bracketing dates within the interval of 23,000 to 13,000 yr B.P., whereas about 100 are undated or poorly dated. We concentrated our survey on palynological and paleobotanical evidence and also thoroughly reviewed the evidence for water levels in lakes at 18,000 yr B.P. In areas with few of these sources of evidence, data on former snowlines, periglacial features, and eolian deposits were included, but the survey of these data is far from complete. Maps of the assembled data reveal the consistency of the paleoclimatic estimates in “data-rich” areas and also show which areas required additional information. The maps show that conditions were colder than present at 18,000 yr B.P. for all sites with temperature estimates. Estimated temperature depressions varied from ca. 1° to 12°C or more, depending on the location of the sample, the type of geological evidence, and the method of temperature estimation. Interpreted hydrological conditions were more variable spatially than the temperature estimates. The southwestern U.S. was moister than present, whereas the southeast may have been drier. Europe and the northern Mediterranean across to Afghanistan were drier than present, but northwest Africa was wetter. Australia was mainly drier than present, but several sites there as well as in Africa show significant climatic changes between 21,000 and 16,000 yr B.P. This latter evidence suggests that considerable variability may have occurred during the several thousand-year period centered on 18,000 yr B.P. Accurate time control is therefore required for the geological data used to study the climate dynamics of 18,000 yr ago. Large portions of South America and Asia as well as significant portions of the other continents lack the data base, or at least the well-dated base, required to define the 18,000 yr B.P. climate. In the few areas where comparisons were made with the Ice Age climates simulated by general-circulation models, general agreement existed between the geological evidence and the model simulations. Many critical comparisons were thwarted, however, by the lack of model simulations for all seasons at 18,000 yr B.P. Difficulty in validating precipitation anomalies in the tropics also arose because surface-albedo values, which are a vital input to the general circulation models, are estimated from the same evidence that is used to validate the results of the models.     

Vegetation and climate during the last glacial maximum in Japan

The Japanese Archipelago was almost entirely covered by coniferous forests during the last glacial maximum. Northern Hokkaido was distinguished by coniferous parkland and tundra vegetation, while southern Hokkaido and northernmost Honshu were covered by northern boreal coniferous forests consisting mainly of Picea jezoensis, Picea glehnii, Abies sachalinensis, and Larix gmelinii; Tsuga was missing from the forest. More diverse boreal forests including species from Sakhalin and northern Japan grew together in northeastern Honshu. Central Honshu and the mountains of southwestern Japan supported subalpine coniferous forests which are now mainly restricted in distribution to the central mountains. Temperate coniferous forests (Picea polita, Abies firma, and Tsuga sieboldii) existed principally in the modern mid-temperate and evergreen laurel-oak forest regions. Haploxylon pine and tree birch were also abundant in the boreal and cool-temperate zones, as was Diploxylon in the southern temperate zone. Significant populations of Fagus were found along the Pacific coasts of Kyushu and Shikoku, but they were too small to be defined as a beech forest zone. Quercetum mixtum (Quercus, Ulmus, and Tilia) was more common in the coastal lowlands of southwestern Japan than those of northeastern Honshu; it was completely eliminated from Hokkaido. The reduced mean August temperature inferred from the floral assemblages showed a latitudinal gradient 20,000 yr ago; it was 8–9°C in northern Hokkaido, 7.7–8.7°C in northernmost Honshu, 7.2–8.4°C in the central mountains, 6.5°C in the Chugoku District, and 5–6°C in Kyushu. The probable annual precipitation ranged from 1050 to 1300 mm along coasts in southwestern Japan during the culmination of the last glaciation.     

Tropical sea-surface temperatures during the last glacial period: a view based on alkenones in Indian Ocean sediments

The qualitification of tropical temperatures during the last glacial cycle (0-150 kyr BP) is a controversial issue since different proxies seem to provide conflicting informations. To obtain a complementary point of view, we use the alkenone method to estimate sea-surface temperatures and focus our work on deep-sea sediments recovered from the tropical Indian Ocean. We present alkenone data obtained in two cores which cover in detail the last deglaciation and in about twenty cores distributed between 20°S and 20°N that were chosen to evaluate the temperature contrast of the last glacial-interglacial transition. Our results indicate that Indian Ocean tropical temperatures remained an average within 1.5-2.5°C of their present values during the last glaciation. At 10°N the last deglaciation is characterized by two warming steps which is similar to the classical deglacial chronology observed in the North Atlantic area. At 20°S the deglacial warming occurred at ca. 15 cal kyr BP, lagging significantly (5-4 kyr) behind the Antarctic warming, but in phase with northern hemisphere time series.     

Paleo-climate of the central European uplands during the last glacial maximum based on glacier mass-balance modeling

During the last glacial maximum (LGM), glaciers existed in scattered mountainous locations in central Europe between the major ice masses of Fennoscandia and the Alps. A positive degree-day glacier mass-balance model is used to constrain paleo-climate conditions associated with reconstructed LGM glacier extents of four central European upland regions: the Vosges Mountains, the Black Forest, the Bavarian Forest, and the Giant Mountains. With reduced precipitation (25–75%), reflecting a drier LGM climate, the modeling yields temperature depressions of 8–15°C. To reproduce past glaciers more severe cooling is required in the west than in the east, indicating a strong west–east temperature anomaly gradient.     

Rapid bottom-water circulation changes during the last glacial cycle in the coastal low-latitude NE Atlantic

Previous paleoceanographic studies along the NW African margin focused on the dynamics of surface and intermediate waters, whereas little attention has been devoted to deep-water masses. Currently, these deep waters consist mainly of North Atlantic Deep Waters as part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, this configuration was altered during periods of AMOC collapse. We present a high-resolution reconstruction of bottom-water ventilation and current evolution off Mauritania from the last glacial maximum into the early Holocene. Applying redox proxies (Mo, U and Mn) measured on sediments from off Mauritania, we describe changes in deep-water oxygenation and we infer the evolution of deep-water conditions during millennial-scale climate/oceanographic events in the area. The second half of Heinrich Event 1 and the Younger Dryas were recognized as periods of reduced ventilation, coinciding with events of AMOC reduction. We propose that these weakening circulation events induced deficient deep-water oxygenation in the Mauritanian upwelling region, which together with increased productivity promoted reducing conditions and enhanced organic-matter preservation. This is the first time the effect of AMOC collapse in the area is described at high resolution, broadening the knowledge on basin-wide oceanographic changes associated with rapid climate variability during the last deglaciation.     

Evidence of a two-fold glacial advance during the last glacial maximum in the Tagliamento end moraine system (eastern Alps)

The glacial history of the Tagliamento morainic amphitheater (southeastern Alpine foreland, Italy) during the last glacial maximum (LGM) has been reconstructed by means of a geological survey and drillings, radiocarbon dating and pollen analysis in the amphitheater and in the sandur. Two phases of glacial culmination, separated by a distinct recession, are responsible for glacial landforms and related sediments in the outer part of the amphitheater. The age of the younger advance fits the chronology of the culmination of the last glaciation in the Alps, well established between 24 and 21 cal ka BP (20 to 17.5 ¹⁴C ka BP), whereas the first pulse between 26.5 and 23 cal ka BP (22 to 21 ¹⁴C ka BP), previously undated, was usually related to older (pre-LGM) glaciations by previous authors. Here, the first pulse is the most extensive LGM culmination, but is often buried by the subsequent pulse. The onset and final recession of the late Würm Alpine glaciation in the Tagliamento amphitheater are synchronous with the established global glacial maximum between 30 and 19 cal ka BP. The two-fold LGM glacial oscillation is interpreted as a millennial-scale modulation within the late Würm glaciation, caused by oscillations in inputs of southerly atmospheric airflows related to Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles. Phases of enhanced southerly circulation promoted increased rainfall and ice accumulation in the southern Alps.     

Be data from meltwater channels suggest that Jameson Land, east Greenland, was ice-covered during the last glacial maximum

Along the northeast Greenland continental margin, bedrock on interfjord plateaus is highly weathered, whereas rock surfaces in fjord troughs are characterized by glacial scour. Based on the intense bedrock weathering and lack of glacial deposits from the last glaciation, interfjord plateaus have long been thought to be ice-free throughout the last glacial maximum (LGM). In recent years there is growing evidence from shelf and fjord settings that the northeast Greenland continental margin was more extensively glaciated during the LGM than previously thought. However, little is still known from interfjord settings. We present cosmogenic ¹⁰Be data from meltwater channels and weathered sandstone outcrops on Jameson Land, an interfjord highland north of Scoresby Sund. The mean exposure age of samples from channel beds (n = 3) constrains on the onset of deglaciation on interior Jameson Land to 18.5 ± 1.3–21.4 ± 1.9 ka (for erosion conditions of 0–10 mm/ka, respectively). This finding adds to growing evidence that the northeast Greenland continental margin was more heavily glaciated during the LGM than previously thought.     

Using a maximum simplicity paleoclimate model to simulate millennial variability during the last four glacial periods

Many studies have documented the existence of millennial-scale variability in the Earth system during the last glacial period. An increasing number of studies document the occurrence of similar millennial variability during glacial periods previous to the last one. Here we use the simplest possible thermal-bipolar seesaw model to consider this variability for the last four glacial periods. We invert this model and use the high-pass filtered Vostok stable isotope records to make a first, tentative, attempt to estimate high-latitude N. Hemisphere temperature variability over the last four glacial periods, beyond the reach of Greenland ice-core records. The model result is compared against the Vostok methane record, which shows rapid variations in parallel to Greenland temperature records during the last glacial period. A further comparison is carried out against the planktonic oxygen isotope of north Atlantic core ODP 980. There is agreement between the records on the existence of similar millennial-scale variability during the last three glacial periods with very similar characteristics to the variability during the last glacial cycle.     

Weichselian geology and palaeoenvironmental history of the central Taymyr Peninsula, Siberia, indicating no glaciation during the last global glacial maximum

The Taymyr Peninsula constitutes the eastern delimitation of a possible Kara Sea basin ice sheet. The existence of such an ice sheet during the last global glacial maximum (LGM), i.e. during the Late Weichselian/Upper Zyryansk, is favoured by some Russian scientists. However, a growing number of studies point towards a more minimalistic view concerning the areal extent of Late Weichselian/Upper Zyryansk Siberian glaciation. Investigations carried out by us along the central Byrranga Mountains and in the Taymyr Lake basin south thereof, reject the possibility of a Late Weichselian/Upper Zyryansk glaciation of this area. Our conclusion is based on the following: Dating of a continuous lacustrine sediment sequence at Cape Sabler on the Taymyr Lake shows that it spans at least the period 39-17 ka BP. Even younger ages have been reported, suggesting that this lacustrine environment prevailed until shortly before the Holocene. The distribution of these sediments indicates the existence of a paleo-Taymyr lake reaching c. 60 m above present sea level. A reconnaissance of the central part of the Byrranga Mountains gave no evidence of any more recent glacial coverage. The only evidence of glaciation - an indirect one - is deltaic sequences around 100-120 m a.s.l., suggesting glacio-isostatic depression and a large input of glacial meltwater from the north. However, ¹⁴C and ESR datings of these marine sediments suggest that they are of Early Weichselian/Lower Zyryansk or older age. As they are not covered by till and show no glaciotectonic disturbances, they support our opinion that there was no Late Weichselian/Lower Zyryansk glaciation in this area. We thus suggest that the Taymyr Peninsula was most probably glaciated during the early part of the last glacial cycle (when there was only small- to medium-scale glaciation in Scandinavia), but not glaciated during the later part of that cycle (which had the maximum ice-sheet coverage over north-western Europe). This fits a climatic scenario suggesting that the Taymyr area, like most of Siberia, would come into precipitation shadow during times with large-scale ice-sheet coverage of Scandinavia and the rest of north-western Europe.     

Water balance of Britain, 50,000 yr B.P. to the present day

Estimates made of lowland precipitation and evaporation in Britain during the last (Devensian) glaciation suggest that during the cold periods of the Devensian precipitation was probably low, between 260 and 370 mm/year, with winter precipitation between 80 and 120 mm, whereas at the thermal maximum of the Upton Warren Interstadial lowland precipitation was probably in the range 450 to 650 mm/year. Two summer precipitation regimes are identified during the cold periods, one with high values and the other with low. The high summer precipitation variant leads to moist conditions with July and August precipitation values similar to those at the present day, and global circulation models suggest that the moist regime may have existed at the time of the maximum advance of the ice sheets. On the other hand, the low summer precipitation variant leads to a dry summer with wind action creating aeolian deposits, and this variant probably existed at earlier times in the glacial period. About 6500 yr B.P., in the Atlantic period, forest conditions probably caused increased evaporation which more than compensated for the increased precipitation of the time, causing low runoff conditions. The clearance of British forests by man since 6500 yr B.P. has probably led to an absolute increase in runoff values even though precipitation values have fallen.     

Surface ocean circulation in the Norwegian Sea 15,000 B.P. to present

Quantitative studies of foraminifera and radiolaria, semi-quantitative analyses of diatoms and coccoliths, and the distribution of ice-rafted sediments have been performed on cores from the southeastern Norwegian Sea. The results document large variations in sea-surface temperatures and ocean circulation, showing a strong correlation between oceanic data and palaeoclimatic data from the neighbouring coastal areas of Norway. For the first time the Allerød – Younger Dryas climatic fluctuations and the Holocene climatic optimum are shown in records from the Norwegian Sea. Starting at about 13,000 B.P. the sea surface became seasonally ice-free with productive seasons. During the Allerød a narrow wedge of temperate Atlantic water flowed into the southeastern Norwegian Sea. In Younger Dryas time the surface waters cooled by several degrees. Holocene surface conditions were relatively constant, with somewhat higher temperatures in a period possibly corresponding with Atlantic time.     

西藏纳木错末次盛冰期以来的古植被、古气候和湖面变化

西藏纳木错湖相沉积的U系、14C年龄和孢粉分析结果表明,纳木错沿岸的拔湖约1.5～8.3m和8.3～15.6m的T1和T2分别形成于末次盛冰期以来约(11.81±0.10)～(4.22±0.09)kaB.P.期间和(28.2±2.8)kaB.P.左右。该套湖相层的孢粉组合、地层和湖岸堤的分布表明,在末次盛冰期期间,纳木错湖面主要波动于拔湖12～20m之间,但湖面最低可达拔湖约8m。区域植被主要为以蒿和莎草科为主、含松和桦的草原。在约11.8～4.2kaB.P.期间,湖面波动于拔湖2～9m之间,区域气候整体较为暖湿。其中全新世大暖期出现在约8.4～4.2kaB.P.期间,气候温暖湿润,区域出现针叶林或针阔叶混交林,气温可能比现今高约5℃,降水量可能比现今多100～200mm,湖面扩张并升高,最高可达拔湖约10m。     

西藏纳木错末次盛冰期以来的古植被、古气候和湖面变化

西藏纳木错湖相沉积的U系、14C年龄和孢粉分析结果表明,纳木错沿岸的拔湖约1.5～8.3m和8.3～15.6m的T1和T2分别形成于末次盛冰期以来约(11.81±0.10)～(4.22±0.09)kaB.P.期间和(28.2±2.8)kaB.P.左右.该套湖相层的孢粉组合、地层和湖岸堤的分布表明,在末次盛冰期期间,纳木错湖面主要波动于拔湖12～20 m之间,但湖面最低可达拔湖约8m.区域植被主要为以蒿和莎草科为主、含松和桦的草原.在约11.8～4.2ka B.P.期间,湖面波动于拔湖2～9m之间,区域气候整体较为暖湿.其中全新世大暖期出现在约8.4～4.2 ka B.P.期间,气候温暖湿润,区域出现针叶林或针阔叶混交林,气温可能比现今高约5℃,降水量可能比现今多100～200mm,湖面扩张并升高,最高可达拔湖约10m.