Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation and climate on the northern Taymyr Peninsula, Arctic Russia

Pollen data from a Levinson-Lessing Lake sediment core (74°28'N, 98°38'E) and Cape Sabler, Taymyr Lake permafrost sequences (74°33'N, 100°32'E) reveal substantial environmental changes on the northern Taymyr Peninsula during the last c. 32 000 [Formula: See Text]C years. The continuous records confirm that a scarce steppe-like vegetation with Poaceae, Artemisia and Cyperaceae dominated c. 32 000-10 300 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP, while tundra-like vegetation with Oxyria, Ranunculaceae and Caryophyllaceae grew in wetter areas. The coldest interval occurred c. 18 000 yr BP. Lateglacial pollen data show several warming events followed by a climate deterioration c. 10 500 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP, which may correspond with the Younger Dryas. The Late Pleistocene/Holocene transition, c. 10 300-10 000 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP, is characterized by a change from the herb-dominated vegetation to shrubby tundra with Betula sect. Nanae and Salix. Alnus fruticosa arrived locally c. 9000-8500 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP and disappeared c. 4000-3500 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP. Communities of Betula sect. Nanae, broadly distributed at c. 10 000-3500 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP, almost disappeared when vegetation became similar to the modern herb tundra after 3500-3000 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP. Quantitative climate reconstructions show Last Glacial Maximum summer temperature about 4°C below the present and Preboreal (c. 10 000 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP) temperature 2-4°C above the present. Maximum summer temperature occurred between 10 000 and 5500 [Formula: See Text]C yr BP; later summers were similar to present or slightly warmer.     

The Holocene vegetation history of the Arfon Platform, North Wales, UK

Detailed pollen, charcoal and loss on ignition profiles were analysed from Llyn Cororion, North Wales, UK. The chronology was based on 11 radiocarbon dates. This site is particularly important for this region because its high-resolution record improves the spatial and temporal resolution of records of Holocene vegetation change in an area characterized by a highly variable environment. An early Holocene phase of Juniperus-Betula scrub was succeeded by Betula-Corylus woodland. Quercus and Ulmus were established by c. 8600 ¹⁴C yr BP, with Pinus dominating at c. 8430 ¹⁴C yr BP. Local disturbance then allowed the spread of Alnus; Tilia was a common component of the forest by 5650 ¹⁴C yr BP. Charcoal and pollen records suggest that by c. 2600 ¹⁴C yr BP there was progressive deforestation, increased use of fire and spread of grassland; the first cereal grain was recorded at c. 2900 ¹⁴C yr BP. Compared with data from upland Snowdonia, the results show that within a topographically diverse region there were significant local variations in forest composition. These variations developed as a response to interactions between many environmental parameters and were further complicated by the influence of human activity. In an area such as North Wales it is therefore unlikely that one site can be representative of regional Holocene vegetational development. The site is additionally important because it contributes to the data available for meta-analyses of environmental change in the North Atlantic region, particularly as detailed pollen diagrams from coastal lake sites around western Europe are rare.     

Ostracod stable isotope records from a deglacial isolation sequence in southern Sweden

A Late Weichselian sediment succession from the Kullen Peninsula, southern Sweden, was studied by means of stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of calcitic valves of selected ostracod taxa. The lower part of the record was deposited in a slightly brackish marginal sea close to the receding inland ice, whereas the upper part is lacustrine in origin as a result of glacio-isostatic rebound. The site was deglaciated at c. 17 200 cal BP (c. 14 500 ¹⁴C BP) within the earliest ice-free area of Sweden, and the isolation took place c. 1100 cal years later. As a result of extensive input of glacial meltwater to the near-shore, shallow basin, the isotopic records predating the isolation give no clear indications of marine conditions. However, the isolation of the lake from the marginal sea is reflected by a distinct depletion of ¹⁸O in ostracod calcite as a response to the changing isotope hydrology of the basin. The change towards a lacustrine environment also fostered a decrease in the input of minerogenic material and a related increase in organic carbon content of the sediments, which may explain a short-lasting depletion of ¹³C in dissolved inorganic carbon and ostracod calcite. During the period of c. 14 700-13 900 cal BP a pronounced warming occurred associated with the onset of the Late Weichselian interstadial complex (Greenland Interstadial 1). Based on a distinct enrichment of ¹⁸O in ostracod calcite and applying modern spatial relations between δ¹⁸O of precipitation and temperature, this climatic shift involved an increase in mean annual air temperature in southernmost Sweden of at least 7°C.     

Late Saalian and Eemian palaeoenvironmental history of the Bol''shoy Lyakhovsky Island (Laptev Sea region, Arctic Siberia)

Palaeoenvironmental records from permafrost sequences complemented by infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and [Formula: See Text]Th/U dates from Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (73°20'N, 141°30'E) document the environmental history in the region for at least the past 200 ka. Pollen spectra and insect fauna indicate that relatively wet grass-sedge tundra habitats dominated during an interstadial c. 200-170 ka BP. Summers were rather warm and wet, while stable isotopes reflect severe winter conditions. The pollen spectra reflect sparser grass-sedge vegetation during a Taz (Late Saalian) stage, c. 170-130 ka BP, with environmental conditions much more severe compared with the previous interstadial. Open Poaceae and Artemisia plant associations dominated vegetation at the beginning of the Kazantsevo (Eemian) c. 130 ka BP. Some shrubs (Alnus fruticosa, Salix, Betula nana) grew in more protected and wetter places as well. The climate was relatively warm during this time, resulting in the melting of Saalian ice wedges. Later, during the interglacial optimum, shrub tundra with Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana s.l. dominated vegetation. Climate was relatively wet and warm. Quantitative pollen-based climate reconstruction suggests that mean July temperatures were 4-5°C higher than the present during the optimum of the Eemian, while late Eemian records indicate significant climate deterioration.     

Late Quaternary vegetation and climate history of the central Bering land bridge from St. Michael Island, western Alaska

Pollen analysis of a sediment core from Zagoskin Lake on St. Michael Island, northeast Bering Sea, provides a history of vegetation and climate for the central Bering land bridge and adjacent western Alaska for the past ≥30,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. During the late middle Wisconsin interstadial (≥30,000-26,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) vegetation was dominated by graminoid-herb tundra with willows (Salix) and minor dwarf birch (Betula nana) and Ericales. During the late Wisconsin glacial interval (26,000-15,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) vegetation was graminoid-herb tundra with willows, but with fewer dwarf birch and Ericales, and more herb types associated with dry habitats and disturbed soils. Grasses (Poaceae) dominated during the peak of this glacial interval. Graminoid-herb tundra suggests that central Beringia had a cold, arid climate from ≥30,000 to 15,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Between 15,000 and 13,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., birch shrub-Ericales-sedge-moss tundra began to spread rapidly across the land bridge and Alaska. This major vegetation change suggests moister, warmer summer climates and deeper winter snows. A brief invasion of Populus (poplar, aspen) occurred ca.11,000-9500 ¹⁴C yr B.P., overlapping with the Younger Dryas interval of dry, cooler(?) climate. During the latest Wisconsin to middle Holocene the Bering land bridge was flooded by rising seas. Alder shrubs (Alnus crispa) colonized the St. Michael Island area ca. 8000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Boreal forests dominated by spruce (Picea) spread from interior Alaska into the eastern Norton Sound area in middle Holocene time, but have not spread as far west as St. Michael Island.     

Holocene vegetation and climate history on a continental-oceanic transect in northern Fennoscandia based on pollen and plant macrofossils

Changes in tree-line, mean July temperature (T _jul ) and mean annual precipitation (P _ann ) for the last 10 200 cal. yr BP are reconstructed on the basis of pollen and plant macrofossils preserved in lake sediments from two sites near the present-day tree-line in Troms, northern Norway. Quantitative climate reconstructions are performed using pollen-climate transfer functions based on WA-PLS regression. Early Holocene Betula pubescens forests were gradually replaced by Pinus sylvestris at Dalmutladdo (355 m a.s.l.) starting about 7000 cal. yr BP. The local presence of pine woodland at that time is supported by finds of stomata and plant macrofossils and by high pollen accumulation rates. Until about 4000 cal. yr BP the P. sylvestris tree-line was 250-300 m higher than today, suggesting T _jul about 2.0°C higher than at present. The later part of the Holocene has a cooler and moister climate and an increasing development of mires and fern-rich vegetation, as shown by increases of Sphagnum and fern spores and the re-establishment of B. pubescens woodland. The reconstructed T _jul from the two sites shows similar trends to previously published data, with T _jul 1-2°C warmer between 9500 cal. yr BP and 2000 cal. yr BP T _jul . Maximum T _jul values occur between 8500 and 4500 cal. yr BP, after which there is a gradual decrease in T _jul .     

Postglacial climate and vegetation history, north-central Kola Peninsula, Russia: pollen and diatom records from Lake Yarnyshnoe-3

A sediment core from Lake Yarnyshnoe-3 (69°04'N; 36°04'E), an emerged coastal lake from the tundra of the north-central Kola Peninsula, has been analyzed for fossil pollen and diatoms. The pollen record shows the Younger Dryas event marked by increasing Artemisia coupled with decreases in Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Salix at c. 10 700 to 10 000 BP. This core provides the first well-defined palynological record of the Younger Dryas event on the Kola Peninsula. Stomates from Pinus were recovered from the core interval between 8000 and 6000 BP. The stomates, coupled with elevated values of pine pollen, indicate that Pinus sylvestris grew near the arctic coastline of the central Kola Peninsula in the middle Holocene. However, the small number of stomates suggests that pines were not plentiful. The diatom record from the core reflects basin isolation from the sea and indicates additional limnological changes during the climate transition between c. 5000 and 4000 BP. The broadly similar climate and vegetation history on the north-central Kola Peninsula and in Fennoscandia demonstrates the propagation of late glacial and Holocene climate events from the North Atlantic region into the Eurasian Arctic.     

Lateglacial and Holocene terrestrial and marine proxies reflecting climate changes in the Malangen fjord area, Norway, northeast North Atlantic

A high-resolution Younger Dryas–late Holocene record of climate and environment from the Malangen fjord has been established on the basis of two marine sediment cores. Five pollen-spore assemblage zones have been defined covering the period c . 11 500 cal. yr BP (10 200 ¹⁴C yr BP) to c . 1600 cal. yr BP (1600 ¹⁴C yr BP) with a hiatus of c . 2000 cal. years between c . 10 200 and 8100 cal. yr BP (9000 and 7300 ¹⁴C yr BP). The Holocene vegetation development from pioneer vegetation to forest development, identified in the marine pollen record, correlates well with pollen records from terrestrial sections of northern Norway. The marine pollen record was also correlated directly with marine proxy records of the bottom water temperature investigated in the same sediment cores. Correlation between the marine and terrestrial proxies suggests that changes in the influx of warm Atlantic Water to the fjord led to an instant change in the vegetation of the surrounding land area. The results thus support a strong link between marine and atmospheric mean climatic states in the North Atlantic region throughout the Holocene.     

Palaeoenvironment of the Karelian Isthmus, the easternmost part of the Gulf of Finland, during the Litorina Sea stage of the Baltic Sea history

The palaeoenvironment of the Karelian Isthmus area during the Litorina Sea stage of the Baltic Sea history, between 8.0 and 4.5 kyr BP (8.8-5.2 cal. kyr BP), was reconstructed by studying four sites located on the Karelian Isthmus in Russia. Methods included diatom and pollen analyses, sediment lithostratigraphical interpretation and ¹⁴C dating. The brackish-water (Litorina) transgression began c. 7.7 kyr BP (8.45 cal. kyr BP) in the Karelian Isthmus area. The transgression maximum occurred between 6.7 and 5.7 kyr BP (7.6-6.5 cal. kyr BP), depending on the glacio-isostatic land uplift rate. Regarding the vegetation, the maximum occurrence of temperate deciduous trees took place at the same time. The transgression was interrupted by a short-lived sea-level standstill during the middle phase of the main transgression, c. 6.3 kyr BP (7.2 cal. kyr BP), on the eastern part of the isthmus. The highest Litorina shoreline is located between 8 and 13 m above present sea-level and the amplitude of the Litorina transgression has varied between 5 and 7 m. The 8.2-kyr cold event is not evident, but the sea-level standstill around 6.3 kyr BP (7.2 cal. kyr BP) could reflect a cool episode at that time in the Karelian Isthmus area.     

Holocene vegetation and climate changes in Hoton-Nur basin, northwest Mongolia

Radiocarbon-dated pollen and diatom records from Hoton-Nur lake (48°40'N, 88°18'E), northwest Mongolia are used to reconstruct Holocene vegetation and climate changes. Steppe, which covered the area some time before 9000 BP (all ages are given in ¹⁴C BP), was replaced by boreal conifer forest-steppe by 9000-8500 BP. At the same time, planktonic diatoms increased in abundance from 5 to 45%. After 4000 BP there was a sharp reduction in forest and re-establishment of steppe. Changes in the pollen composition were accompanied by a decrease in the abundance of planktonic diatoms from 35-50% (between 9000 and 5500 BP) to less than 10% soon after 4000 BP. These and other published data from Mongolia suggest wetter conditions during the early and middle Holocene than those of today. This pattern probably reflects an expansion of the Pacific monsoon recorded in geological data from China and simulated in climate-model experiments, and suggests that the summer monsoon influenced a larger area than might appear if the Chinese records only are taken into consideration.     

哈萨克斯坦Tramplin剖面孢粉记录的MIS3a环境变化

利用AMS ¹⁴C测年,通过对哈萨克斯坦南部Tramplin黄土-古土壤沉积剖面的孢粉分析,揭示了中亚干旱区深海氧同位素(MIS)3a阶段植被和气候演化历史：41.4 ka B.P.以前,植被为蒿属植物占优势的荒漠草原,气候干旱; 41.4～40  ka B.P.,植被为蒿草草原,气候湿润程度增加;40～36  ka B.P.,植被为蒿属植物占优势的荒漠草原,气候湿润程度轻微下降;36～33  ka B.P.,植被为蒿草草原,气候湿润程度增加;33～30  ka B.P.,植被为蒿属植物占优势的荒漠草原,湿润程度轻微下降;30～28 ka B.P.,植被为蒿草草原,气候湿润程度轻微上升。     

Vegetation dynamics during the Younger Dryas-Holocene transition in the extreme northern taiga zone, northeastern European Russia

Vegetation dynamics during the Younger Dryas-Holocene transition in the extreme northern taiga zone of the Usa basin, northeastern European Russia, were reconstructed using plant macrofossil and pollen evidence from a sediment core from Lake Llet-Ti. The pollen stratigraphy during the Younger Dryas (about 12 500-11 500 cal. yr BP) is characterized by pollen types indicative of treeless arctic vegetation, whereas the macrofossil evidence shows the occurrence of scattered spruce and birch trees around the lake. The Younger Dryas-early Holocene transition is characterized by a rapid increase in vegetation density, including an increase in the birch population, followed by the expansion of the spruce population at about 10 000 cal. yr BP. Dense spruce-birch forest dominated until 5000 cal. yr BP. Our results contribute to the debate about the Lateglacial environments in northern Russia, and illustrate the importance of plant macrofossil records in Lateglacial vegetation reconstructions.     

Lake Torfadalsvatn: a high resolution record of the North Atlantic ash zone I and the last glacial-interglacial environmental changes in Iceland

High resolution environmental records with a refined chronology are essential to understand, reconstruct and model the climate dynamics of the last glacial-interglacial transition. Sediments from Lake Torfadalsvatn in northern Iceland contain at least four primary volcanic tephras that belong to ash zone I in the North Atlantic deep-sea cores. We chemically define these basaltic/rhyolitic tephras and the high resolution allows us to date them to about 10,800, 10,600, 9300 and 8900 BP. This detailed tephrostratigraphy will act as a refined dating and correlation tool in the North Atlantic region and enable calibration between different absolute chronologies. The pollen stratigraphy of the sediments suggests that by 10,400 ¹⁴C years BP plant colonization of coastal north Iceland had begun. The pollen stratigraphy shows a succession of pioneer plants, from open tundra vegetation towards birch-juniper woodland, which probably also reflects a transition from a cool climate at 10,400 BP to conditions similar to today's sub-polar oceanic climate around 9200 BP. Diatom data largely concur with the climatic information from pollen, indicating gradually increasing productivity in the lake.     

The Holocene history of the southwestern Baltic Sea as reflected in a sediment core from the Bornholm Basin

A study of changes in siliceous microfossil assemblages and chemical analyses in a well-dated offshore sediment core from the Bornholm Basin, southwestern Baltic Sea, is carried out with the objective of increasing knowledge of the Holocene history of the area. The core covers about 11 300 calendar years from the brackish phase of the Yoldia Sea stage to the present. The first weak marine influence in the Ancylus Lake stage is recorded about 10 100 cal. yr BP (c. 8900 ¹⁴C BP), indicating a complex transition to the Litorina Sea with different phases of brackish-water inflow. The lithology, organic carbon content and C/N and C/S ratios indicate no major changes in the sedimentary environment during the Litorina-Post-Litorina Sea stages. A high productivity event recorded in the Post-Litorina Sea stage around 950 cal. yr BP correlates with the Medieval warm event. A biostratigraphical change indicating a colder climate is recorded in the sediment at about 800 cal. yr BP, which might mark the beginning of the Little Ice Age.     

Rhone River flood deposits in Lake Le Bourget: a proxy for Holocene environmental changes in the NW Alps, France

The Holocene evolution of Rhone River clastic sediment supply in Lake Le Bourget is documented by sub-bottom seismic profiling and multidisciplinary analysis of well-dated sediment cores. Six high-amplitude reflectors within the lacustrine drape can be correlated to periods of enhanced inter- and underflow deposition in sediment cores. Based on the synthesis of major environmental changes in the NW Alps and on the age-depth model covering the past 7500 years in Lake Le Bourget, periods of enhanced Rhone River flood events in the lake can be related to abrupt climate changes and/or to increasing land use since c. 2700 cal. yr BP. For example, significant land use under rather stable climate conditions during the Roman Empire may be responsible for large flood deposits in the northern part of Lake Le Bourget between AD 966 and 1093. However, during the Little Ice Age (LIA), well-documented major environmental changes in the catchment area essentially resulted from climate change and formed basin-wide major flood deposits in Lake Le Bourget. Up to five 'LIA-like' Holocene cold periods developing enhanced Rhone River flooding activity in Lake Le Bourget are documented at c. 7200, 5200, 2800, 1600 and 200 cal. yr BP. These abrupt climate changes were associated in the NW Alps with Mont Blanc glacier advances, enhanced glaciofluvial regimes and high lake levels. Correlations with European lake level fluctuations and winter precipitation regimes inferred from glacier fluctuations in western Norway suggest that these five Holocene cooling events at 45°N were associated with enhanced westerlies, possibly resulting from a persistent negative mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation.     

The Holocene thermal maximum and late-Holocene cooling in the tundra of NE European Russia

To investigate the Holocene climate and treeline dynamics in the European Russian Arctic, we analysed sediment pollen, conifer stomata, and plant macrofossils from Lake Kharinei, a tundra lake near the treeline in the Pechora area. We present quantitative summer temperature reconstructions from Lake Kharinei and Lake Tumbulovaty, a previously studied lake in the same region, using a pollen–climate transfer function based on a new calibration set from northern European Russia. Our records suggest that the early-Holocene summer temperatures from 11,500 cal yr BP onwards were already slightly higher than at present, followed by a stable Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) at 8000–3500 cal yr BP when summer temperatures in the tundra were ca. 3°C above present-day values. A Picea forest surrounded Lake Kharinei during the HTM, reaching 150 km north of the present taiga limit. The HTM ended with a temperature drop at 3500–2500 cal yr BP associated with permafrost initiation in the region. Mixed spruce forest began to disappear around Lake Kharinei at ca. 3500 cal yr BP, with the last tree macrofossils recorded at ca. 2500 cal yr BP, suggesting that the present wide tundra zone in the Pechora region formed during the last ca. 3500 yr.     

Late-glacial climate in the Maritimes Region, Canada, reconstructed from mutual climatic range analysis of fossil Coleoptera

Mean July and January temperatures are reconstructed from radiocarbon-dated fossil beetle assemblages from late-glacial sites in the Maritimes Region of eastern Canada. Fossil-bearing sediments date from 12 700 ¹⁴ C yr BP (14 950 cal yr BP) to younger than 10 800 ¹⁴ C yr BP (12 730 cal yr BP), spanning a period which includes stratigraphic, palynological, chironomid and coleopteran evidence for a climatic deterioration during the Younger Dryas in North America. Mutual Climatic Range data suggest several 'events' in the coleopteran record from the Maritimes that appear similar to climate events recorded in the GRIP ice-core record, including the (Younger Dryas) cooling event from GI-1a to GS-1 beginning c. 12 650 GRIP yr BP Some of the major temperature oscillations of Greenland Interstadial 1 may also be reflected in the coleopteran record of the Maritimes.     

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.     

Palynological data on major Holocene climatic events in NW Iberia

Three NW Iberia Cantabrian Mountain pollen records are presented. They reflect the main Holocene climatic shifts in the North Atlantic region as recorded in the isotopic data from Greenland ice, Irish speleothems and reconstructed sea surface temperatures. Two brief forest regression episodes reconstructed from pollen may be synchronous with GH-11.2 and GH-8.2 events. At mid-altitude, two woodland expansion phases (7000-6000 ¹⁴C yr BP and 4000-2500 ¹⁴C yr BP) are separated by a phase of heaths and peat deposits. Major woodland declines occurred during the Galician-Roman Period (which includes the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Roman occupation) and from the end of the Medieval Period. The pollen data, backed up by archaeological and historical sources, suggest climatic impact of the Iron Age Cold Period, but are indecisive concerning the Little Ice Age. However, the pollen records do not support any significant 'Neoglacial' period (4000-3000 ¹⁴C yr BP) influence on NW Iberia.     

Evidence of climatic change from oxygen and carbon isotope variations in sediments of a small arctic lake,Canada

Radiocarbon dating of the organic-rich sediments of Lake Illisarvik in the outer Mackenzie Delta indicates that formation of the lake occurred approximately 9500yr BP, with maximum expansion around 6000 yr BP. Sedimentation rates have remained relatively constant at an average of 0.3mm/yr. ¹³C results on biogenic and inorganic carbonates and organics indicate a change from dominantly terrestrial organics (?27 to ?28%₀) to submerged aquatic vegetation or plankton (?18 to ?23%₀) upon formation of the lake (9500yr BP), and a dramatic return to dominantly terrestrial organics at 5800yr BP (δ¹³C = ?27 to ?30%₀). This latter shift is accompanied by a drastic reduction in the macroflora and fauna populations. ¹⁸O results suggest that a warmer climate than today existed prior to the shift at 5800yr BP.