Paleoecology of The Southern Chilean Lake District-Isla Grande de Chiloé During Middle–late Llanquihue Glaciation and Deglaciation

Subantarctic Parkland and Subantarctic–North Patagonian Evergreen Forest, embracing >40,000 ¹⁴ C years of middle and late Llanquihue glaciation, are reconstructed from pollen contained in multiple interdrift deposits and cores of lake sediments. The subantarctic plant communities at low elevations have since been replaced by temperate Valdivian Evergreen Forest. Data in support of the vegetation reconstruction derive from close-interval sampling (>1400 pollen analysed stratigraphic levels) and high-resolution chronology (>200 AMS and conventional radiocarbon-dated horizons). Pollen sequences are from 15 sites, eight of which are exposures and seven mires, located in relation to lobes of piedmont glaciers that occupied Lago Llanquihue, Seno Reloncav', Golfo de Ancud, and the east-central sector of Isla Grande de Chiloí at the northern limit of the Golfo Corcovado lobe. Recurring episodes of grass maxima representing Subantarctic Parkland, when grass and scrub became widespread among patches of southern beech (Nothofagus), bear a relationship to glacial advances. The implication of the maxima, prominent with advances at 22,400 and 14,800 ¹⁴C yr BP during late Llanquihue glaciation in marine oxygen-isotope Stage 2, is of successive intervals of cold climate with summer temperatures estimated at 6–8°C below the modern mean. The earliest recorded maximum at >50,000 ¹⁴C yr BP is possibly during late Stage 4. At the time of middle Llanquihue glaciation in Stage 3, cool, humid interstades on Isla Grande de Chiloé with Subantarctic Evergreen Forest, which under progressive cooling after 47,000 ¹⁴C yr BP was increasingly replaced by parkland. During stepwise deglaciation, when transitional beech woodland communities supplanting parkland became diversified by formation of thermophilous North Patagonian Evergreen Forest, warming in the order of 5–6°C was abrupt after 14,000 ¹⁴C yr BP . Closed-canopy North Patagonian Evergreen Forest was established by 12,500 ¹⁴C yr BP . Later, after c. 12,000 until 10,000 ¹⁴C yr BP , depending on location, forest at low elevations became modified by expansion of a cold-tolerant element indicative of ≥2–3°C cooler climate. This stepwise climatic sequence is seen at all late-glacial sites. Cool, humid interstadial conditions, punctuated by cold stadial climate, are characteristic of the last ≥40,000 ¹⁴C years of the Pleistocene at midlatitude in the Southern Hemisphere. Pollen sequences from southern South America and terrestrial–marine records from the New Zealand–Tasmania sector express a broad measure of synchrony of vegetational/climatic change for marine oxygen-isotope Stages 2–3. The data, combined with the timing of glacial maxima in the Southern Andes, Southern Alps of New Zealand, and in the Northern Hemisphere, are indicative of synchronous, millennial-scale, midlatitude climatic changes in the polar hemispheres.     

Geomorphology, Stratigraphy, and Radiocarbon Chronology of LlanquihueDrift in the Area of the Southern Lake District, Seno Reloncaví, and Isla Grande de Chiloé, Chile

Glacial geomorphologic features composed of (or cut into) Llanquihue drift delineate former Andean piedmont glaciers in the region of the southern Chilean Lake District, Seno Reloncav', Golfo de Ancud, and northern Golfo Corcovado during the last glaciation. These landforms include extensive moraine belts, main and subsidiary outwash plains, kame terraces, and meltwater spillways. Numerous radiocarbon dates document Andean ice advances into the moraine belts during the last glacial maximum (LGM) at 29,363–29,385 ¹⁴C yr BP , 26,797 ¹⁴C yr BP , 22,295–22,570 ¹⁴C yr BP , and 14,805–14,869 ¹⁴C yr BP . Advances may also have culminated at close to 21,000 ¹⁴C yr BP , shortly before 17,800 ¹⁴C yr BP , and shortly before 15,730 ¹⁴C yr BP . The maximum at 22,295–22,567 ¹⁴C yr BP was probably the most extensive of the LGM in the northern part of the field area, whereas that at 14,805–14,869 ¹⁴C yr BP was the most extensive in the southern part. Snowline depression during these maxima was about 1000 m. Andean piedmont glaciers did not advance into the outer Llanquihue moraine belts during the portion of middle Llanquihue time between 29,385 ¹⁴C yr BP and more than 39,660 ¹⁴C yr BP . In the southern part of the field area, the Golfo de Ancud lobe, as well as the Golfo Corcovado lobe, achieved a maximum at the outermost Llanquihue moraine prior to 49,892 ¹⁴C yr BP . Pollen analysis of the Taiquemmire, which is located on this moraine, suggests that the old Llanquihue advance probably corresponds to the time of marine isotope stage 4. The implication is that the Andean snowline was then depressed as much as during the LGM. A Llanquihue-age glacier expansion into the outer moraine belts also occurred more than about 40,000 ¹⁴C yr BP for the Lago Llanquihue piedmont glacier.     

Late-Glacial and Holocene Record of Lake Levels of Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake,Northern Maine,USA

Paleohydrology studies at Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake in northern Maine revealed synchronous changes in lake levels from about 12,000 ¹⁴C yrs BP to the present. We analyzed gross sediment structure, organic and carbonate content, mineral grain size, and macrofossils of six cores from each of the two lakes, and obtained 72 radiocarbon dates. Interpretation of this paleo-environmental data suggests that the late-glacial and Younger Dryas climate was dry, and lake levels were low. Early Holocene lake levels were considerably higher but declined for an interval from about 8000 to 7200 ¹⁴C yrs BP. Sediment of both lakes contains evidence of a dry period at ∼7400 ¹⁴C yrs BP (8200 cal yr). Lake levels of both sites declined abruptly about 4800 ¹⁴C yrs BP and remained low until 3000 ¹⁴C yrs BP. Modern lake levels were achieved only within the past 600 years. The west-to-east, time-transgressive nature of lake-level changes from several sites across northeastern North America suggests periodic changes in atmospheric circulation patterns as a driving force behind observed moisture balance changes. Electronic supplementary material to this article is available at and accessible for authorized users.     

Late-glacial and early-Holocene Trichoptera (Insecta) from Kråkenes Lake, western Norway

Fossil Trichoptera (caddisfly) remains have been identified and quantitatively recorded in the late-glacial and early-Holocene sediments from Kråkenes Lake, western Norway. The sediment sequence was deposited between 12,300 and 8850 ¹⁴C BP, covering the Allerød, Younger Dryas, and early-Holocene periods. The first Trichoptera were recorded at 12,000 ¹⁴C BP, and during the Allerod a diverse assemblage of Limnephilidae taxa developed in the lake. By about 11,400 ¹⁴C BP the relatively thermophilous Polycentropus flavomaculatus and Limnephilus rhombicus were present, suggesting that the summer water temperature was at least 17 °C. This temperature fell by 5-8 °C at the start of the Younger Dryas, and the thermophilous taxa were replaced within 20-40 ¹⁴C yrs by Apatania spp., including the arctic-alpine A. zonella, suggesting a maximum summer water temperature of 10-12 °C. The Trichoptera assemblage was impoverished in numbers and in diversity over the next 200 yrs as the severe conditions of the Younger Dryas developed. As soon as temperatures rose and glacial meltwater and silt input ended about 700 ¹⁴C yrs later, the resident Apatania assemblage expanded immediately, within 10 yrs. About 130 yrs later, thermophilous taxa replaced Apatania, and a much more diverse assemblage than in the Allerod occupied the varied habitats made available by the development of the Holocene lake ecosystem. The 130 yr delay may have been caused by a gradual temperature increase crossing a critical threshold, or by the time taken for thermophilous taxa to migrate from their Younger Dryas refugia.     

Abrupt Vegetation and Climate Changes During the Last Glacial Maximumand Last Termination in The Chilean Lake District: A Case Study from Canal De La Puntilla (41°S)

ABSTRACT. Multiple overlapping and replicate pollen stratigraphies from Canal de la Puntilla (40°57’09”S, 72°54’18”W, 120 m elevation) reveal that a Nothofagus dombeyi-type parkland occupied the Valle Central of the Chilean Lake District during the portion of the Last Glacial Maximum between 20,200 and about 14,600 ¹⁴C yr BP . Dominating this landscape was Nothofagus dombeyi-type and Gramineae, accompanied by taxa commonly found today in Subantarctic environments and above the Andean tree-line in the Lake District (Perezia-type, Valeriana, and Huperzia selago), along with cushion bog taxa characteristic of Magellanic Moorlands (Donatia fascicularis and Astelia pumila). Within this open landscape Nothofagus dombeyi-type expanded between 20,200 and 15,800 ¹⁴C yr BP , interrupted by a brief reversal between 19,200 and 18,800 ¹⁴ C yr BP and followed by a prominent increase in Gramineae pollen between 15,800 and about 14,600 ¹⁴C yr BP . A major rise of Nothofagus dombeyi-type began at about 14,600 ¹⁴C yr BP , followed by decline in non-arboreal taxa and a remarkable expansion of North Patagonian Rain Forest taxa in pulses centered at 14,200 and 13,000 ¹⁴C yr BP . Podocarpus nubigena expanded between 12,200 and 9800 ¹⁴C yr BP , along with increases in Misodendrum and Maytenus disticha-type between 11,000 and 9800 ¹⁴C yr BP. Paleovegetation records suggest that mean annual temperature was 6–7°C colder than at present during the coldest episodes between 20,200 and about 14,600 ¹⁴C yr BP , with twice the modern annual precipitation between 20,200 and 13,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, suggesting a northward shift and intensification of westerly stormtracks. Slight climate warming occurred between 20,200 and 15,800 ¹⁴C yr BP , interrupted by cooling events at 19,200 and 15,800 ¹⁴C yr BP . The initial warming of the last termination started at 14,600 ¹⁴C yr BP , followed by warming pulses at 14,200 and 13,000 ¹⁴C yr BP. These events brought glacial conditions to a cool-temperate climate, slightly cooler and wetter than modern climate, accounting for a total temperature recovery of ≥5°C by about 13,000 ¹⁴C yr BP . A general reversal in trend is inferred with cooling events at 12,200 and 11,000 ¹⁴C yr BP .     

Younger Dryas时期东亚季风气候和中国东部沙区沙漠变化

位于沙漠／黄土过渡带的杨桃峁剖面,高分辨率地记录了ＹｏｕｎｇｅｒＤｒｙａｓ时期东亚季风气候和沙漠变化历史。在ＡＭＳ１４Ｃ测年基础上,磁化率、粒度和有机质含量等替代性气候指标的测试结果分析表明,ＹｏｕｎｇｅｒＤｒｙａｓ时期东亚季风气候在全球气候变化的影响下,总的表现为与北半球高纬度地区相同的干寒特征,即沙漠总的具有扩大的趋势;但又与南北半球大气相互作用,特别是赤道太平洋地区气压异常引起亚洲季风气候的不稳定有关,表现出降水变化特点,沙漠出现逆过程变化,存在短暂成壤固定时期。     

Late Quaternary diatom response to vegetation and climate change in a subalpine lake in Banff National Park, Alberta

The late Quaternary diatom record from subalpine Crowfoot Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta (lat. 51° 61N; long. 116° 31W) has been analyzed. Results are related to independently inferred vegetation and climate changes. No diatoms were found in the basal diamict that predates 11330 ¹⁴C yr BP. Very few occur until ca. 10 100¹⁴ C yr BP probably due to the short time between de-glaciation and an advance of the Crowfoot Glacier during the Younger Dryas Chron. Initial pioneering species were characteristic of alkaline water and calcareous organic sediments. They appeared as sediments became organic and laminated suggesting increasing water clarity, and as the Pinus-dominated forest expanded and the climate warmed. After ca. 9060 ¹⁴C yr BP diatom numbers increased rapidly, reaching a maximum prior to the Mazama tephra; they remained high until ca. 3500 ¹⁴C yr BP. The period between ca. 9060 and 3500 ¹⁴C yr saw timberline elevation increase and the dominance of xerophytic taxa. These are consistent with early to mid-Holocene warmth and aridity. Diatom productivity reflects the warm climate and presumably longer ice-free season, a stable catchment and transparent water. Decreases in diatom productivity coincide with a vegetation change with reduction of xerophytic taxa and the appearance of a closed Picea-Abies forest, hence a cooler, wetter climate at ca. 4100 to 3500 ¹⁴C yr BP. The diatom numbers during the Neoglacial were of the same magnitude as prior to ca. 9060 ¹⁴C yr BP. Small species of Fragilaria (overwhelmingly Fragilaria construens v. venter) became extremely dominant during the period of high diatom productivity, and remained so thereafter. Recovery of the lake appears to have been rapid after deposition of the Mazama tephra. Maximum occurrence of Cyclotella radiosa occurred ca. 8000 ¹⁴C yr BP during the warm early Holocene and may reflect this warmer climate, a longer ice-free season than presently, perhaps less turbid water, or it may reflect a subtly higher nutrient status of the lake water. The diatom record of Crowfoot Lake has responded with sensitivity, particularly in terms of productivity, to the Holocene vegetation and climate changes.     

The fossil oribatid mite fauna (Acari: Oribatida) in late-glacial and early-Holocene sediments in Kråkenes Lake, western Norway

The oribatid mite assemblages found in late-glacial and early-Holocene sediments in Kråkenes Lake, western Norway, consist of 38 species within 24 genera. In accordance with known present habitat distribution we distinguish 4 true aquatic species, 6 species associated with wetland, 2 with mesic grassland, 12 with dry grassland and heathland, 3 with saxicolous and arboricolous lichens, 7 widely distributed species, and 4 with uncertainly known habitat preferences. The sediments from the pioneer phase (12,300-11,700 ¹⁴C BP) contain 7 species, among them the 2 typical pioneer species Limnozetes ciliatus and Tectocepheus velatus.The sediments of the warmer Allerød interstadial (11,700-10,900 BP) contain 18 species, the cold Younger Dryas (10,900-10,000 BP) 9 species, and the early Holocene (10,000-9,000 BP) 36 species.The oribatid fossils of the pioneer phase indicate habitats and climate similar to the mid-alpine zone in western Norway today, the Allerod interstadial that of the low- to mid-alpine zone. L. ciliatus is the aquatic pioneer species in the Allerod. In the Younger Dryas the climate was more arctic, 60-70% of the species had presumably disappeared, and no aquatic species were found. In the early Holocene, 4 true aquatic species colonised the lake and showed a high productivity. The terrestrial oribatid fauna in this period contained a high diversity of more boreal species, while the alpine species declined or became extinct.     

Temporal patterns in lacustrine stable isotopes as evidence for climate change during the late glacial in the Southern European Alps

We investigated oxygen and carbon isotopes of bulk carbonate and of benthic freshwater ostracods (Candona candida) in a sediment core of Lago Piccolo di Avigliana that was previously analyzed for pollen and loss-on-ignition, in order to reconstruct environmental changes during the late glacial and early Holocene. The depth–age relationship of the sediment core was established using 14 AMS ¹⁴C dates and the Laacher See Tephra. While stable isotopes of bulk carbonates may have been affected by detrital input and, therefore, only indirectly reflect climatic changes, isotopes measured on ostracod shells provide unambiguous evidence for major environmental changes. Oxygen isotope ratios of ostracod shells (δ¹⁸O_C) increased by ～6‰ at the onset of the Bølling (～14,650 cal BP) and were ～2‰ lower during the Younger Dryas (～12,850 to 11,650 cal BP), indicating a temporal pattern of climate changes similar to the North Atlantic region. However, in contrast to records in that region, δ¹⁸O_C gradually decreased during the early Holocene, suggesting that compared to the Younger Dryas more humid conditions occurred and that the lake received gradually increasing input of ¹⁸O-depleted groundwater or river water.     

Stratigraphy,pollen analysis and paleoclimatic interpretation of Mowrray and Rroadmeadows Swamps,North Western Tasmania

Sedimentary, palynologic and ¹⁴C analysis of marls and swamp‐peats, formed under fluctuating artesian spring conditions, provide climate and vegetation records from >52,000 to 0 yr BP at Mowbray, and 30,000 to 0 yr BP at Broadmeadows. Before about 65,000 yr BP conditions at Mowbray were relatively dry and the vegetation was Leptospermum shrubland. After 65,000 and before 55,000 yr BP moist conditions produced Cyperaceae swamps. Between 55,000 and 45,000 yr BP the climate was relatively dry, and between 45,000 and 35,000 yr BP relatively moist. Leptospermum shrubs were dominant in both periods. The climate was moist between 35,000 and 22,000 yr BP and sedge swamps formed. Between 22,000 and 11,000 yr BP the climate was relatively dry and grasses were important. Postglacial climate (11,000–0 yr BP) was warm and moist, and Melaleuca‐Leptospermum forest and shrubland flourished. The climatic changes suggested for north western Tasmania seem to compare broadly with changes suggested for Tasmanian and for other southern Australian sites, but the correlation is limited by imprecise dating.     

LATE PLEISTOCENE ICE FLUCTUATIONS AND GLACIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE ARCHIPIÉLAGO DE CHILOÉ, SOUTHERN CHILE

Most of the last glacial maximum (LGM) glacier record west of the southern Andes (40–55° S) is today submerged under the Pacific Ocean and therefore the Archipiélago de Chiloé (42–43° S) provides an unusual opportunity to study local sediment and landform associations to help understand paleoglacial features of the former Patagonian ice sheet (PIS). In this context, this work presents the first comprehensive glacial geomorphologic mapping of the central region of the Archipiélago de Chiloé, which is located in a transitional geomorphic region between the Chilean Lake District (CLD, 39–41° S, 73° W) and northwest Patagonia (～43–48° S, 74° W). The Chilotan glacial geomorphology and sediment associations resulted from a warm‐based glacier that characterizes a typical active glacial temperate landsystem, which in central Chiloé combines deposits and landform units originated in subglacial and subaerial environments. Paleoglacial features that occur in central Chiloé are characteristic of an ice‐sheet style of glaciation, which differentiates it from a typical Alpine glacial style defined previously for the CLD. Therefore, the Archipiélago de Chiloé represents a geographical break point where the PIS became the large ice mass that occupied the Patagonian Andes during the last glacial period (Llanquihue Glaciation). A double ice‐contact slope on the east face of the Cordillera de La Costa provides evidence for the most extensive Early Llanquihue glacial advance on Isla Grande de Chiloé. The most prominent LGM advance in the area occurred at 26 000 cal yr BP, coincident with regional stadial conditions, and is defined by a big moraine along the east coast of the island.     

Late Quaternary climatic changes in southern Chile, as recorded in a diatom sequence of Lago Puyehue (40°40′ S)

A late Quaternary diatom stratigraphy of Lago Puyehue (40°40′ S, 72°28′ W) was examined in order to infer past limnological and climatic changes in the South-Chilean Lake District. The diatom assemblages were well preserved in a 1,122 cm long, ¹⁴C-dated sediment core spanning the last 17,900 years, and were in support of an early deglaciation of Lago Puyehue. The presence of a short cold spell in South Chile, equivalent to the Younger Dryas event in the Northern Hemisphere, the Antarctic Cold Reversal in Antarctica, or the Huelmo-Mascardi event in southern South America, was not clearly evidenced in the diatom data, although some climate instability may have occurred between 13,400 and 11,700 cal. yr. BP, and a relatively long period (between 16,850 and 12,810 cal. yr. BP) with low absolute abundances and biovolumes could be tentatively interpreted as a period of low rainfall and/or temperatures. An increase in the moisture supply to the lake was tentatively inferred at 12,810 cal. yr. BP. After 9,550 cal. yr. BP, inferred stronger and longer persisting summer stratification, may have been the result of the higher temperatures associated with an early-Holocene thermal optimum. The mid-Holocene appeared to be characterized by a decrease in precipitation, culminating around 5,000 cal. yr. BP, and rising again after 3,000 cal. yr. BP, likely associated with a previously documented lowered frequency and amplitude of El Niño events. An increase in precipitation during the late Holocene (3,000 cal. yr. BP–present) might have marked subsequent increased frequency of El Niño occurrences, leading to drier summers and slightly moister winters in the area.     

Variations of monsoonal precipitation over the last 16,000 years in the eastern Nanling Mountains,South China

A 350-cm-long sediment core was recovered from Dahu Swamp in the eastern Nanling Mountains in south China for paleoclimatic investigation. Twelve ¹⁴C dates determined on organic-rich bulk samples establish a chronological sequence for this core and yield a bottom age of ~16,000 cal years BP. Multiproxies including dry bulk density, magnetic susceptibility, organic carbon isotope, median grain size, silt-size fraction and total organic matter content were used to study variations of precipitation in relation to the East Asian monsoon. The core sediments are characterized by shifts between the lacustrine sediments and marshy sediments, implying hydrological variations between expansion and shrinkage of the water body in the swamp, and suggesting relatively wetter and drier conditions, respectively. Two relatively wetter episodes lasting from ~15,000 to 14,000 cal years BP and from ~13,500 to 12,800 cal years BP were revealed, possibly corresponding to the Bølling and the Allerød warming events, and three relatively drier phases occurred between ~16,000 and 15,000 cal years BP, between ~14,000 and 13,500 cal years BP and between ~12,800 and 11,500 cal years BP. The three events synchronize with the Oldest Dryas, the Older Dryas and the Younger Dryas cooling events, respectively. A distinctly humid period lasted from ~10,000 to 6,000 cal years BP in the early- and mid- Holocene was interpreted as the Holocene Optimum period. Several short dry events were revealed, including the most pronounced one at ~8,100 cal years BP that coincides with the “8,200 year” cooling event. Multiproxies indicate an evidently dry climate prevailing in the mid-Holocene (from ~6,000 to 3,000 cal years BP), reflecting a weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon. The general trend of Holocene climate shows agreement with the 25°N summer solar insolation, suggesting that the orbitally induced insolation have played a key role in the Holocene climate in south China.     

Evidence of late Holocene climate variability in the western Nanling Mountains,South China

A 95-cm-thick peat sequence obtained from Daping Swamp in the western Nanling Mountains provides evidence for climate variability in the past ~3,000 year. Multi-proxy records (including organic carbon isotopes, humification degree, organic matter content, and dry bulk density) revealed three intensified Asian summer monsoon (ASM) intervals (i.e.~2900–2700, 2500–1700 and 1000–600 cal. yr BP) and three weakened ASM intervals (i.e.~2800–2500, 1700–1000 and 600–200 cal. yr BP). Our δ¹³C record shows a possible correlation with the sunspot number and residual atmospheric ¹⁴C records on multi-centennial scale, especially for the period between 2960 and 2200 cal. yr BP. A spectral analysis of δ¹³C record reveals three significant cycles (i.e., 396, 110 and 102 yr) and all these cycles could be related to solar activity, suggesting that solar output may have influenced the late Holocene climate variability in the study region.     

Quantitative Holocene climatic reconstruction from Arctic Russia

Vegetation changes reflected in fossil pollen spectra are a primary source of information about climate fluctuations in the past. A statistical-information (transfer function) method based on the correlation of recent pollen spectra with modern climate conditions has been used to reconstruct Holocene climatic changes from fossil pollen. Climatic variables used for the reconstructions are the mean annual, January, July temperatures and annual precipitation. Peat sections with pollen and ¹⁴C data from the Arctic Russia were used for the reconstructions. The reconstructed climate fluctuations are similar to the climate changes obtained from many sites in the former USSR. A clear signal for Younger Dryas cooling, 11,000-10,000 yr BP and early Preboreal warming is apparent. The early Preboreal (10,000-9000 yr BP) was the warmest time for sites from modern coastal and island areas. The warm interval occurred in the Boreal period, about 8500 yr BP. According to the reconstructions the warmest time for non-coastal areas was the last half of Atlantic period, 6000-4500 yr BP. Other warm intervals were reconstructed about 3500 and 1000 yr BP. Reconstructions show that warming periods are primarily defined as times of increased summer temperatures, and cooling periods as time of decreased winter temperatures. The precipitation followed the temperatures: during the warming periods precipitation increased and during the cooling periods it decreased. Precipitation maximum, about 100 mm higher than present, are reconstructed for the warmest interval, 6000-4500 yr BP at all sites.     

Late-Quaternary history of midge communities and climate from a tundra site near the lower Lena River, Northeast Siberia

Analysis of midge remains in late-Quaternary sediment, recovered from a lake situated north of treeline in northeast Siberia, indicates the occurrence of notable climatic fluctuations during the last 12 ka. The onset of late-glacial warming was disrupted by a marked cooling event – possibly correlative with the Younger Dryas – that occurred between 11,000 and 10,000 yr BP. Increases in the relative abundance of taxa typically found in tundra lakes, such as Hydrobaenus/Oliveridia and Parakiefferiella nigra, and the concurrent decrease in temperate taxa, such as Microtendipes and Corynocera ambigua, suggest climatic deterioration occurred during this interval. At approximately 10,000 yr BP there was a large increase in temperate taxa such as Microtendipes and C. ambigua, and a decline of essentially all cold-water taxa. This suggests that climate was warmer than present since the modern distribution of both Microtendipes and C. ambigua is limited to forested sites in this region. This warm interval lasted until approximately 6000 yr BP when there was a precipitous decline in temperate chironomid taxa and an increase in cold-water chironomid taxa, such as Paracladius, Hydrobaenus/Oliveridia, Abiskomyia, and Parakiefferiella nigra. This cooling continued through the late-Holocene and the modern tundra chironomid assemblage developed by approximately 1400 yr BP.     

Glacial Geomorphologic Maps of Llanquihue Drift in the Area of the Southern Lake District, Chile

We present four glacial geomorphic maps of Llanquihue drift in the region of the southern Lake District, Seno Reloncaví, and the eastern half of northern Isla Grande de Chiloé, Chile. These maps form the basis of an interdisciplinary research project to establish a paleoclimate reconstruction of the last glacial cycle in the middle latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore we stressed morphologic rather than lithologic units in our mapping program in order to delineate the glacial geomorphic forms that are surface manifestations of former ice-marginal fluctuations. The resulting maps show the lobate shape and low surface slopes of the former piedmont glaciers that, at the last glacial maximum, spread westward from the Andes into the Valle Centralto fill Lago Puyehue, Lago Rupanco, Lago Llanquihue, Seno Reloncaví, Golfo de Ancud, and northern Gulfo Corcovado. These maps are the framework to tie together in this volume the stratigraphic sections and radiocarbon samples from within the Llanquihue moraine belts as well as the pollen cores from surface mires on the belts.     

A 17,900-year multi-proxy lacustrine record of Lago Puyehue (Chilean Lake District): introduction

This paper introduces the background and main results of a research project aimed at unravelling the paleolimnological and paleoclimatological history of Lago Puyehue (40° S, Lake District, Chile) since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), based on the study of several sediment cores from the lake and on extensive fieldwork in the lake catchment. The longest record was obtained in an 11-m-long piston core. An age-depth model was established by AMS ¹⁴C dating, ²¹⁰Pb and ²³⁷Cs measurements, identification of event-deposits, and varve-counting for the past 600 years. The core extends back to 17,915 cal. yr. BP, and the seismic data indicate that an open-lake sedimentary environment already existed several thousands of years before that. The core was submitted to a multi-proxy analysis, including sedimentology, mineralogy, grain-size, major geochemistry and organic geochemistry (C/N ratio, δ¹³C), loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility, diatom analysis and palynology. Along-core variations in sediment composition reveal that the area of Lago Puyehue was characterized since the LGM by a series of rapid climate fluctuations superimposed on a long-term warming trend. Identified climate fluctuations confirm a.o. the existence of a Late-Glacial cold reversal predating the northern-hemisphere Younger Dryas cold period by 500–1,000 years, as well as the existence of an early southern-hemisphere Holocene climatic optimum. Varve-thickness analyses over the past 600 years reveal periodicities similar to those associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, as well as intervals with increased precipitation, related to an intensification of the El Niño impact during the southern-hemisphere equivalent of the Little Ice Age.     

Deglacial to middle Holocene (16,600 to 6000 calendar years BP) climate change in the northeastern United States inferred from multi-proxy stable isotope data, Seneca Lake, New York

Climate change in the northeastern United States has been inferred for the last deglaciation to middle Holocene (∼16,600 to 6000 calendar years ago) using multi-proxy data (total organic matter, total carbonate content, δ¹⁸ O calcite and δ¹³ C calcite) from a 5 m long sediment core from Seneca Lake, New York. Much of the regional postglacial warming occurred during the well-known Bolling and Allerod warm periods (∼14.5 to 13.0 ka), but climate amelioration in the northeastern United States preceded that in Greenland by ∼2000 years. An Oldest Dryas climate event (∼15.1 to 14.7 ka) is recognized in Seneca Lake as is a brief Older Dryas (∼14.1 ka) cold event. This latter cold event correlates with the regional expansion of glacial Lake Iroquois and global meltwater pulse IA. An increase in winter precipitation and a shorter growing season likely characterized the northeastern United States at this time. The Intra-Allerod Cold Period (∼13.2 ka) is also evident supporting an “Amphi-Atlantic Oscillation” at this time. The well-known Younger Dryas cold interval occurred in the northeastern United States between 12.9 and 11.6 ka, consistent with ice core data from Greenland. In the Seneca Lake record, however, the Younger Dryas appears as an asymmetric event characterized by an abrupt, high-amplitude beginning followed by a more gradual recovery. Compared to European records, the Younger Dryas in the northeastern United States was a relatively low-amplitude event. The largest amplitude and longest duration anomaly in the Seneca Lake record occurs after the Younger Dryas, between ∼11.6 and 10.3 ka. This “post-Younger Dryas climate interval” represents the last deglacial climate event prior to the start of the Holocene in the northeastern United States, but has not been recognized in Greenland or Europe. The early to middle Holocene in the northeastern United States was characterized by low-amplitude climate variability. A general warming trend during the Holocene Hypsithermal peaked at ∼9 ka coincident with maximum summer insolation controlled by orbital parameters. Millennial- to century-scale variability is also evident in the Holocene Seneca Lake record, including the well-known 8.2 ka cold event (as well as events at ∼7.1 and 6.6 ka). Hemispherical cooling during the Holocene Neoglacial in the northeastern United States began ∼5.5 ka in response to decreasing summer insolation.     

Aquatic macrophyte vegetation development in Kråkenes Lake, western Norway, during the late-glacial and early-Holocene

Macrofossil analyses were carried out on the late-glacial and early-Holocene sediments of the radiocarbon-dated master core at Kråkenes Lake, western Norway, to investigate the aquatic vegetation changes. Ranunculus sect. Batrachium and Nitella were the earliest pioneers after deglaciation ca. 12,300 ¹⁴C yr BP. The Allerød vegetational succession was very slow during ca. 1000 ¹⁴C yrs in a cool climate and conditions that were similar to those above tree-line in Norway today. The rapid cooling at the start of the Younger Dryas stadial caused extensive disturbance, and with the development of an active cirque glacier in the catchment, plants and animals were almost exterminated from the lake by inflow of permanently cold and turbid water. Rising temperatures caused the glacier to melt at the end of the Younger Dryas. The biotic response to the rapid warming was immediate, with pioneer Ranunculus sect. Batrachium and Nitella expanding within 1-3 decades, closely followed by other elodeids. The lake witnessed a remarkable isoetid succession, with phases dominated by Limosella aquatica, Subularia aquatica, Elatine hydropiper, Isoetes echinospora, and, later, I. lacustris. About 800 yrs into the Holocene most of the macrophytes declined. The short-lived isoetids became extinct, but other taxa probably survived vegetatively. The reasons for this decline are unknown, but are probably related to nutrient depletion in combination with other factors. About 550 yrs later, I. lacustris and Nymphaea colonised, and a stable flora and vegetation developed. This study illustrates the large and rapid changes that occurred over the first 1400 yrs of the Holocene in the macrophyte flora and vegetation in Kråkenes Lake before stability was attained, pointing to the value of a palaeoecological study in tracing aquatic successions over time, and highlighting our lack of knowledge of the underlying ecological factors responsible for such rapid and marked changes.