Climatic oscillations in central Italy during the Last Glacial–Holocene transition: the record from Lake Accesa

This paper presents an event stratigraphy based on data documenting the history of vegetation cover, lake‐level changes and fire frequency, as well as volcanic eruptions, over the Last Glacial–early Holocene transition from a terrestrial sediment sequence recovered at Lake Accesa in Tuscany (north‐central Italy). On the basis of an age–depth model inferred from 13 radiocarbon dates and six tephra horizons, the Oldest Dryas–Bølling warming event was dated to ca. 14 560 cal. yr BP and the Younger Dryas event to ca. 12 700–11 650 cal. yr BP. Four sub‐millennial scale cooling phases were recognised from pollen data at ca. 14 300–14 200, 13 900–13 700, 13 400–13 100 and 11 350–11 150 cal. yr BP. The last three may be Mediterranean equivalents to the Older Dryas (GI‐1d), Intra‐Allerød (GI‐1b) and Preboreal Oscillation (PBO) cooling events defined from the GRIP ice‐core and indicate strong climatic linkages between the North Atlantic and Mediterranean areas during the last Termination. The first may correspond to Intra‐Bølling cold oscillations registered by various palaeoclimatic records in the North Atlantic region. The lake‐level record shows that the sub‐millennial scale climatic oscillations which punctuated the last deglaciation were associated in central Italy with different successive patterns of hydrological changes from the Bølling warming to the 8.2 ka cold reversal. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Younger Dryas and early Holocene palaeoenvironments in the Skagerrak,eastern North Atlantic: a multiproxy study

Erbs‐Hansen, D. R., Knudsen, K. L., Gary, A. C., Jansen, E., Gyllencreutz, R., Scao, V. & Lambeck, K. 2011: Late Younger Dryas and early Holocene palaeoenvironments in the Skagerrak, eastern North Atlantic: a multiproxy study. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00205.x. ISSN 0300‐9843 A high‐resolution study of palaeoenvironmental changes through the late Younger Dryas and early Holocene in the Skagerrak, the eastern North Atlantic, is based on multiproxy analyses of core MD99‐2286 combined with palaeowater depth modelling for the area. The late Younger Dryas was characterized by a cold ice‐distal benthic foraminiferal fauna. After the transition to the Preboreal (c. 11 650 cal. a BP) this fauna was replaced by a Cassidulina neoteretis‐dominated fauna, indicating the influence of chilled Atlantic Water at the sea floor. Persisting relatively cold bottom‐water conditions until c. 10 300 cal. a BP are presumably a result of an outflow of glacial meltwater from the Baltic area across south‐central Sweden, which led to a strong stratification of the water column at MD99‐2286, as also indicated by C. neoteretis. A short‐term peak in the C/N ratio at c. 10 200 cal. a BP is suggested to indicate input of terrestrial material, which may represent the drainage of an ice‐dammed lake in southern Norway, the Glomma event. After the last drainage route across south‐central Sweden closed, c. 10 300 cal. a BP, the meltwater influence diminished, and the Skagerrak resembled a fjord with a stable inflow of waters from the North Atlantic through the Norwegian Trench and a gradual increase in boreal species. Full interglacial conditions were established at the sea floor from c. 9250 cal. a BP. Subsequent warm stable conditions were interrupted by a short‐term cooling around 8300–8200 cal. a BP, representing the 8.2 ka event.     

Palaeoceanographic changes in the northern Barents Sea during the last 16 000 years – new constraints on the last deglaciation of the Svalbard–Barents Sea Ice Sheet

The sediment core NP05‐71GC, retrieved from 360 m water depth south of Kvitøya, northwestern Barents Sea, was investigated for the distribution of benthic and planktic foraminifera, stable isotopes and sedimentological parameters to reconstruct palaeoceanographic changes and the growth and retreat of the Svalbard–Barents Sea Ice Sheet during the last ～16 000 years. The purpose is to gain better insight into the timing and variability of ocean circulation, climatic changes and ice‐sheet behaviour during the deglaciation and the Holocene. The results show that glaciomarine sedimentation commenced c. 16 000 a BP, indicating that the ice sheet had retreated from its maximum position at the shelf edge around Svalbard before that time. A strong subsurface influx of Atlantic‐derived bottom water occurred from 14 600 a BP during the Bølling and Allerød interstadials and lasted until the onset of the Younger Dryas cooling. In the Younger Dryas cold interval, the sea surface was covered by near‐permanent sea ice. The early Holocene, 11 700–11 000 a BP, was influenced by meltwater, followed by a strong inflow of highly saline and chilled Atlantic Water until c. 8600 a BP. From 8600 to 7600 a BP, faunal and isotopic evidence indicates cooling and a weaker flow of the Atlantic Water followed by a stronger influence of Atlantic Water until c. 6000 a BP. Thereafter, the environment generally deteriorated. Our results imply that (i) the deglaciation occurred earlier in this area than previously thought, and (ii) the Younger Dryas ice sheet was smaller than indicated by previous reconstructions.     

A 12.5-kyr history of vegetation dynamics and mire development with evidence of Younger Dryas larch presence in the Verkhoyansk Mountains, East Siberia, Russia

Werner, K., Tarasov, P. E., Andreev, A. A., Müller, S., Kienast, F., Zech, M., Zech, W. & Diekmann, B. 2009: A 12.5‐kyr history of vegetation dynamics and mire development with evidence of Younger Dryas larch presence in the Verkhoyansk Mountains, East Siberia, Russia. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00116.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. A 415 cm thick permafrost peat section from the Verkhoyansk Mountains was radiocarbon‐dated and studied using palaeobotanical and sedimentological approaches. Accumulation of organic‐rich sediment commenced in a former oxbow lake, detached from a Dyanushka River meander during the Younger Dryas stadial, at ～12.5 kyr BP. Pollen data indicate that larch trees, shrub alder and dwarf birch were abundant in the vegetation at that time. Local presence of larch during the Younger Dryas is documented by well‐preserved and radiocarbon‐dated needles and cones. The early Holocene pollen assemblages reveal high percentages of Artemisia pollen, suggesting the presence of steppe‐like communities around the site, possibly in response to a relatively warm and dry climate ～11.4–11.2 kyr BP. Both pollen and plant macrofossil data demonstrate that larch woods were common in the river valley. Remains of charcoal and pollen of Epilobium indicate fire events and mark a hiatus ～11.0–8.7 kyr BP. Changes in peat properties, C31/C27 alkane ratios and radiocarbon dates suggest that two other hiatuses occurred ～8.2–6.9 and ～6.7–0.6 kyr BP. Prior to 0.6 kyr BP, a major fire destroyed the mire surface. The upper 60 cm of the studied section is composed of aeolian sands modified in the uppermost part by the modern soil formation. For the first time, local growth of larch during the Younger Dryas has been verified in the western foreland of the Verkhoyansk Mountains (～170 km south of the Arctic Circle), thus increasing our understanding of the quick reforestation of northern Eurasia by the early Holocene.     

孢粉记录揭示的2万年以来若尔盖地区的气候变化

若尔盖黑河牧场ＤＣ剖面的孢粉记录表明，末次冰期晚阶段若尔盖原高的气候表现为不稳定性，即冷暖变化频繁，其基本变化与全球一致，相对暖的阶段发生在２０－１８ＫａＢＰ，１６－１５ＫａＢＰ和１３－１１．２ＫａＢＰ；相对冷的阶段在１８－１６ＫａＢＰ，１５－１４ＫａＢＰ和１１．２－１０．２ＫａＢＰ。其中末次冰期最盛期发生于１８－１６ＫａＢＰ；１１．２－１０．２ＫａＢＰ的降温可对应于ＹｏｕｎｇｅｒＤｒｙａｓ事件。     

The Younger Dryas and the Sea of Ancient Ice

We propose that prior to the Younger Dryas period, the Arctic Ocean supported extremely thick multi-year fast ice overlain by superimposed ice and firn. We re-introduce the historical term paleocrystic ice to describe this. The ice was independent of continental (glacier) ice and formed a massive floating body trapped within the almost closed Arctic Basin, when sea-level was lower during the last glacial maximum. As sea-level rose and the Barents Sea Shelf became deglaciated, the volume of warm Atlantic water entering the Arctic Ocean increased, as did the corresponding egress, driving the paleocrystic ice towards Fram Strait. New evidence shows that Bering Strait was resubmerged around the same time, providing further dynamical forcing of the ice as the Transpolar Drift became established. Additional freshwater entered the Arctic Basin from Siberia and North America, from proglacial lakes and meltwater derived from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Collectively, these forces drove large volumes of thick paleocrystic ice and relatively fresh water from the Arctic Ocean into the Greenland Sea, shutting down deepwater formation and creating conditions conducive for extensive sea-ice to form and persist as far south as 60°N. We propose that the forcing responsible for the Younger Dryas cold episode was thus the result of extremely thick sea-ice being driven from the Arctic Ocean, dampening or shutting off the thermohaline circulation, as sea-level rose and Atlantic and Pacific waters entered the Arctic Basin. This hypothesis focuses attention on the potential role of Arctic sea-ice in causing the Younger Dryas episode, but does not preclude other factors that may also have played a role.     

Lateglacial vegetation and palaeoenvironment in W Norway,with new pollen data from the Sunnmøre region

Krüger, L. C., Paus, A., Svendsen, J. I. & Bjune, A. E. 2011: Lateglacial vegetation and palaeoenvironment in W Norway, with new pollen data from the Sunnmøre region. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00213.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Two sediment sequences from Sunnmøre, northern W Norway, were pollen‐analytically studied to reconstruct the Lateglacial vegetation history and climate. The coastal Dimnamyra was deglaciated around 15.3 ka BP, whereas Løkjingsmyra, further inland, became ice‐free around 14 ka BP. The pioneer vegetation dominated by snow‐bed communities was gradually replaced by grassland and sparse heath vegetation. A pronounced peak in Poaceae around 12.9 ka BP may reflect warmer and/or drier conditions. The Younger Dryas (YD) cooling phase shows increasing snow‐bed vegetation and the local establishment of Artemisia norvegica. A subsequent vegetation closure from grassland to heath signals the Holocene warming. Birch forests were established 500–600 years after the YD–Holocene transition. This development follows the pattern of the Sunnmøre region, which is clearly different from the Empetrum dominance in the Lateglacial interstadial further south in W Norway. The Lateglacial oscillations GI‐1d (Older Dryas) and GI‐1b (Gerzensee) are hardly traceable in the north, in contrast to southern W Norway. The southern vegetation was probably closer to an ecotone and more susceptible to climate changes.     

Late-Glacial Vegetation and Climate Change in Western Oregon

Pollen records from two sites in western Oregon provide information on late-glacial variations in vegetation and climate and on the extent and character of Younger Dryas cooling in the Pacific Northwest. A subalpine forest was present at Little Lake, central Coast Range, between 15,700 and 14,850 cal yr B.P. A warm period between 14,850 and 14,500 cal yr B.P. is suggested by an increase inPseudotsugapollen and charcoal. The recurrence of subalpine forest at 14,500 cal yr B.P. implies a return to cool conditions. Another warming trend is evidenced by the reestablishment ofPseudotsugaforest at 14,250 cal yr B.P. Increased haploxylonPinuspollen between 12,400 and 11,000 cal yr B.P. indicates cooler winters than before. After 11,000 cal yr B.P. warm dry conditions are implied by the expansion ofPseudotsuga.A subalpine parkland occupied Gordon Lake, western Cascade Range, until 14,500 cal yr B.P., when it was replaced during a warming trend by a montane forest. A rise inPinuspollen from 12,800 to 11,000 cal yr B.P. suggests increased summer aridity.Pseudotsugadominated the vegetation after 11,000 cal yr B.P. Other records from the Pacific Northwest show an expansion ofPinusfrom ca. 13,000 to 11,000 cal yr B.P. This expansion may be a response either to submillennial climate changes of Younger Dryas age or to millennial-scale climatic variations.     

Rapid response of forested vegetation to multiple climatic oscillations during the last deglaciation in the northeastern United States

Isotopic and pollen results from a marl lake (White Lake) in the Mid-Atlantic region of USA indicate the coupling of climate and vegetation changes. Oxygen isotopes of calcite from this site show multiple oscillations at millennial and centennial scales, including the Younger Dryas with 3‰ negative shifts in δ¹⁸O at 12.4-11.4 ka (1 ka = 1000 cal yr BP) and three cold events of magnitude 1-2‰ shifts during the Bølling-Allerød warm period (BOA) at 14.3-12.4 ka. Pollen data from the same core show nearly synchronous, close correspondence with isotope-inferred climate shifts, indicating rapid forest response to deglacial climate oscillations in southern New England. A plateau-like BOA is similar to other records around the North Atlantic Ocean.     

Oxygen-isotope record of Late-Glacial climatic change in western Ireland

Oxygen-isotope profiles for the Late-Glacial carbonate sediments from Red Bog and adjacent Lough Gur in County Limerick in western Ireland are readily correlated with the classical hiozones delineated on pollen diagrams for the same cores. The estimated summer temperatures of the Bølling/Allerød were as high as those in the early Holocene and are correlated with increasing Milankovitch summer insolation. This warm phase was abruptly terminated in the Younger Dryas cold episode by a depletion of 4% in δ¹⁸O, suggesting a summer atmospheric temperature decrease of about 12°C, comparable to that inferred from fossil beetle data. The Younger Dryas phase is attributed to a major cooling of the sea-surface temperature by a postulated discharge of icebergs similar to that of the Heinrich events, for the icebergs were much more effective than simple meltwater in cooling the sea surface and thus the climate over Europe. Shorter-term cool phases (Older Dryas. Gerzensee. Preboreal oscillation) are also recognized.     

殷墟文化发生的环境背景及人类活动的影响

不同农业单元122个表土样品花粉分析结果表明,安阳地区表土花粉组合中草本植物花粉含量最高,以禾本科、蒿属、藜科和十字花科为主,乔木植物花粉百分含量较低,以松属、桦属、胡桃属、黄栌属、栎属为主,应为西部太行山区传播而来。汪家店和茶店陂两个全新世地层自然剖面孢粉分析表明,约 10000cal.aB.P.以前,安阳地区分布着以松属、栎属、桦属等为主的落叶阔叶林;  约 10000～8200cal.aB.P.,气候变暖,降水量增加,森林植被中夹杂着常绿栎等亚热带树种;  约 8200～3400cal.aB.P.,安阳地区进入全新世大暖期,森林植被演变为亚热带落叶阔叶和常绿阔叶混交林;  商王朝在安阳地区建都后（3400cal.aB.P.后）,乔木植物花粉急剧减少,草本植物花粉和中华卷柏百分含量升高,表明森林被大量砍伐,砍伐后的林地开垦为农田,主要种植禾本科等农作物;  两条剖面上部的冲积层中出现大量中华卷柏孢子,表明森林植被破坏后水土流失加剧。古地貌面孢粉分析也证明殷商时期安阳地区生长有亚热带落叶阔叶和常绿阔叶混交林,气候和植被条件适于野象生存;  殷墟附近为禾本科农作物花粉高含量区,表明殷商时期农业已具一定规模。     

吉林柳河哈尼湖13.1～4.5cal.kaB.P.古气候演化的高分辨率孢粉记录

利用哈尼湖钻孔剖面深837～304cm高分辨率的123个孢粉数据和序列中的8个14C测年数据重建中国东北地区13.1～4.5cal.kaB.P.的植被与气候历史:13.1～11.9cal.kaB.P.植被变化明显,整个时段气温较低,后期有回暖趋势,在12.8～12.1cal.kaB.P.的快速变干可能是新仙女木事件在本区的体现;11.9～10.0cal.kaB.P.孢粉显示为以云杉、冷杉等针叶树为主,气候湿冷;10.0～8.2cal.kaB.P.针叶林逐步演替为落叶阔叶林,为升温阶段;8.2～4.5cal.kaB.P.落叶阔叶林进一步发展,气候温暖湿润。同时孢粉序列也反映出,东北地区在气候变暖后发生了一系列的冷暖干湿波动,大致可与我国北方和南方其他地区的气候事件对应。经频谱分析表明,本区在研究期间存在1100a,700a,500a及300a的气候变化的准周期。     

Precise radiocarbon dating of Late-Glacial cooling in mid-latitude South America

Variability of atmospheric ¹⁴C content often complicates radiocarbon-based chronologies; however, specific features such as periods of constant ¹⁴C age or steep changes in radiocarbon ages can be useful stratigraphic markers. The Younger Dryas event in the Northern Hemisphere is one of those periods, showing conspicuous ¹⁴C wiggles. Although the origin of those variations is not fully understood, we can make practical use of them and determine: (i) whether the Younger Dryas was global in extent; if so, (ii) were the initial cooling and the final warming synchronous worldwide; and (iii) what are the implications of these similarities/differences? Here we report high-resolution AMS ¹⁴C chronologies from the mid-latitudes of South America that pinpoint a cool episode between 11,400 and 10,200¹⁴C yr B.P. The onset of the final cool episode of the Late Glacial in the southern mid-latitudes, i.e., the Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal, preceded the onset of the Younger Dryas cold event by ∼550 calendar years. Both events ended during a radiocarbon-age plateau at ∼10,200¹⁴C yr B.P. Thus, the Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal encompasses the Younger Dryas, as well as a couple of short-term cool/warm oscillations that immediately preceded its onset in the North Atlantic region.     

Extending the known distribution of the Younger Dryas Vedde Ash into northwestern Russia

The known distribution of wind‐blown Vedde Ash (ca. 10.3 ka BP) has been extended to the Karelian Isthmus in northwestern Russia. This has been possible as the result of a density separation technique that separates the rhyolitic Vedde Ash shards from the minerogenic host sediment. The Vedde Ash occurs in the middle of a pollen zone with high percentages of, for example, Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae, suggesting that the Younger Dryas (or GS‐I in the GRIP ice‐core event stratigraphy) was cold and dry throughout its duration. This is in agreement with sites in south Sweden where the Vedde Ash also occurs in the middle of a pollen zone dominated by Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae and Cyperaceae. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新疆罗布泊地区32.0～9.1kaB.P.期间的孢粉记录及其古气候古环境演化

新疆罗布泊地区罗北洼地CK­2钻孔的孢粉记录揭示出： 32.0～9.1kaB.P. 植被演替明显,气候干湿波动显著; 晚冰期向全新世过渡期间,气候波动频繁且具突变性。31.98～19.26kaB.P.罗布泊地区处于末次冰期的盛冰期阶段,气候寒冷湿润,冷暖波动频繁,但幅度不大,研究区植被以草原－荒漠草原为主; 19.26～13.67kaB.P. 气候明显变为温暖干燥,植被以荒漠为主; 13.67～12.73kaB.P.气候冷湿偏干,植被以草原－荒漠草原为主; 12.73～9.14kaB.P.气候冷湿与暖干交替频繁,波动幅度较大,植被逐渐由荒漠向草原－荒漠草原过渡。其中, 16.45～15.39kaB.P.,14.27～13.67kaB.P.和 11.74～11.23kaB.P.之间的冷颤动分别相应于老仙女木、中仙女木和新仙女木事件; 15.39～14.27kaB.P.和 12.73～11.74kaB.P.之间的暖期则分别对应于欧洲博令和阿勒罗得暖期; 新仙女木事件后的气候具有突变性的特点,10.49kaB.P.前后的暖事件和9.14kaB.P.前后的冷事件,成为全新世早期气候变化的显著特征。孢粉浓度和花粉组合所反映的罗布泊地区晚冰期以来的气候演化同全球性的气候事件具有显著的可比性。     

Pollen-inferred Late-Glacial and Holocene climate in southern Balkans (Lake Maliq)

High-temporal resolution analysis of pollen records from Lake Maliq (Albania) provides quantitative estimates of monthly temperature and precipitation changes since the last deglaciation. The climate parameters were estimated using the best modern analogue technique with an updated modern pollen-climate database composed of 2748 surface samples. The record shows two main cooling phases in the Maliq area (the Oldest and Younger Dryas) and a cooling event around 8200 years, which suggests that the forcing factors driving climate variations in the North Atlantic area since the Last Glacial period also extended their influence into the Mediterranean area. The Oldest and Younger Dryas are also characterized by an arid climate and a change in the seasonality of precipitation: the summer precipitation tends to be greater during the cooling phases than during the temperate periods. The Holocene climate is relatively stable and the values of each parameter reach their modern levels, except for an arid event between 8300 and 8100 cal BP.     

The lateglacial Quercus expansion in the southern European Alps: rapid vegetation response to a late Allerød climate warming?

A pollen‐inferred vegetation shift, from pioneer birch–pine woodland to mixed pine–summergreen oak forests, in the southern Alpine forelands, is commonly attributed to a centennial‐scale warming that occurred between the Gerzensee Oscillation (GO) and the Younger Dryas. Two microtephra layers bracketing the Younger Dryas onset (the Laacher See Tephra and the Vedde Ash) improve the chronology at Lago Piccolo di Avigliana (northern Italy) and allowed accurate correlation with Central European records where the GO is clearly detected. We used pollen percentages, pollen accumulation rates (PARs) and plant macrofossils to assess the population dynamics of Quercus, and leaf‐cuticle analysis for a better taxonomic identification of Quercus. Our results indicate that the species that was locally present was probably Quercus robur. PARs suggest that the population expansion started as early as the Bølling and followed an exponential increase through time. We attribute this gradual shift to increasing summer temperatures and longer growing seasons which contrast with a gradually decreasing temperature trend as recorded in Greenland ice cores and in Central Europe. Breaks or set‐backs in the PAR record may indicate the biotic response to minor Lateglacial cooling events of different life‐history stages in the Quercus population. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Problems with identifying the ‘8200‐year cold event’ in terrestrial records of the Atlantic seaboard: a case study from Dooagh,Achill Island,Ireland

The Northern Hemisphere cooling event 8200 years ago is believed to represent the last known major freshwater pulse into the North Atlantic as a result of the final collapse of the North American Laurentide ice sheet. This pulse of water is generally believed to have occurred independently of orbital variations and provides an analogue for predicted increases in high‐latitude precipitation and ice melt as a result of anthropogenically driven future climate change. The precise timing, duration and magnitude of this event, however, are uncertain, with suggestions that the 100‐yr meltwater cooling formed part of a longer‐term cold period in the early Holocene. Here we undertook a multiproxy, high‐resolution investigation of a peat sequence at Dooagh, Achill Island, on the west coast of Ireland, to determine whether the 8200‐year cold event impacted upon the terrestrial vegetation immediately ‘downwind’ of the proposed changes in the North Atlantic. We find clear evidence for an oscillation in the early Holocene using various measures of pollen, indicating a disruption in the vegetation leading to a grassland‐dominated landscape, most probably driven by changes in precipitation rather than temperature. Radiocarbon dating was extremely problematic, however, with bulk peat samples systematically too young for the North Atlantic event, suggesting significant contamination from downward root penetration. The sustained disruption to vegetation over hundreds of years at Dooagh indicates the landscape was impacted by a long‐term cooling event in the early Holocene, and not the single century length 8200‐year meltwater event proposed in many other records in the North Atlantic region. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pollen/event stratigraphy of the varved sediment of Lake Suigetsu,central Japan from 15,701 to 10,217 SG vyr BP (Suigetsu varve years before present): Description,interpretation, and correlation with other regions

High-resolution pollen data (average interval between samples<15 years) are reported on part of a varved sediment core from Lake Suigetsu, Japan, spanning the interval 15,701 to 10,217 SG vyr BP (Suigetsu varve years Before Present). This new record is compared with a previously proposed event stratigraphy based on pollen-based reconstructed changes of mean annual temperature. The deglacial climate history reconstructed at Lake Suigetsu resembles that observed in the North Atlantic, although the major boundaries of pollen zones are asynchronous with those in the North Atlantic event stratigraphy by several centuries. The onset of the Late Glacial interstadial occurred earlier in Japan than in the North Atlantic. This demonstrates that the climate in Japan was closely linked to the low-latitude Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures that first reacted to orbital forcing. Conversely, the onset of the subsequent cold reversal phase in Japan lagged that of the North Atlantic (Younger Dryas) by several centuries. The duration of this cold phase was about the same as the Younger Dryas event, but the amplitude was much reduced (4±2 °C in Δmean annual temperature). These findings support the hypothesis that this pan-hemispheric cooling event was triggered by North Atlantic forcing, most probably by a meltwater pulse and an associated change in the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. However, the mechanism which transmitted the change in the North Atlantic to the Far East is unknown.     

Last glacial pollen record from Lanzhou (Northwestern China) and possible forcing mechanisms for the MIS 3 climate change in Middle to East Asia

The vegetation on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is highly sensitive to climatic changes and thus represents a potentially interesting environmental archive. Pollen samples from the Fanjiaping Loess section in Lanzhou on the western Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) were analyzed in conjunction with OSL dating. The results indicate that pollen zone B (60.6–46.0 ka, correlative to the early MIS 3) had the greatest abundances of Cupressaceae, Tsuga, Gramineae and Cyperaceae of the entire section, suggesting a warm phase during the last glacial period. These pollen taxa decreased significantly in abundance in the zones C (46.0–39.0 ka) and D (39.0–27.0 ka), reflecting a substantial climate cooling from the middle MIS 3 to MIS 2. These results correlate with climate records from the South China Sea, the CLP, Baikal Lake, North America, North Atlantic Ocean and other regions, and probably correspond with the decline of northern high-latitude insolation and the increase of global ice volume from 50 to 20 ka. In particular, arboreal pollen, fern spore and algae abundances declined sharply since ～40 ka, while shrub and herb pollen reached the highest abundances. Conifer pollen Picea and Abies abundance also rose markedly and increased up the section. This implies significant climate deterioration and likely corresponded with substantial growth of the polar ice sheets since ～40 ka. The decreasing temperature caused by an insolation decline during the last glacial period probably reinforced the cooling effect in a ‘snow/ice/albedo’ feedback, which would result in less climate sensitivity to radiative forcing. Meanwhile, vegetation decline in the Northern Hemisphere during the last glacial period and tundra development at high latitudes possibly caused additional cooling, enhancing the growth of polar ice sheets since 40 ka. The development of polar ice sheets increased the polar-to-equator temperature and pressure gradients, strengthening the westerlies and supplying plenty of moisture to Northwest China during 40–30 ka. Lake sediments developed widely on the Tibetan Plateau during 40–30 ka, probably related to an increase in the seasonality of middle-to-low latitude insolation which caused an enhancement of glacier melting on the Plateau.