| 1. |
- Helmens, Karin F., et al.
(författare)
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Warm summers and rich biotic communities during N-Hemisphere deglaciation
- 2018
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Ingår i: Global and Planetary Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8181 .- 1872-6364. ; 167, s. 61-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Detailed studies on fossil remains of plants or animals in glacial lake sediments are rare. As a result, environmental conditions right at the moment of deglaciation of the large N-Hemisphere ice-sheets remain largely unknown. Here we study three deglacial phases of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet as a unique, repeated element in a long sediment record preserved at Soldl in northern Finland. We summarize extensive multi-proxy data (diatoms, phytoliths, chironomids, pollen, spores, non-pollen palynomorphs, macrofossils, lithology, loss-on-ignition, C/N) obtained on glacial lake sediments dated to the early Holocene (ca. 10 kyr BP), early MIS 3 (ca. 50 kyr BP) and early MIS 5a (ca. 80 kyr BP). In contrast to the common view of an unproductive ice-marginal environment, our study reconstructs rich ecosystems both in the glacial lake and along the shores with forest on recently deglaciated land. Higher than present-day summer temperatures are reconstructed based on a large variety of aquatic taxa. Rich biota developed due to the insolation-induced postglacial warming and high nutrient levels, the latter resulting from erosion of fresh bedrock and sediment, leaching of surface soils, decay of plant material under shallow water conditions, and sudden decreases in lake volume. Aquatic communities responded quickly to deglaciation and warm summers and reflect boreal conditions, in contrast to the terrestrial ecosystem which responded with some delay probably due to time required for slow soil formation processes. Birch forest is reconstructed upon deglaciation of the large LGM ice-sheet and shrub tundra following the probably faster melting smaller MIS 4 and MIS 5b ice-sheets. Our study shows that glacial lake sediments can provide valuable palaeo-environmental data, that aquatic biota and terrestrial vegetation rapidly accommodated to new environmental conditions during deglaciation, and that glacial lake ecosystems, and the carbon stored in their sediments, should be included in earth system modeling.
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| 2. |
- Linderholm, Hans W., 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Arctic hydroclimate variability during the last 2000 years – current understanding and research challenges
- 2018
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Ingår i: Climate of the Past. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1814-9324 .- 1814-9332. ; 14, s. 473-514
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reanalysis data show an increasing trend in Arctic precipitation over the 20th century, but changes are not homogenous across seasons or space. The observed hydroclimate changes are expected to continue and possibly accelerate in the coming century, not only affecting pan-Arctic natural ecosystems and human activities, but also lower latitudes through the atmospheric and ocean circulations. However, a lack of spatiotemporal observational data makes reliable quantification of Arctic hydroclimate change difficult, especially in a long-term context. To understand Arctic hydroclimate and its variability prior to the instrumental record, climate proxy records are needed. The purpose of this review is to summarise the current understanding of Arctic hydroclimate during the past 2000 years. First, the paper reviews the main natural archives and proxies used to infer past hydroclimate variations in this remote region and outlines the difficulty of disentangling the moisture from the temperature signal in these records. Second, a comparison of two sets of hydroclimate records covering the Common Era from two data-rich regions, North America and Fennoscan-dia, reveals inter- and intra-regional differences. Third, building on earlier work, this paper shows the potential for providing a high-resolution hydroclimate reconstruction for the Arctic and a comparison with last-millennium simulations from fully coupled climate models. In general, hydroclimate proxies and simulations indicate that the Medieval Climate Anomaly tends to have been wetter than the Little Ice Age (LIA), but there are large regional differences. However, the regional coverage of the proxy data is inadequate, with distinct data gaps in most of Eurasia and parts of North America, making robust assessments for the whole Arctic impossible at present. To fully assess pan-Arctic hydroclimate variability for the last 2 millennia, additional proxy records are required.
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| 3. |
- Wohlfarth, Barbara, et al.
(författare)
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Climate and environment in southwest Sweden 15.5-11.3 cal. ka BP
- 2018
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Ingår i: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 0300-9483 .- 1502-3885. ; 47:3, s. 687-710
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lake sedimentary records that allow documentation of the distinct climatic and environmental shifts during the early part of the Last Termination are scarce for northern Europe. This multi-proxy study of the sediments of Attekopsmosse, southwest Sweden, therefore fills an important gap and provides detailed information regarding past hydroclimatic conditions and local environmental responses to climatic shifts. Lake infilling started c. 15.5 cal. ka BP, but low aquatic productivity, cold summer lake water temperatures, unstable catchments, and scarce herb and shrub vegetation prevailed until c. 14.7-14.5 cal. ka BP. Inflow of warmer air masses and higher July air temperatures favoured a rise in aquatic productivity and lake water summer temperatures, and the establishment of a diverse herb, shrub and dwarf shrub vegetation, which also included tree birch c. 14.5 cal. ka BP. Freshening of the moisture source region c. 13.7-13.6 cal. ka BP does not seem to have had a large impact on the ancient lake and its catchment, as lake aquatic productivity increased further and lake water summer temperatures and minimum mean July air temperatures remained around 12-14 degrees C. In contrast, further freshening of the moisture source region c. 13 cal. ka BP triggered a decrease in lake productivity, drier conditions and lower lake water summer temperatures. Macroscopic finds of tree Betula and Pinus sylvestris at 13-12.8 cal. ka BP demonstrate the presence of these trees in the lake's catchment. The transition into the Holocene (11.6-11.5 cal. ka BP) is marked by a change in chironomid assemblages and by a rise in lake water summer temperatures and aquatic productivity. These changes were followed by the re-establishment of a diverse aquatic and terrestrial vegetation, including tree birch and Pinus sylvestris at 11.4 cal. ka BP.
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