1. |
- Capo, Eric, et al.
(author)
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Lake sedimentary dna research on past terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity: Overview and recommendations
- 2021
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In: Quaternary. - : MDPI. - 2571-550X. ; 4:1
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of lake sedimentary DNA to track the long-term changes in both terrestrial and aquatic biota is a rapidly advancing field in paleoecological research. Although largely applied nowadays, knowledge gaps remain in this field and there is therefore still research to be conducted to ensure the reliability of the sedimentary DNA signal. Building on the most recent literature and seven original case studies, we synthesize the state-of-the-art analytical procedures for effective sampling, extraction, amplification, quantification and/or generation of DNA inventories from sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) via high-throughput sequencing technologies. We provide recommendations based on current knowledge and best practises.
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2. |
- Allentoft, Morten E., et al.
(author)
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Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia
- 2024
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In: Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 625:7994, s. 301-311
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene1–5. Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes—mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods—from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a ‘great divide’ genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 bp, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 bp, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a ‘Neolithic steppe’ cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations.
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3. |
- Allentoft, Morten E., et al.
(author)
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100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark
- 2024
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In: Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 625, s. 329-337
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Major migration events in Holocene Eurasia have been characterized genetically at broad regional scales1–4. However, insights into the population dynamics in the contact zones are hampered by a lack of ancient genomic data sampled at high spatiotemporal resolution5–7. Here, to address this, we analysed shotgun-sequenced genomes from 100 skeletons spanning 7,300 years of the Mesolithic period, Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age in Denmark and integrated these with proxies for diet (13C and 15N content), mobility (87Sr/86Sr ratio) and vegetation cover (pollen). We observe that Danish Mesolithic individuals of the Maglemose, Kongemose and Ertebølle cultures form a distinct genetic cluster related to other Western European hunter-gatherers. Despite shifts in material culture they displayed genetic homogeneity from around 10,500 to 5,900 calibrated years before present, when Neolithic farmers with Anatolian-derived ancestry arrived. Although the Neolithic transition was delayed by more than a millennium relative to Central Europe, it was very abrupt and resulted in a population turnover with limited genetic contribution from local hunter-gatherers. The succeeding Neolithic population, associated with the Funnel Beaker culture, persisted for only about 1,000 years before immigrants with eastern Steppe-derived ancestry arrived. This second and equally rapid population replacement gave rise to the Single Grave culture with an ancestry profile more similar to present-day Danes. In our multiproxy dataset, these major demographic events are manifested as parallel shifts in genotype, phenotype, diet and land use.
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4. |
- Kjær, Kurt H., et al.
(author)
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A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA
- 2022
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In: Nature. - : Springer Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 612:7939, s. 283-291
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene epochs 3.6 to 0.8 million years ago1 had climates resembling those forecasted under future warming2. Palaeoclimatic records show strong polar amplification with mean annual temperatures of 11–19 °C above contemporary values3,4. The biological communities inhabiting the Arctic during this time remain poorly known because fossils are rare5. Here we report an ancient environmental DNA6 (eDNA) record describing the rich plant and animal assemblages of the Kap København Formation in North Greenland, dated to around two million years ago. The record shows an open boreal forest ecosystem with mixed vegetation of poplar, birch and thuja trees, as well as a variety of Arctic and boreal shrubs and herbs, many of which had not previously been detected at the site from macrofossil and pollen records. The DNA record confirms the presence of hare and mitochondrial DNA from animals including mastodons, reindeer, rodents and geese, all ancestral to their present-day and late Pleistocene relatives. The presence of marine species including horseshoe crab and green algae support a warmer climate than today. The reconstructed ecosystem has no modern analogue. The survival of such ancient eDNA probably relates to its binding to mineral surfaces. Our findings open new areas of genetic research, demonstrating that it is possible to track the ecology and evolution of biological communities from two million years ago using ancient eDNA.
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5. |
- Wang, Yucheng, et al.
(author)
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Late Quaternary Dynamics of Arctic Biota from Ancient Environmental Genomics
- 2021
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 600:7887, s. 86-92
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the last glacial–interglacial cycle, Arctic biotas experienced substantial climatic changes, yet the nature, extent and rate of their responses are not fully understood1–8. Here we report a large-scale environmental DNA metagenomic study of ancient plant and mammal communities, analysing 535 permafrost and lake sediment samples from across the Arctic spanning the past 50,000 years. Furthermore, we present 1,541 contemporary plant genome assemblies that were generated as reference sequences. Our study provides several insights into the long-term dynamics of the Arctic biota at the circumpolar and regional scales. Our key fndings include: (1) a relatively homogeneous steppe–tundra fora dominated the Arctic during the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by regional divergence of vegetation during the Holocene epoch; (2) certain grazing animals consistently co-occurred in space and time; (3) humans appear to have been a minor factor in driving animal distributions; (4) higher efective precipitation, as well as an increase in the proportion of wetland plants, show negative efects on animal diversity; (5) the persistence of the steppe–tundra vegetation in northern Siberia enabled the late survival of several now-extinct megafauna species, including the woolly mammoth until 3.9 ± 0.2 thousand years ago (ka) and the woolly rhinoceros until 9.8 ± 0.2 ka; and (6) phylogenetic analysis of mammoth environmental DNA reveals a previously unsampled mitochondrial lineage. Our fndings highlight the power of ancient environmental metagenomics analyses to advance understanding of population histories and long-term ecological dynamics
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6. |
- Wang, Yucheng, et al.
(author)
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Reply to: When did mammoths go extinct?
- 2022
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 612:7938, s. 4-6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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7. |
- Kenny, Gavin G., et al.
(author)
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A Late Paleocene age for Greenland’s Hiawatha impact structure
- 2022
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In: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 8:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ~31-km-wide Hiawatha structure, located beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwestern Greenland, has been proposed as an impact structure that may have formed after the Pleistocene inception of the Greenland Ice Sheet. To date the structure, we conducted 40Ar/39Ar analyses on glaciofluvial sand and U-Pb analyses on zircon separated from glaciofluvial pebbles of impact melt rock, all sampled immediately downstream of Hiawatha Glacier. Unshocked zircon in the impact melt rocks dates to ~1915 million years (Ma), consistent with felsic intrusions found in local bedrock. The 40Ar/39Ar data indicate Late Paleocene resetting and shocked zircon dates to 57.99 ± 0.54 Ma, which we interpret as the impact age. Consequently, the Hiawatha impact structure far predates Pleistocene glaciation and is unrelated to either the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum or flood basalt volcanism in east Greenland. However, it was contemporaneous with the Paleocene Carbon Isotope Maximum, although the impact’s exact paleoenvironmental and climatic significance awaits further investigation.
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8. |
- Kjaer, Christina, et al.
(author)
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Luminescence Spectroscopy of Rhodamine Homodimer Dications in Vacuo Reveals Strong Dye-Dye Interactions
- 2019
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In: ChemPhysChem. - : Wiley. - 1439-4235 .- 1439-7641. ; 20:4, s. 533-537
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being alone or together makes a difference for the photophysics of dyes but for ionic dyes it is difficult to quantify the interactions due to solvent screening and nearby counter ions. Gas-phase luminescence experiments are desirable and now possible based on recent developments in mass spectrometry. Here we present results on tailor-made rhodamine homodimers where two dye cations are separated by methylene linkers, (CH2)(n). In solution the fluorescence is almost identical to that from the monomer whereas the emission from bare cation dimers redshifts with decreasing n. In the absence of screening, the electric field from the charge on one dye is strong enough to polarize the other dye, both in the ground state and in the excited state. An electrostatic model based on symmetric dye responses (equal induced-dipole moments in ground state) captures the underlying physics and demonstrates interaction even at large distances. Our results have possible implications for gas-phase Forster Resonance Energy Transfer.
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9. |
- Kjær, Kurt H., et al.
(author)
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Glacier response to the Little Ice Age during the Neoglacial cooling in Greenland
- 2022
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In: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 227
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the Northern Hemisphere, an insolation driven Early to Middle Holocene Thermal Maximum was followed by a Neoglacial cooling that culminated during the Little Ice Age (LIA). Here, we review the glacier response to this Neoglacial cooling in Greenland. Changes in the ice margins of outlet glaciers from the Greenland Ice Sheet as well as local glaciers and ice caps are synthesized Greenland-wide. In addition, we compare temperature reconstructions from ice cores, elevation changes of the ice sheet across Greenland and oceanographic reconstructions from marine sediment cores over the past 5,000 years. The data are derived from a comprehensive review of the literature supplemented with unpublished reports. Our review provides a synthesis of the sensitivity of the Greenland ice margins and their variability, which is critical to understanding how Neoglacial glacier activity was interrupted by the current anthropogenic warming. We have reconstructed three distinct periods of glacier expansion from our compilation: two older Neoglacial advances at 2,500 – 1,700 yrs. BP (Before Present = 1950 CE, Common Era) and 1,250 – 950 yrs. BP; followed by a general advance during the younger Neoglacial between 700-50 yrs. BP, which represents the LIA. There is still insufficient data to outline the detailed spatio-temporal relationships between these periods of glacier expansion. Many glaciers advanced early in the Neoglacial and persisted in close proximity to their present-day position until the end of the LIA. Thus, the LIA response to Northern Hemisphere cooling must be seen within the wider context of the entire Neoglacial period of the past 5,000 years. Ice expansion appears to be closely linked to changes in ice sheet elevation, accumulation, and temperature as well as surface-water cooling in the surrounding oceans. At least for the two youngest Neoglacial advances, volcanic forcing triggering a sea-ice /ocean feedback, could explain their initiation. There are probably several LIA glacier fluctuations since the first culmination close to 1250 CE (Common Era) and available data suggests ice culminations in the 1400s, early to mid-1700s and early to mid-1800s CE. The last LIA maxima lasted until the present deglaciation commenced around 50 yrs. BP (1900 CE). The constraints provided here on the timing and magnitude of LIA glacier fluctuations delivers a more realistic background validation for modelling future ice sheet stability.
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10. |
- Kjær, Kurt H, et al.
(author)
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Subglacial decoupling at the sediment/bedrock interface: a new mechanism for rapid flowing ice
- 2006
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 25:21-22, s. 2704-2712
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract in UndeterminedOn millennial or even centennial time scales, the activity of rapid flowing ice can affect climate variability and global sea level through release of meltwater into the ocean and positive feedback loops to the climate system. At the surge-type glacier Bruarjokull, an outlet of the Vatnajokull ice cap, eastern Iceland, extremely rapid ice flow was sustained by overpressurized water causing decoupling beneath a thick sediment sequence that was coupled to the glacier. This newly discovered mechanism has far reaching consequences for our understanding of fast-flowing ice and its integration with sediment discharge and meltwater release. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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11. |
- Korsgaard, Niels J., et al.
(author)
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Spatial distribution of erosion and deposition during a glacier surge: Bruarjokull, Iceland
- 2015
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In: Geomorphology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-555X. ; 250, s. 258-270
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Time-series of digital elevation models (DEMs) of the forefield of the Bruarjokull surge-type glacier in Iceland were used to quantify the volume of material that was mobilized by the 1963-1964 surge. The DEMs were produced by stereophotogrammetry on aerial photographs from before the surge (1961) and after (1988 and 2003). The analysis was performed on two DEMs of Difference (DoDs), i.e., a 1961-2003 DoD documenting the impact of the surge and a 1988-2003 DoD documenting the post-surge modification of the juvenile surging glacier landsystem. Combined with a digital geomorphological map, the DoDs allow us to quantify the impact of the surge on a landsystem scale down to individual landforms. A total of 34.2 +/- 11.3 x 10(6) m(3) of material was mobilized in the 30.7-km(2) study area as a result of the most recent surge event Of these, 17.4 +/- 6.6 x 10(6) m(3) of the material were eroded and 16.8 +/- 4.7 x 10(6) m(3) were deposited. More than half of the deposited volume was ice-cored landforms. This study demonstrates that although the total mobilized mass volume is high, the net volume gain of ice and sediment deposited as landforms in the forefield caused by the surge is low. Furthermore, deposition of new dead-ice from the 1963-1964 surge constitutes as much as 64% of the volume gain in the forefield. The 1988-2003 DoD is used to quantify the melt-out of this dead-ice and other paraglacial modification of the recently deglaciated forefield of Bruarjokull. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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12. |
- Orlando, Ludovic, et al.
(author)
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Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse
- 2013
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 499:7456, s. 74-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rich fossil record of equids has made them a model for evolutionary processes(1). Here we present a 1.12-times coverage draft genome from a horse bone recovered from permafrost dated to approximately 560-780 thousand years before present (kyr BP)(2,3). Our data represent the oldest full genome sequence determined so far by almost an order of magnitude. For comparison, we sequenced the genome of a Late Pleistocene horse (43 kyr BP), and modern genomes of five domestic horse breeds (Equus ferus caballus), a Przewalski's horse (E. f. prze-walskii) and a donkey (E. asinus). Our analyses suggest that the Equus lineage giving rise to all contemporary horses, zebras and donkeys originated 4.0-4.5 million years before present (Myr BP), twice the conventionally accepted time to the most recent common ancestor of the genus Equus(4,5). We also find that horse population size fluctuated multiple times over the past 2 Myr, particularly during periods of severe climatic changes. We estimate that the Przewalski's and domestic horse populations diverged 38-72 kyr BP, and find no evidence of recent admixture between the domestic horse breeds and the Przewalski's horse investigated. This supports the contention that Przewalski's horses represent the last surviving wild horse population(6). We find similar levels of genetic variation among Przewalski's and domestic populations, indicating that the former are genetically viable and worthy of conservation efforts. We also find evidence for continuous selection on the immune system and olfaction throughout horse evolution. Finally, we identify 29 genomic regions among horse breeds that deviate from neutrality and show low levels of genetic variation compared to the Przewalski's horse. Such regions could correspond to loci selected early during domestication.
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13. |
- Parducci, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Glacial Survival of Boreal Trees in Northern Scandinavia
- 2012
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 335:6072, s. 1083-1086
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is commonly believed that trees were absent in Scandinavia during the last glaciation and first recolonized the Scandinavian Peninsula with the retreat of its ice sheet some 9000 years ago. Here, we show the presence of a rare mitochondrial DNA haplotype of spruce that appears unique to Scandinavia and with its highest frequency to the west-an area believed to sustain ice-free refugia during most of the last ice age. We further show the survival of DNA from this haplotype in lake sediments and pollen of Trondelag in central Norway dating back similar to 10,300 years and chloroplast DNA of pine and spruce in lake sediments adjacent to the ice-free Andoya refugium in northwestern Norway as early as similar to 22,000 and 17,700 years ago, respectively. Our findings imply that conifer trees survived in ice-free refugia of Scandinavia during the last glaciation, challenging current views on survival and spread of trees as a response to climate changes.
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14. |
- Parducci, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Molecular- and pollen-based vegetation analysis in lake sediments from central Scandinavia
- 2013
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 22:13, s. 3511-3524
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant and animal biodiversity can be studied by obtaining DNA directly from the environment. This new approach in combination with the use of generic barcoding primers (metabarcoding) has been suggested as complementary or alternative to traditional biodiversity monitoring in ancient soil sediments. However, the extent to which metabarcoding truly reflects plant composition remains unclear, as does its power to identify species with no pollen or macrofossil evidence. Here, we compared pollen-based and metabarcoding approaches to explore the Holocene plant composition around two lakes in central Scandinavia. At one site, we also compared barcoding results with those obtained in earlier studies with species-specific primers. The pollen analyses revealed a larger number of taxa (46), of which the majority (78%) was not identified by metabarcoding. The metabarcoding identified 14 taxa (MTUs), but allowed identification to a lower taxonomical level. The combined analyses identified 52 taxa. The barcoding primers may favour amplification of certain taxa, as they did not detect taxa previously identified with species-specific primers. Taphonomy and selectiveness of the primers are likely the major factors influencing these results. We conclude that metabarcoding from lake sediments provides a complementary, but not an alternative, tool to pollen analysis for investigating past flora. In the absence of other fossil evidence, metabarcoding gives a local and important signal from the vegetation, but the resulting assemblages show limited capacity to detect all taxa, regardless of their abundance around the lake. We suggest that metabarcoding is followed by pollen analysis and the use of species-specific primers to provide the most comprehensive signal from the environment.
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15. |
- Parducci, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Response to Comment on "Glacial Survival of Boreal Trees in Northern Scandinavia"
- 2012
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 338:6108, s. 742-
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Birks et al. question our proposition that trees survived the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in Northern Scandinavia. We dispute their interpretation of our modern genetic data but agree that more work is required. Our field and laboratory procedures were robust; contamination is an unlikely explanation of our results. Their description of Endletvatn as ice-covered and inundated during the LGM is inconsistent with recent geological literature.
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16. |
- Schomacker, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Late Holocene and modern glacier changes in the marginal zone of Solheimajokull, South Iceland
- 2012
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In: Jökull: Journal of the Glaciological and Geological Societies of Iceland. - 0449-0576. ; 62, s. 111-130
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The forefield of the Solheimajokull outlet glacier, South Iceland, has a variety of glacial landforms and sediments that are products of late Holocene and modern glacier oscillations. Several sets of moraine ridges reflect past ice front positions and river-cut sedimentary sections provide information about past environments. Here, we describe sediments and landforms deposited during the late Holocene. Chronology is obtained by C-14 dating and cosmogenic exposure dating. The age determinations suggest that Solheimajokull had major advances in the late Holocene prior to the Little Ice Age, and more restricted advances during the Little Ice Age, after AD 1539. Oscillations of the Solheimajokull ice margin between 1938 and 2010 are documented by aerial photographs. Digital elevation models were produced from selected years in order to quantify ice thickness changes at the glacier margin over the last 50 years. The glacier margin thickened 70-100 m front 1960 to 1996 and then thinned 120-150 m between 1996 and 2010. In 2010, the glacier snout was 20-40 in thinner than in 1960. Additionally, the DEM time-series detect areas of erosion and deposition in the forefield.
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17. |
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18. |
- Schomacker, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Quantification of dead-ice melting in ice-cored moraines at the high-Arctic glacier Holmströmbreen, Svalbard
- 2008
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In: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 1502-3885 .- 0300-9483. ; 37:2, s. 211-225
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract in UndeterminedAn extensive dead-ice area has developed at the stagnant snout of the Holmstrombreen glacier, Svalbard, following its last advance during the Little Ice Age (LIA). The most common landform is ice-cored slopes hosting sediment gravity flows. Dead-ice melting is described and quantified through field studies and analyses of high-resolution, multi-temporal aerial photographs and QuickBird 2 satellite imagery. Field measurements of backwasting of ice-cored slopes indicate melting rates of 9.2 cm/day. Downwasting rates reveal a dead-ice surface lowering of 0.9 m/yr from 1984 to 2004. The volume of melted dead-ice in the marginal zone since the LIA is estimated at 2.72 km(3). Most prominently, dead-ice melting causes the growth of an ice-walled lake with an area increasing near-exponentially over the last 40 years. Despite the high-Arctic setting, dead-ice melting progresses with similar rates as in humid sub-polar climates, stressing that melt rates are governed by processes and topography rather than climate. We suggest that the permafrost and lack of glacier karst prevent meltwater percolation, thus maintaining a liquefied debris-cover where new dead-ice is continuously exposed to melting. As long as backwasting and mass movement processes prevent build-up of an insulating debris-cover, the de-icing continues despite the continuous permafrost.
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19. |
- Striberger, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Climate variability and glacial processes in eastern Iceland during the past 700 years based on varved lake sediments
- 2011
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In: Boreas. - : Wiley. - 1502-3885 .- 0300-9483. ; 40:1, s. 28-45
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Properties of varved sediments from Lake Logurinn in eastern Iceland and their link to climate and glacial processes of Eyjabakkajokull, an outlet glacier of the Vatnajokull icecap, were examined. A varve chronology, which covers the period AD 1262-2005, was constructed from visual observations, high-resolution images, X-ray density and geochemical properties determined from X-radiography and X-ray fluorescence scanning. Independent dating provided by 137Cs analysis and eight historical tephras verify the varve chronology. The thickness of dark-coloured seasonal laminae, formed mainly of coarser suspended matter from the non-glacial river Grimsa, is positively correlated (r=0.70) with winter precipitation, and our 743-year-long varve series indicates that precipitation was higher and more varied during the later part of the Little Ice Age. Light-coloured laminae thickness, controlled mainly by the amount of finer suspended matter from the glacial river Jokulsa i Fljotsdal, increased significantly during the AD 1972 surge of Eyjabakkajokull. As a consequence of the surge, the ice-dammed Lake Haoldulon formed and recurrently drained and delivered significant amounts of rock flour to Lake Logurinn. Based on these observations, and the recurring cyclic pattern of periods of thicker light-coloured laminae in the sediment record, we suggest that Eyjabakkajokull has surged repeatedly during the past 743 years, but with an increased frequency during the later part of the Little Ice Age.
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20. |
- Striberger, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Climatic control of the surge periodicity of an Icelandic outlet glacier
- 2011
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In: Journal of Quaternary Science. - : Wiley. - 1099-1417 .- 0267-8179. ; 26:6, s. 561-565
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Surging outlet glaciers are important in draining large ice caps, but the mechanisms controlling surge periodicities are poorly known. We investigated a sediment sequence from the glacier-fed Lake Logurinn in eastern Iceland, and our unique annually resolved data, based on sedimentary varves, imply that Eyjabakkajokull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajokull, began surging about 2200 cal a BP (before 1950 AD). Approximately 1700 cal a BP, the glacier started to surge at a uniform 34- to 38-year periodicity that prevailed until the coldest part of the Little Ice Age when the periodicity almost halved to 21-23 years. Since the late 1800s the surge periodicity of Eyjabakkajokull has returned to a longer period of 35-40 years. We suggest that surge periodicities of Eyjabakkajokull are forced by climatically driven mass balance changes, which may be a common forcing factor for similar surge-type outlet glaciers. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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21. |
- Svendsen, JI, et al.
(author)
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Late quaternary ice sheet history of northern Eurasia
- 2004
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 23:11-13, s. 1229-1271
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The maximum limits of the Eurasian ice sheets during four glaciations have been reconstructed: (1) the Late Saalian (> 140 ka), (2) the Early Weichselian (100-80 ka), (3) the Middle Weichselian (60-50 ka) and (4) the Late Weichselian (25-15 ka). The reconstructed ice limits are based on satellite data and aerial photographs combined with geological field investigations in Russia and Siberia, and with marine seismic- and sediment core data. The Barents-Kara Ice Sheet got progressively smaller during each glaciation, whereas the dimensions of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet increased. During the last Ice Age the Barents-Kara Ice Sheet attained its maximum size as early as 90-80,000 years ago when the ice front reached far onto the continent. A regrowth of the ice sheets occurred during the early Middle Weichselian, culminating about 60-50,000 years ago. During the Late Weichselian the Barents-Kara Ice Sheet did not reach the mainland east of the Kanin Peninsula, with the exception of the NW fringe of Taimyr. A numerical ice-sheet model, forced by global sea level and solar changes, was run through the full Weichselian glacial cycle. The modeling results are roughly compatible with the geological record of ice growth, but the model underpredicts the glaciations in the Eurasian Arctic during the Early and Middle Weichselian. One reason for this is that the climate in the Eurasian Arctic was not as dry then as during the Late Weichselian glacial maximum.
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22. |
- Søndergaard, Anne Sofie, et al.
(author)
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Early Holocene collapse of marine-based ice in northwest Greenland triggered by atmospheric warming
- 2020
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 239
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Knowledge about the future response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to global climate change, including ice sheet contributions to sea level rise, is important for understanding the impact of climate change on society. Such studies rely in ice sheet model predictions and improved chronological constraints of past ice sheet extents and paleoclimatic trends. Many regions in Greenland are well studied, but northwest Greenland and especially Melville Bay, being one of the most important regions in terms of dynamical ice mass loss, lack a firm chronology of Holocene ice marginal fluctuations. In this study, we present the first comprehensive chronology for Melville Bay spanning 73.1-75.7 degrees N based on 36 new Be-10 exposure ages of boulders and 39 new radiocarbon ages of marine molluscs in Little Ice Age moraines. From weighted mean Be-10 exposure ages, excluding 6 outliers, we find that the outer coast in Melville Bay was deglaciated similar to 11.6 +/- 0.3 ka (n = 15) and the ice margin reached its present-day position 40 km farther inland similar to 11.5 +/- 0.3 ka (n = 15). Our results suggest an interval of rapid ice-marginal retreat (i.e. collapse) of the northwest GrIS in Melville Bay, most likely triggered by rapidly rising atmospheric temperatures in early Holocene. Additionally, combining the comprehensive dataset of new radiocarbon ages with 26 radiocarbon ages from previous studies shows a restricted ice sheet extent from 9.1 +/- 0.2 to 0.4 +/- 0.1 cal ka BP, which coincides with increased sea surface temperatures. Our results highlight past ice sheet sensitivity towards climate changes in one of the least explored and most vulnerable regions of Greenland. Furthermore, comparing our new results to already existing ice sheet models (Huy3 and Huy3b) emphasize the proximal relevance of the Agassiz ice core temperature reconstruction for Melville Bay, which indicates the possible sensitivity of the ice sheet to a warming climate and place improved constraints on ice sheet simulations.
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