Modest summer temperature variability during DO cycles in western Europe

Ampel, LindaStockholms universitet,Institutionen för naturgeografi och kvartärgeologi (INK),Kvartärgeologi (author)

Abrupt climatic shifts between cold stadials and warm interstadials, termed Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) cycles, occurred frequently during the Last Glacial. Their imprint is registered in paleorecords worldwide, but little is known about the actual temperature change both annually and seasonally in different regions. A recent hypothesis based on modelling studies, suggests that DO cycles were characterised by distinct changes in seasonality in the Northern Hemisphere. The largest temperature change between stadial and interstadial phases would have occurred during the winter and spring seasons, whereas the summer seasons would have experienced a rather muted temperature shift. Here we present a temporally high-resolved reconstruction of summer temperatures for eastern France during a sequence of DO cycles between 36 and 18 thousand years before present. The reconstruction is based on fossil diatom assemblages from the paleolake Les Echets and indicates summer temperature changes of ca 0.5–2 °C between stadials and interstadials. This study is the first to reconstruct temperatures with a sufficient time resolution to investigate DO climate variability in continental Europe. It is therefore also the first proxy record that can test and support the hypothesis that temperature changes during DO cycles were modest during the summer season.

Bigler, ChristianUmeå universitet,Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap,Arcum(Swepub:umu)chbi0001 (author)
Wohlfarth, BarbaraStockholms universitet,Institutionen för geologiska vetenskaper(Swepub:su)wohlf (author)
Risberg, JanStockholms universitet,Institutionen för naturgeografi och kvartärgeologi (INK),Kvartärgeologi(Swepub:su)risbe (author)
Lotter, André F.Institute of Environmental Biology, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht University (author)
Veres, Daniel“Emil Racovita” Speleological Institute, Clinicilor 5, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania (author)
Stockholms universitetInstitutionen för naturgeografi och kvartärgeologi (INK) (creator_code:org_t)

By the author/editor: Ampel, Linda; Bigler, Christia ...; Wohlfarth, Barba ...; Risberg, Jan; Lotter, André F.; Veres, Daniel

About the subject

NATURAL SCIENCES: NATURAL SCIENCES; and Earth and Relate ...; and Climate Research

Kungliga biblioteket hanterar dina personuppgifter i enlighet med EU:s dataskyddsförordning (2018), GDPR. Läs mer om hur det funkar här.
Så här hanterar KB dina uppgifter vid användning av denna tjänst.