Articles | Volume 17, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2165-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2165-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Oct 2021
Research article |
| 19 Oct 2021
| 19 Oct 2021
Climatic variations during the Holocene inferred from radiocarbon and stable carbon isotopes in speleothems from a high-alpine cave
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETHZ, Otto-Stern Weg 5, 8093 Zurich,
Switzerland
Geological Institute, ETHZ, Sonnegstrasse 5, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Jens Fohlmeister
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Telegrafenberg, 14473
Potsdam, Germany
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section “Climate Dynamics
and Landscape Development”, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Köpenicker Allee 120-130,
10318 Berlin, Germany
Melina Wertnik
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETHZ, Otto-Stern Weg 5, 8093 Zurich,
Switzerland
Geological Institute, ETHZ, Sonnegstrasse 5, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Lukas Wacker
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETHZ, Otto-Stern Weg 5, 8093 Zurich,
Switzerland
Bodo Hattendorf
Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, D-CHAB, ETHZ, Vladimir-Prelog Weg
1, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Timothy I. Eglinton
Geological Institute, ETHZ, Sonnegstrasse 5, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Christoph Spötl
Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52f, 6020
Innsbruck, Austria
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Alexander H. Jarosch, Paul Hofer, and Christoph Spötl
The Cryosphere, 18, 4811–4816, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4811-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4811-2024, 2024
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Mechanical damage to stalagmites is commonly observed in mid-latitude caves. In this study we investigate ice flow along the cave bed as a possible mechanism for stalagmite damage. Utilizing models which simulate forces created by ice flow, we study the structural integrity of different stalagmite geometries. Our results suggest that structural failure of stalagmites caused by ice flow is possible, albeit unlikely.
Giulia Zazzeri, Lukas Wacker, Negar Haghipour, Philip Gautchi, Thomas Laemmel, Sönke Szidat, and Heather Graven
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-123, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-123, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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Radiocarbon (14C) is an optimal tracer of methane (CH4) emissions, as 14C measurements enable distinguishing fossil from biogenic methane. However, these measurements are particularly challenging, mainly due to technical difficulties in the sampling procedure. With this work we made the sample extraction much simpler and time efficient, providing a new technology that can be used by any research group, with the goal of expanding 14C measurements for an improved understanding of methane sources.
Nikita Kaushal, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Micah Wilhelm, Khalil Azennoud, Janica C. Bühler, Kerstin Braun, Yassine Ait Brahim, Andy Baker, Yuval Burstyn, Laia Comas-Bru, Jens Fohlmeister, Yonaton Goldsmith, Sandy P. Harrison, István G. Hatvani, Kira Rehfeld, Magdalena Ritzau, Vanessa Skiba, Heather M. Stoll, József G. Szűcs, Péter Tanos, Pauline C. Treble, Vitor Azevedo, Jonathan L. Baker, Andrea Borsato, Sakonvan Chawchai, Andrea Columbu, Laura Endres, Jun Hu, Zoltán Kern, Alena Kimbrough, Koray Koç, Monika Markowska, Belen Martrat, Syed Masood Ahmad, Carole Nehme, Valdir Felipe Novello, Carlos Pérez-Mejías, Jiaoyang Ruan, Natasha Sekhon, Nitesh Sinha, Carol V. Tadros, Benjamin H. Tiger, Sophie Warken, Annabel Wolf, Haiwei Zhang, and SISAL Working Group members
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1933–1963, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1933-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1933-2024, 2024
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Speleothems are a popular, multi-proxy climate archive that provide regional to global insights into past hydroclimate trends with precise chronologies. We present an update to the SISAL (Speleothem Isotopes
Synthesis and AnaLysis) database, SISALv3, which, for the first time, contains speleothem trace element records, in addition to an update to the stable isotope records available in previous versions of the database, cumulatively providing data from 365 globally distributed sites.
Synthesis and AnaLysis) database, SISALv3, which, for the first time, contains speleothem trace element records, in addition to an update to the stable isotope records available in previous versions of the database, cumulatively providing data from 365 globally distributed sites.
Miguel Bartolomé, Ana Moreno, Carlos Sancho, Isabel Cacho, Heather Stoll, Negar Haghipour, Ánchel Belmonte, Christoph Spötl, John Hellstrom, R. Lawrence Edwards, and Hai Cheng
Clim. Past, 20, 467–494, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-467-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-467-2024, 2024
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Reconstructing past temperatures at regional scales during the Common Era is necessary to place the current warming in the context of natural climate variability. We present a climate reconstruction based on eight stalagmites from four caves in the Pyrenees, NE Spain. These stalagmites were dated precisely and analysed for their oxygen isotopes, which appear dominated by temperature changes. Solar variability and major volcanic eruptions are the two main drivers of observed climate variability.
Kirsi H. Keskitalo, Lisa Bröder, Tommaso Tesi, Paul J. Mann, Dirk J. Jong, Sergio Bulte Garcia, Anna Davydova, Sergei Davydov, Nikita Zimov, Negar Haghipour, Timothy I. Eglinton, and Jorien E. Vonk
Biogeosciences, 21, 357–379, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-357-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-357-2024, 2024
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Permafrost thaw releases organic carbon into waterways. Decomposition of this carbon pool emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, enhancing climate warming. We show that Arctic river carbon and water chemistry are different between the spring ice breakup and summer and that primary production is initiated in small Arctic rivers right after ice breakup, in contrast to in large rivers. This may have implications for fluvial carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas uptake and emission balance.
Sarah Paradis, Kai Nakajima, Tessa S. Van der Voort, Hannah Gies, Aline Wildberger, Thomas M. Blattmann, Lisa Bröder, and Timothy I. Eglinton
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 4105–4125, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4105-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4105-2023, 2023
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MOSAIC is a database of global organic carbon in marine sediments. This new version holds more than 21 000 sediment cores and includes new variables to interpret organic carbon distribution, such as sedimentological parameters and biomarker signatures. MOSAIC also stores data from specific sediment and molecular fractions to better understand organic carbon degradation and ageing. This database is continuously expanding, and version control will allow reproducible research outputs.
Anika Donner, Paul Töchterle, Christoph Spötl, Irka Hajdas, Xianglei Li, R. Lawrence Edwards, and Gina E. Moseley
Clim. Past, 19, 1607–1621, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1607-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1607-2023, 2023
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This study investigates the first finding of fine-grained cryogenic cave minerals in Greenland, a type of speleothem that has been notably difficult to date. We present a successful approach for determining the age of these minerals using 230Th / U disequilibrium and 14C dating. We relate the formation of the cryogenic cave minerals to a well-documented extreme weather event in 1889 CE. Additionally, we provide a detailed report on the mineralogical and isotopic composition of these minerals.
Charlotte Honiat, Gabriella Koltai, Yuri Dublyansky, R. Lawrence Edwards, Haiwei Zhang, Hai Cheng, and Christoph Spötl
Clim. Past, 19, 1177–1199, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1177-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1177-2023, 2023
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A look at the climate evolution during the last warm period may allow us to test ground for future climate conditions. We quantified the temperature evolution during the Last Interglacial using a tiny amount of water trapped in the crystals of precisely dated stalagmites in caves from the southeastern European Alps. Our record indicates temperatures up to 2 °C warmer than today and an unstable climate during the first half of the Last Interglacial.
Thibauld M. Béjard, Andrés S. Rigual-Hernández, José A. Flores, Javier P. Tarruella, Xavier Durrieu de Madron, Isabel Cacho, Neghar Haghipour, Aidan Hunter, and Francisco J. Sierro
Biogeosciences, 20, 1505–1528, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1505-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1505-2023, 2023
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The Mediterranean Sea is undergoing a rapid and unprecedented environmental change. Planktic foraminifera calcification is affected on different timescales. On seasonal and interannual scales, calcification trends differ according to the species and are linked mainly to sea surface temperatures and carbonate system parameters, while comparison with pre/post-industrial assemblages shows that all three species have reduced their calcification between 10 % to 35 % according to the species.
Miguel Bartolomé, Gérard Cazenave, Marc Luetscher, Christoph Spötl, Fernando Gázquez, Ánchel Belmonte, Alexandra V. Turchyn, Juan Ignacio López-Moreno, and Ana Moreno
The Cryosphere, 17, 477–497, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-477-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-477-2023, 2023
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In this work we study the microclimate and the geomorphological features of Devaux ice cave in the Central Pyrenees. The research is based on cave monitoring, geomorphology, and geochemical analyses. We infer two different thermal regimes. The cave is impacted by flooding in late winter/early spring when the main outlets freeze, damming the water inside. Rock temperatures below 0°C and the absence of drip water indicate frozen rock, while relict ice formations record past damming events.
Dirk Jong, Lisa Bröder, Tommaso Tesi, Kirsi H. Keskitalo, Nikita Zimov, Anna Davydova, Philip Pika, Negar Haghipour, Timothy I. Eglinton, and Jorien E. Vonk
Biogeosciences, 20, 271–294, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-271-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-271-2023, 2023
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With this study, we want to highlight the importance of studying both land and ocean together, and water and sediment together, as these systems function as a continuum, and determine how organic carbon derived from permafrost is broken down and its effect on global warming. Although on the one hand it appears that organic carbon is removed from sediments along the pathway of transport from river to ocean, it also appears to remain relatively ‘fresh’, despite this removal and its very old age.
Melissa Sophia Schwab, Hannah Gies, Chantal Valérie Freymond, Maarten Lupker, Negar Haghipour, and Timothy Ian Eglinton
Biogeosciences, 19, 5591–5616, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5591-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5591-2022, 2022
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The majority of river studies focus on headwater or floodplain systems, while often neglecting intermediate river segments. Our study on the subalpine Sihl River bridges the gap between streams and lowlands and demonstrates that moderately steep river segments are areas of significant instream alterations, modulating the export of organic carbon over short distances.
Paul Töchterle, Simon D. Steidle, R. Lawrence Edwards, Yuri Dublyansky, Christoph Spötl, Xianglei Li, John Gunn, and Gina E. Moseley
Geochronology, 4, 617–627, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-617-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-617-2022, 2022
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Cryogenic cave carbonates (CCCs) provide a marker for past permafrost conditions. Their formation age is determined by Th / U dating. However, samples can be contaminated with small amounts of Th at formation, which can cause inaccurate ages and require correction. We analysed multiple CCCs and found that varying degrees of contamination can cause an apparent spread of ages, when samples actually formed within distinguishable freezing events. A correction method using isochrons is presented.
Frédérique M. S. A. Kirkels, Huub M. Zwart, Muhammed O. Usman, Suning Hou, Camilo Ponton, Liviu Giosan, Timothy I. Eglinton, and Francien Peterse
Biogeosciences, 19, 3979–4010, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3979-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3979-2022, 2022
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Soil organic carbon (SOC) that is transferred to the ocean by rivers forms a long-term sink of atmospheric CO2 upon burial on the ocean floor. We here test if certain bacterial membrane lipids can be used to trace SOC through the monsoon-fed Godavari River basin in India. We find that these lipids trace the mobilisation and transport of SOC in the wet season but that these lipids are not transferred far into the sea. This suggests that the burial of SOC on the sea floor is limited here.
Maria Wind, Friedrich Obleitner, Tanguy Racine, and Christoph Spötl
The Cryosphere, 16, 3163–3179, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3163-2022, 2022
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We present a thorough analysis of the thermal conditions of a sag-type ice cave in the Austrian Alps using temperature measurements for the period 2008–2021. Apart from a long-term increasing temperature trend in all parts of the cave, we find strong interannual and spatial variations as well as a characteristic seasonal pattern. Increasing temperatures further led to a drastic decrease in cave ice. A first attempt to model ablation based on temperature shows promising results.
Janica C. Bühler, Josefine Axelsson, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Jens Fohlmeister, Allegra N. LeGrande, Madhavan Midhun, Jesper Sjolte, Martin Werner, Kei Yoshimura, and Kira Rehfeld
Clim. Past, 18, 1625–1654, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1625-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1625-2022, 2022
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We collected and standardized the output of five isotope-enabled simulations for the last millennium and assess differences and similarities to records from a global speleothem database. Modeled isotope variations mostly arise from temperature differences. While lower-resolution speleothems do not capture extreme changes to the extent of models, they show higher variability on multi-decadal timescales. As no model excels in all comparisons, we advise a multi-model approach where possible.
Jan Pfeiffer, Thomas Zieher, Jan Schmieder, Thom Bogaard, Martin Rutzinger, and Christoph Spötl
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2219–2237, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2219-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2219-2022, 2022
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The activity of slow-moving deep-seated landslides is commonly governed by pore pressure variations within the shear zone. Groundwater recharge as a consequence of precipitation therefore is a process regulating the activity of landslides. In this context, we present a highly automated geo-statistical approach to spatially assess groundwater recharge controlling the velocity of a deep-seated landslide in Tyrol, Austria.
Gabriella M. Weiss, Julie Lattaud, Marcel T. J. van der Meer, and Timothy I. Eglinton
Clim. Past, 18, 233–248, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-233-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-233-2022, 2022
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Here we study the elemental signatures of plant wax compounds as well as molecules from algae and bacteria to understand how water sources changed over the last 11 000 years in the northeastern part of Europe surrounding the Baltic Sea. Our results show diversity in plant and aquatic microorganisms following the melting of the large ice sheet that covered northern Europe as the regional climate continued to warm. A shift in water source from ice melt to rain also occurred around the same time.
Blanca Ausín, Negar Haghipour, Elena Bruni, and Timothy Eglinton
Biogeosciences, 19, 613–627, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-613-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-613-2022, 2022
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The preservation and distribution of alkenones – organic molecules produced by marine algae – in marine sediments allows us to reconstruct past variations in sea surface temperature, primary productivity and CO2. Here, we explore the impact of remobilization and lateral transport of sedimentary alkenones on their fate in marine sediments. We demonstrate the pervasive influence of these processes on alkenone-derived environmental signals, compromising the reliability of related paleorecords.
Kathleen A. Wendt, Xianglei Li, R. Lawrence Edwards, Hai Cheng, and Christoph Spötl
Clim. Past, 17, 1443–1454, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1443-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1443-2021, 2021
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In this study, we tested the upper limits of U–Th dating precision by analyzing three stalagmites from the Austrian Alps that have high U concentrations. The composite record spans the penultimate interglacial (MIS 7) with an average 2σ age uncertainty of 400 years. This unprecedented age control allows us to constrain the timing of temperature shifts in the Alps during MIS 7 while offering new insight into millennial-scale changes in the North Atlantic leading up to Terminations III and IIIa.
Franziska Slotta, Lukas Wacker, Frank Riedel, Karl-Uwe Heußner, Kai Hartmann, and Gerhard Helle
Biogeosciences, 18, 3539–3564, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3539-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3539-2021, 2021
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The African baobab is a challenging climate and environmental archive for its semi-arid habitat due to dating uncertainties and parenchyma-rich wood anatomy. Annually resolved F14C data of tree-ring cellulose (1941–2005) from a tree in Oman show the annual character of the baobab’s growth rings but were up to 8.8 % lower than expected for 1964–1967. Subseasonal δ13C and δ18O patterns reveal years with low average monsoon rain as well as heavy rainfall events from pre-monsoonal cyclones.
Jannik Martens, Evgeny Romankevich, Igor Semiletov, Birgit Wild, Bart van Dongen, Jorien Vonk, Tommaso Tesi, Natalia Shakhova, Oleg V. Dudarev, Denis Kosmach, Alexander Vetrov, Leopold Lobkovsky, Nikolay Belyaev, Robie W. Macdonald, Anna J. Pieńkowski, Timothy I. Eglinton, Negar Haghipour, Salve Dahle, Michael L. Carroll, Emmelie K. L. Åström, Jacqueline M. Grebmeier, Lee W. Cooper, Göran Possnert, and Örjan Gustafsson
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 2561–2572, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2561-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2561-2021, 2021
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The paper describes the establishment, structure and current status of the first Circum-Arctic Sediment CArbon DatabasE (CASCADE), which is a scientific effort to harmonize and curate all published and unpublished data of carbon, nitrogen, carbon isotopes, and terrigenous biomarkers in sediments of the Arctic Ocean in one database. CASCADE will enable a variety of studies of the Arctic carbon cycle and thus contribute to a better understanding of how climate change affects the Arctic.
Tessa Sophia van der Voort, Thomas Michael Blattmann, Muhammed Usman, Daniel Montluçon, Thomas Loeffler, Maria Luisa Tavagna, Nicolas Gruber, and Timothy Ian Eglinton
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 2135–2146, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2135-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2135-2021, 2021
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Ocean sediments form the largest and longest-term storage of organic carbon. Despite their global importance, information on these sediments is often scattered, incomplete or inaccessible. Here we present MOSAIC (Modern Ocean Sediment Archive and Inventory of Carbon, mosaic.ethz.ch), a (radio)carbon-centric database that addresses this information gap. This database provides a platform for assessing the transport, deposition and storage of carbon in ocean surface sediments.
Gabriella Koltai, Christoph Spötl, Alexander H. Jarosch, and Hai Cheng
Clim. Past, 17, 775–789, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-775-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-775-2021, 2021
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This paper utilises a novel palaeoclimate archive from caves, cryogenic cave carbonates, which allow for precisely constraining permafrost thawing events in the past. Our study provides new insights into the climate of the Younger Dryas (12 800 to 11 700 years BP) in mid-Europe from the perspective of a high-elevation cave sensitive to permafrost development. We quantify seasonal temperature and precipitation changes by using a heat conduction model.
Ove H. Meisel, Joshua F. Dean, Jorien E. Vonk, Lukas Wacker, Gert-Jan Reichart, and Han Dolman
Biogeosciences, 18, 2241–2258, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2241-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2241-2021, 2021
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Arctic permafrost lakes form thaw bulbs of unfrozen soil (taliks) beneath them where carbon degradation and greenhouse gas production are increased. We analyzed the stable carbon isotopes of Alaskan talik sediments and their porewater dissolved organic carbon and found that the top layers of these taliks are likely more actively degraded than the deeper layers. This in turn implies that these top layers are likely also more potent greenhouse gas producers than the underlying deeper layers.
Xianglei Li, Kathleen A. Wendt, Yuri Dublyansky, Gina E. Moseley, Christoph Spötl, and R. Lawrence Edwards
Geochronology, 3, 49–58, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-49-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-3-49-2021, 2021
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In this study, we built a statistical model to determine the initial δ234U in submerged calcite crusts that coat the walls of Devils Hole 2 (DH2) cave (Nevada, USA) and, using a 234U–238U dating method, extended the chronology of the calcite deposition beyond previous well-established 230Th ages and determined the oldest calcite deposited in this cave, a time marker for cave genesis. The novel method presented here may be used in future speleothem studies in similar hydrogeological settings.
Hannah Gies, Frank Hagedorn, Maarten Lupker, Daniel Montluçon, Negar Haghipour, Tessa Sophia van der Voort, and Timothy Ian Eglinton
Biogeosciences, 18, 189–205, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-189-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-189-2021, 2021
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Understanding controls on the persistence of organic matter in soils is essential to constrain its role in the carbon cycle. Emerging concepts suggest that the soil carbon pool is predominantly comprised of stabilized microbial residues. To test this hypothesis we isolated microbial membrane lipids from two Swiss soil profiles and measured their radiocarbon age. We find that the ages of these compounds are in the range of millenia and thus provide evidence for stabilized microbial mass in soils.
Michael Sarnthein, Kevin Küssner, Pieter M. Grootes, Blanca Ausin, Timothy Eglinton, Juan Muglia, Raimund Muscheler, and Gordon Schlolaut
Clim. Past, 16, 2547–2571, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2547-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2547-2020, 2020
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The dating technique of 14C plateau tuning uses U/Th-based model ages, refinements of the Lake Suigetsu age scale, and the link of surface ocean carbon to the globally mixed atmosphere as basis of age correlation. Our synthesis employs data of 20 sediment cores from the global ocean and offers a coherent picture of global ocean circulation evolving over glacial-to-deglacial times on semi-millennial scales to be compared with climate records stored in marine sediments, ice cores, and speleothems.
Laia Comas-Bru, Kira Rehfeld, Carla Roesch, Sahar Amirnezhad-Mozhdehi, Sandy P. Harrison, Kamolphat Atsawawaranunt, Syed Masood Ahmad, Yassine Ait Brahim, Andy Baker, Matthew Bosomworth, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, Yuval Burstyn, Andrea Columbu, Michael Deininger, Attila Demény, Bronwyn Dixon, Jens Fohlmeister, István Gábor Hatvani, Jun Hu, Nikita Kaushal, Zoltán Kern, Inga Labuhn, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Andrew Lorrey, Belen Martrat, Valdir Felipe Novello, Jessica Oster, Carlos Pérez-Mejías, Denis Scholz, Nick Scroxton, Nitesh Sinha, Brittany Marie Ward, Sophie Warken, Haiwei Zhang, and SISAL Working Group members
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2579–2606, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2579-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2579-2020, 2020
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This paper presents an updated version of the SISAL (Speleothem Isotope Synthesis and Analysis) database. This new version contains isotopic data from 691 speleothem records from 294 cave sites and new age–depth models, including their uncertainties, for 512 speleothems.
Lisa Claire Orme, Xavier Crosta, Arto Miettinen, Dmitry V. Divine, Katrine Husum, Elisabeth Isaksson, Lukas Wacker, Rahul Mohan, Olivier Ther, and Minoru Ikehara
Clim. Past, 16, 1451–1467, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1451-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1451-2020, 2020
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A record of past sea temperature in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean, spanning the last 14 200 years, has been developed by analysis of fossil diatoms in marine sediment. During the late deglaciation the reconstructed temperature changes were highly similar to those over Antarctica, most likely due to a reorganisation of global ocean and atmospheric circulation. During the last 11 600 years temperatures gradually cooled and became increasingly variable.
Leticia G. Luz, Thiago P. Santos, Timothy I. Eglinton, Daniel Montluçon, Blanca Ausin, Negar Haghipour, Silvia M. Sousa, Renata H. Nagai, and Renato S. Carreira
Clim. Past, 16, 1245–1261, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1245-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1245-2020, 2020
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Two sediment cores retrieved from the SE Brazilian continental margin were studied using multiple organic (alkenones) and inorganic (oxygen isotopes in carbonate shells and water) proxies to reconstruct the sea surface temperature (SST) over the last 50 000 years. The findings indicate the formation of strong thermal gradients in the region during the last climate transition, a feature that may become more frequent in the future scenario of global water circulation changes.
Jan Erik Arndt, Robert D. Larter, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Simon H. Sørli, Matthias Forwick, James A. Smith, and Lukas Wacker
The Cryosphere, 14, 2115–2135, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2115-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2115-2020, 2020
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We interpret landforms on the seabed and investigate sediment cores to improve our understanding of the past ice sheet development in this poorly understood part of Antarctica. Recent crack development of the Brunt ice shelf has raised concerns about its stability and the security of the British research station Halley. We describe ramp-shaped bedforms that likely represent ice shelf grounding and stabilization locations of the past that may reflect an analogue to the process going on now.
Katrine Elnegaard Hansen, Jacques Giraudeau, Lukas Wacker, Christof Pearce, and Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz
Clim. Past, 16, 1075–1095, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1075-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1075-2020, 2020
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In this study, we present RainNet, a deep convolutional neural network for radar-based precipitation nowcasting, which was trained to predict continuous precipitation intensities at a lead time of 5 min. RainNet significantly outperformed the benchmark models at all lead times up to 60 min. Yet an undesirable property of RainNet predictions is the level of spatial smoothing. Obviously, RainNet learned an optimal level of smoothing to produce a nowcast at 5 min lead time.
Johannes Hepp, Imke Kathrin Schäfer, Verena Lanny, Jörg Franke, Marcel Bliedtner, Kazimierz Rozanski, Bruno Glaser, Michael Zech, Timothy Ian Eglinton, and Roland Zech
Biogeosciences, 17, 741–756, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-741-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-741-2020, 2020
Haiwei Zhang, Hai Cheng, Yanjun Cai, Christoph Spötl, Ashish Sinha, Gayatri Kathayat, and Hanying Li
Clim. Past, 16, 211–225, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-211-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-211-2020, 2020
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Few studies have paid attention to the important effect of nonsummer monsoon (NSM) precipitation on the speleothem δ18O in SE China. We find the summer monsoon precipitation is equivalent to NSM precipitation amount in the area of spring persistent rain in SE China, and we discuss the relationships between seasonal precipitation amount, moisture source, δ18O, and ENSO. Characterizing the spatial differences in seasonal precipitation is key to interpreting the speleothem δ18O record.
Gina E. Moseley, Christoph Spötl, Susanne Brandstätter, Tobias Erhardt, Marc Luetscher, and R. Lawrence Edwards
Clim. Past, 16, 29–50, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-29-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-29-2020, 2020
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Abrupt climate change during the last ice age can be used to provide important insights into the timescales on which the climate is capable of changing and the mechanisms that drive those changes. In this study, we construct climate records for the period 60 to 120 ka using stalagmites that formed in caves along the northern rim of the European Alps and find good agreement with the timing of climate changes in Greenland and the Asian monsoon.
Mike Rogerson, Yuri Dublyansky, Dirk L. Hoffmann, Marc Luetscher, Paul Töchterle, and Christoph Spötl
Clim. Past, 15, 1757–1769, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1757-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1757-2019, 2019
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Rainfall in North Africa is known to vary through time and is likely to change as global climate warms. Here, we provide a new level of understanding about past rainfall in North Africa by looking at a stalagmite which formed within northeastern Libya between 67 and 30 thousand years ago. We find that at times more rain falls, and the associated moisture is mostly derived from the western Mediterranean during winter storms. Sometimes, water comes from the eastern Mediterranean.
Tessa Sophia van der Voort, Utsav Mannu, Frank Hagedorn, Cameron McIntyre, Lorenz Walthert, Patrick Schleppi, Negar Haghipour, and Timothy Ian Eglinton
Biogeosciences, 16, 3233–3246, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3233-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3233-2019, 2019
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The carbon stored in soils is the largest reservoir of organic carbon on land. In the context of greenhouse gas emissions and a changing climate, it is very important to understand how stable the carbon in the soil is and why. The deeper parts of the soil have often been overlooked even though they store a lot of carbon. In this paper, we discovered that although deep soil carbon is expected to be old and stable, there can be a significant young component that cycles much faster.
Hanying Li, Hai Cheng, Ashish Sinha, Gayatri Kathayat, Christoph Spötl, Aurèle Anquetil André, Arnaud Meunier, Jayant Biswas, Pengzhen Duan, Youfeng Ning, and Richard Lawrence Edwards
Clim. Past, 14, 1881–1891, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1881-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1881-2018, 2018
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The
4.2 ka eventbetween 4.2 and 3.9 ka has been widely discussed in the Northern Hemsiphere but less reported in the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we use speleothem records from Rodrigues in the southwestern Indian Ocean spanning from 6000 to 3000 years ago to investigate the regional hydro-climatic variability. Our records show no evidence for an unusual climate anomaly between 4.2 and 3.9 ka. Instead, it shows a multi-centennial drought between 3.9 and 3.5 ka.
Haiwei Zhang, Hai Cheng, Yanjun Cai, Christoph Spötl, Gayatri Kathayat, Ashish Sinha, R. Lawrence Edwards, and Liangcheng Tan
Clim. Past, 14, 1805–1817, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1805-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1805-2018, 2018
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The collapses of several Neolithic cultures in China are considered to have been associated with abrupt climate change during the 4.2 ka BP event; however, the hydroclimate of this event in China is still poorly known. Based on stalagmite records from monsoonal China, we found that north China was dry but south China was wet during this event. We propose that the rain belt remained longer at its southern position, giving rise to a pronounced humidity gradient between north and south China.
Julie Lattaud, Frédérique Kirkels, Francien Peterse, Chantal V. Freymond, Timothy I. Eglinton, Jens Hefter, Gesine Mollenhauer, Sergio Balzano, Laura Villanueva, Marcel T. J. van der Meer, Ellen C. Hopmans, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté, and Stefan Schouten
Biogeosciences, 15, 4147–4161, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4147-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4147-2018, 2018
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Long-chain diols (LCDs) are biomarkers that occur widespread in marine environments and also in lakes and rivers. In this study, we looked at the distribution of LCDs in three river systems (Godavari, Danube, and Rhine) in relation to season, precipitation, and temperature. We found out that the LCDs are likely being produced in calm areas of the river systems and that marine LCDs have a different distribution than riverine LCDs.
Muhammed Ojoshogu Usman, Frédérique Marie Sophie Anne Kirkels, Huub Michel Zwart, Sayak Basu, Camilo Ponton, Thomas Michael Blattmann, Michael Ploetze, Negar Haghipour, Cameron McIntyre, Francien Peterse, Maarten Lupker, Liviu Giosan, and Timothy Ian Eglinton
Biogeosciences, 15, 3357–3375, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-3357-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-3357-2018, 2018
Bryan C. Lougheed, Brett Metcalfe, Ulysses S. Ninnemann, and Lukas Wacker
Clim. Past, 14, 515–526, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-515-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-515-2018, 2018
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Palaeoclimate reconstructions from deep-sea sediment archives provide valuable insight into past rapid climate change, but only a small proportion of the ocean is suitable for such reconstructions using the existing state of the art, i.e. the age–depth approach. We use dual radiocarbon (14C) and stable isotope analysis on single foraminifera to bypass the long-standing age–depth approach, thus facilitating past ocean chemistry reconstructions from vast, previously untapped ocean areas.
Gabriella Koltai, Hai Cheng, and Christoph Spötl
Clim. Past, 14, 369–381, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-369-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-369-2018, 2018
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Here we present a multi-proxy study of flowstones in fractures of crystalline rocks with the aim of assessing the palaeoclimate significance of this new type of speleothem archive. Our results indicate a high degree of spatial heterogeneity, whereby changes in speleothem mineralogy and carbon isotope composition are likely governed by aquifer-internal processes. In contrast, the oxygen isotope composition reflects first-order climate variability.
Blanca Ausín, Diana Zúñiga, Jose A. Flores, Catarina Cavaleiro, María Froján, Nicolás Villacieros-Robineau, Fernando Alonso-Pérez, Belén Arbones, Celia Santos, Francisco de la Granda, Carmen G. Castro, Fátima Abrantes, Timothy I. Eglinton, and Emilia Salgueiro
Biogeosciences, 15, 245–262, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-245-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-245-2018, 2018
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A systematic investigation of the coccolithophore ecology was performed for the first time in the NW Iberian Margin to broaden our knowledge on the use of fossil coccoliths in marine sediment records to infer environmental conditions in the past. Coccolithophores proved to be significant primary producers and their abundance and distribution was favoured by warmer and nutrient–depleted waters during the upwelling regime, seasonally controlled offshore and influenced by coastal processes onshore.
Liviu Giosan, Camilo Ponton, Muhammed Usman, Jerzy Blusztajn, Dorian Q. Fuller, Valier Galy, Negar Haghipour, Joel E. Johnson, Cameron McIntyre, Lukas Wacker, and Timothy I. Eglinton
Earth Surf. Dynam., 5, 781–789, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-781-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-781-2017, 2017
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A reconstruction of erosion in the core monsoon zone of India provides unintuitive but fundamental insights: in contrast to semiarid regions that experience enhanced erosion during erratic rain events, the monsoon is annual and acts as a veritable
erosional pumpaccelerating when the land cover is minimal. The existence of such a monsoon erosional pump promises to reconcile conflicting views on the land–sea sediment and carbon transfer as well as the monsoon evolution on longer timescales.
Ulrike Dusek, Regina Hitzenberger, Anne Kasper-Giebl, Magdalena Kistler, Harro A. J. Meijer, Sönke Szidat, Lukas Wacker, Rupert Holzinger, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3233–3251, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3233-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3233-2017, 2017
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Measurements of the radioactive carbon isotope 14C allow to identify the sources of aerosol carbon. We report an extensive 14C source apportionment record in the Netherlands with samples covering a whole year. We discovered that long-range transport has a large influence on aerosol carbon levels. Fossil fuel carbon is least influenced by long-range transport and more regional in origin. Biomass burning seems to be a minor source of aerosol carbon in the Netherlands.
Imke K. Schäfer, Verena Lanny, Jörg Franke, Timothy I. Eglinton, Michael Zech, Barbora Vysloužilová, and Roland Zech
SOIL, 2, 551–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-551-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-551-2016, 2016
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For this study we systematically investigated the molecular pattern of leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect to assess their potential for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Our results show that leaf wax patterns depend on the type of vegetation. The vegetation signal is not only found in the litter; it can also be preserved to some degree in the topsoil.
Robert B. Sparkes, Ayça Doğrul Selver, Örjan Gustafsson, Igor P. Semiletov, Negar Haghipour, Lukas Wacker, Timothy I. Eglinton, Helen M. Talbot, and Bart E. van Dongen
The Cryosphere, 10, 2485–2500, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2485-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2485-2016, 2016
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The permafrost in eastern Siberia contains large amounts of carbon frozen in soils and sediments. Continuing global warming is thawing the permafrost and releasing carbon to the Arctic Ocean. We used pyrolysis-GCMS, a chemical fingerprinting technique, to study the types of carbon being deposited on the continental shelf. We found large amounts of permafrost-sourced carbon being deposited up to 200 km offshore.
Tessa Sophia van der Voort, Frank Hagedorn, Cameron McIntyre, Claudia Zell, Lorenz Walthert, Patrick Schleppi, Xiaojuan Feng, and Timothy Ian Eglinton
Biogeosciences, 13, 3427–3439, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3427-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3427-2016, 2016
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This study explores heterogeneity in 14C content of soil organic matter (SOM) at different spatial scales and across climatic and geologic gradients, which is essential for a better understanding of SOM stability. Results reveal that despite dissimilar environmental conditions, 14C contents in topsoils is relatively uniform and 14C trends with depth are similar. Plot-scale variability is significant. Statistical analysis found a significant correlation of 14C contents (0–5 cm) and temperature.
C. Spötl and H. Cheng
Clim. Past, 10, 1349–1362, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1349-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1349-2014, 2014
M. Luetscher, M. Borreguero, G. E. Moseley, C. Spötl, and R. L. Edwards
The Cryosphere, 7, 1073–1081, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1073-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1073-2013, 2013
V. E. Johnston, A. Borsato, C. Spötl, S. Frisia, and R. Miorandi
Clim. Past, 9, 99–118, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-99-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-99-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Proxy Use-Development-Validation | Archive: Terrestrial Archives | Timescale: Holocene
A continental reconstruction of hydroclimatic variability in South America during the past 2000 years
A Holocene history of climate, fire, landscape evolution, and human activity in northeastern Iceland
A global compilation of diatom silica oxygen isotope records from lake sediment – trends and implications for climate reconstruction
BrGDGT-based seasonal paleotemperature reconstruction for the last 15 000 years from a shallow lake on the eastern Tibetan Plateau
Reconstructing 15 000 years of southern France temperatures from coupled pollen and molecular (branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether) markers (Canroute, Massif Central)
Pollen-based reconstructions of Holocene climate trends in the eastern Mediterranean region
Spatiotemporal Intertropical Convergence Zone dynamics during the last 3 millennia in northeastern Brazil and related impacts in modern human history
Holocene climates of the Iberian Peninsula: pollen-based reconstructions of changes in the west–east gradient of temperature and moisture
Holocene climate and oceanography of the coastal Western United States and California Current System
Reconstructing Holocene temperatures in time and space using paleoclimate data assimilation
Long-term trends in diatom diversity and palaeoproductivity: a 16 000-year multidecadal record from Lake Baikal, southern Siberia
A 406-year non-growing-season precipitation reconstruction in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau
Winter–spring warming in the North Atlantic during the last 2000 years: evidence from southwest Iceland
Climate reconstructions based on GDGT and pollen surface datasets from Mongolia and Baikal area: calibrations and applicability to extremely cold–dry environments over the Late Holocene
Sampling density and date along with species selection influence spatial representation of tree-ring reconstructions
Changes in high-intensity precipitation on the northern Apennines (Italy) as revealed by multidisciplinary data over the last 9000 years
Neoglacial trends in diatom dynamics from a small alpine lake in the Qinling mountains of central China
Centennial- to millennial-scale monsoon changes since the last deglaciation linked to solar activities and North Atlantic cooling
Algal lipids reveal unprecedented warming rates in alpine areas of SW Europe during the industrial period
Reconstructing seasonality through stable-isotope and trace-element analyses of the Proserpine stalagmite, Han-sur-Lesse cave, Belgium: indications for climate-driven changes during the last 400 years
Two millennia of Main region (southern Germany) hydroclimate variability
Combining a pollen and macrofossil synthesis with climate simulations for spatial reconstructions of European climate using Bayesian filtering
Lignin oxidation products as a potential proxy for vegetation and environmental changes in speleothems and cave drip water – a first record from the Herbstlabyrinth, central Germany
How dry was the Younger Dryas? Evidence from a coupled δ2H–δ18O biomarker paleohygrometer applied to the Gemündener Maar sediments, Western Eifel, Germany
Siberian tree-ring and stable isotope proxies as indicators of temperature and moisture changes after major stratospheric volcanic eruptions
The 4.2 ka BP Event in the Mediterranean region: an overview
Technical note: Optimizing the utility of combined GPR, OSL, and Lidar (GOaL) to extract paleoenvironmental records and decipher shoreline evolution
The onset of neoglaciation in Iceland and the 4.2 ka event
Hydroclimatic variations in southeastern China during the 4.2 ka event reflected by stalagmite records
Fire, vegetation, and Holocene climate in a southeastern Tibetan lake: a multi-biomarker reconstruction from Paru Co
Climate impact on the development of Pre-Classic Maya civilisation
Synchronizing 10Be in two varved lake sediment records to IntCal13 14C during three grand solar minima
Technical note: Open-paleo-data implementation pilot – the PAGES 2k special issue
A chironomid-based record of temperature variability during the past 4000 years in northern China and its possible societal implications
Insights into Atlantic multidecadal variability using the Last Millennium Reanalysis framework
Three distinct Holocene intervals of stalagmite deposition and nondeposition revealed in NW Madagascar, and their paleoclimate implications
Examining bias in pollen-based quantitative climate reconstructions induced by human impact on vegetation in China
A dual-biomarker approach for quantification of changes in relative humidity from sedimentary lipid D∕H ratios
Pseudo-proxy tests of the analogue method to reconstruct spatially resolved global temperature during the Common Era
Development and evaluation of a system of proxy data assimilation for paleoclimate reconstruction
A chironomid-based mean July temperature inference model from the south-east margin of the Tibetan Plateau, China
Assessing performance and seasonal bias of pollen-based climate reconstructions in a perfect model world
Quantitative reconstruction of summer precipitation using a mid-Holocene δ13C common millet record from Guanzhong Basin, northern China
North Atlantic Oscillation controls on oxygen and hydrogen isotope gradients in winter precipitation across Europe; implications for palaeoclimate studies
A 368-year maximum temperature reconstruction based on tree-ring data in the northwestern Sichuan Plateau (NWSP), China
Inferring late-Holocene climate in the Ecuadorian Andes using a chironomid-based temperature inference model
A high-altitude peatland record of environmental changes in the NW Argentine Andes (24 ° S) over the last 2100 years
Technical note: The Linked Paleo Data framework – a common tongue for paleoclimatology
A Bayesian hierarchical model for reconstructing relative sea level: from raw data to rates of change
Inferring climate variability from nonlinear proxies: application to palaeo-ENSO studies
Mathurin A. Choblet, Janica C. Bühler, Valdir F. Novello, Nathan J. Steiger, and Kira Rehfeld
Clim. Past, 20, 2117–2141, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2117-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2117-2024, 2024
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Past climate reconstructions are essential for understanding climate mechanisms and drivers. Our focus is on the South American continent over the past 2000 years. We offer a new reconstruction that particularly utilizes data from speleothems, previously absent from continent-wide reconstructions. We use paleoclimate data assimilation, a reconstruction method that combines information from climate archives and climate simulations.
Nicolò Ardenghi, David J. Harning, Jonathan H. Raberg, Brooke R. Holman, Thorvaldur Thordarson, Áslaug Geirsdóttir, Gifford H. Miller, and Julio Sepúlveda
Clim. Past, 20, 1087–1123, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1087-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1087-2024, 2024
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Analysing a sediment record from Stóra Viðarvatn (NE Iceland), we reveal how natural factors and human activities influenced environmental changes (erosion, wildfires) over the last 11 000 years. We found increased fire activity around 3000 and 1500 years ago, predating human settlement, likely driven by natural factors like precipitation shifts. Declining summer temperatures increased erosion vulnerability, exacerbated by farming and animal husbandry, which in turn may have reduced wildfires.
Philip Meister, Anne Alexandre, Hannah Bailey, Philip Barker, Boris K. Biskaborn, Ellie Broadman, Rosine Cartier, Bernhard Chapligin, Martine Couapel, Jonathan R. Dean, Bernhard Diekmann, Poppy Harding, Andrew C. G. Henderson, Armand Hernandez, Ulrike Herzschuh, Svetlana S. Kostrova, Jack Lacey, Melanie J. Leng, Andreas Lücke, Anson W. Mackay, Eniko Katalin Magyari, Biljana Narancic, Cécile Porchier, Gunhild Rosqvist, Aldo Shemesh, Corinne Sonzogni, George E. A. Swann, Florence Sylvestre, and Hanno Meyer
Clim. Past, 20, 363–392, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-363-2024, 2024
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This paper presents the first comprehensive compilation of diatom oxygen isotope records in lake sediments (δ18OBSi), supported by lake basin parameters. We infer the spatial and temporal coverage of δ18OBSi records and discuss common hemispheric trends on centennial and millennial timescales. Key results are common patterns for hydrologically open lakes in Northern Hemisphere extratropical regions during the Holocene corresponding to known climatic epochs, i.e. the Holocene Thermal Maximum.
Xiaohuan Hou, Nannan Wang, Zhe Sun, Kan Yuan, Xianyong Cao, and Juzhi Hou
Clim. Past, 20, 335–348, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-335-2024, 2024
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We present an ice-free season temperature based on brGDGTs over last 15 kyr on the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). The result shows that Holocene Thermal Maximum occurred during 8–3.5 ka, which lags behind pollen-based temperature recorded in same core, indicating a significant seasonal bias between different proxies. We also investigated previously published brGDGT-based temperatures on the TP to determine the pattern of Holocene temperature changes and possible reasons for the diverse records.
Léa d'Oliveira, Lucas Dugerdil, Guillemette Ménot, Allowen Evin, Serge D. Muller, Salomé Ansanay-Alex, Julien Azuara, Colline Bonnet, Laurent Bremond, Mehmet Shah, and Odile Peyron
Clim. Past, 19, 2127–2156, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2127-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2127-2023, 2023
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In southern Europe, Holocene climate variability is characterized by a strong heterogeneity whose patterns are still poorly understood. Here, a multi-proxy approach (pollen and biomarkers) is applied to the Canroute sequence to reconstruct the climatic variation over the last 15 000 years in southern Massif Central, France. Results reveal that reconstructions of regional climate trends notably differ depending on proxies and sites, notably concerning the presence of a Holocene thermal maximum.
Esmeralda Cruz-Silva, Sandy P. Harrison, I. Colin Prentice, Elena Marinova, Patrick J. Bartlein, Hans Renssen, and Yurui Zhang
Clim. Past, 19, 2093–2108, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2093-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2093-2023, 2023
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We examined 71 pollen records (12.3 ka to present) in the eastern Mediterranean, reconstructing climate changes. Over 9000 years, winters gradually warmed due to orbital factors. Summer temperatures peaked at 4.5–5 ka, likely declining because of ice sheets. Moisture increased post-11 kyr, remaining high from 10–6 kyr before a slow decrease. Climate models face challenges in replicating moisture transport.
Giselle Utida, Francisco W. Cruz, Mathias Vuille, Angela Ampuero, Valdir F. Novello, Jelena Maksic, Gilvan Sampaio, Hai Cheng, Haiwei Zhang, Fabio Ramos Dias de Andrade, and R. Lawrence Edwards
Clim. Past, 19, 1975–1992, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1975-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1975-2023, 2023
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We reconstruct the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) behavior during the past 3000 years over northeastern Brazil based on oxygen stable isotopes of stalagmites. Paleoclimate changes were mainly forced by the tropical South Atlantic and tropical Pacific sea surface temperature variability. We describe an ITCZ zonal behavior active around 1100 CE and the period from 1500 to 1750 CE. The dataset also records historical droughts that affected modern human population in this area of Brazil.
Mengmeng Liu, Yicheng Shen, Penelope González-Sampériz, Graciela Gil-Romera, Cajo J. F. ter Braak, Iain Colin Prentice, and Sandy P. Harrison
Clim. Past, 19, 803–834, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-803-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-803-2023, 2023
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We reconstructed the Holocene climates in the Iberian Peninsula using a large pollen data set and found that the west–east moisture gradient was much flatter than today. We also found that the winter was much colder, which can be expected from the low winter insolation during the Holocene. However, summer temperature did not follow the trend of summer insolation, instead, it was strongly correlated with moisture.
Hannah M. Palmer, Veronica Padilla Vriesman, Caitlin M. Livsey, Carina R. Fish, and Tessa M. Hill
Clim. Past, 19, 199–232, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-199-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-199-2023, 2023
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To better understand and contextualize modern climate change, this systematic review synthesizes climate and oceanographic patterns in the Western United States and California Current System through the most recent 11.75 kyr. Through a literature review and coded analysis of past studies, we identify distinct environmental phases through time and linkages between marine and terrestrial systems. We explore climate change impacts on ecosystems and human–environment interactions.
Michael P. Erb, Nicholas P. McKay, Nathan Steiger, Sylvia Dee, Chris Hancock, Ruza F. Ivanovic, Lauren J. Gregoire, and Paul Valdes
Clim. Past, 18, 2599–2629, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2599-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2599-2022, 2022
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To look at climate over the past 12 000 years, we reconstruct spatial temperature using natural climate archives and information from model simulations. Our results show mild global mean warmth around 6000 years ago, which differs somewhat from past reconstructions. Undiagnosed seasonal biases in the data could explain some of the observed temperature change, but this still would not explain the large difference between many reconstructions and climate models over this period.
Anson W. Mackay, Vivian A. Felde, David W. Morley, Natalia Piotrowska, Patrick Rioual, Alistair W. R. Seddon, and George E. A. Swann
Clim. Past, 18, 363–380, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-363-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-363-2022, 2022
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We investigated the diversity of algae called diatoms in Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest lake in the world, because algae sit at the base of aquatic foodwebs and provide energy (in the form of primary production) for other organisms to use. Diatom diversity and primary production have been influenced by both long-term and abrupt climate change over the past 16 000 years. The shape of these responses appears to be time-period specific.
Maierdang Keyimu, Zongshan Li, Bojie Fu, Guohua Liu, Fanjiang Zeng, Weiliang Chen, Zexin Fan, Keyan Fang, Xiuchen Wu, and Xiaochun Wang
Clim. Past, 17, 2381–2392, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2381-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2381-2021, 2021
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We created a residual tree-ring width chronology and reconstructed non-growth-season precipitation (NGSP) over the period spanning 1600–2005 in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (SETP), China. Reconstruction model verification as well as similar variations of NGSP reconstruction and Palmer Drought Severity Index reconstructions from the surrounding region indicate the reliability of the present reconstruction. Our reconstruction is representative of NGSP variability of a large region in the SETP.
Nora Richter, James M. Russell, Johanna Garfinkel, and Yongsong Huang
Clim. Past, 17, 1363–1383, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1363-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1363-2021, 2021
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We present a reconstruction of winter–spring temperatures developed using organic proxies preserved in well-dated lake sediments from southwest Iceland to assess seasonal temperature changes in the North Atlantic region over the last 2000 years. The gradual warming trend observed in our record is likely influenced by sea surface temperatures, which are sensitive to changes in ocean circulation and seasonal insolation, during the winter and spring season.
Lucas Dugerdil, Sébastien Joannin, Odile Peyron, Isabelle Jouffroy-Bapicot, Boris Vannière, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Julia Unkelbach, Hermann Behling, and Guillemette Ménot
Clim. Past, 17, 1199–1226, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1199-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1199-2021, 2021
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Since the understanding of Holocene climate change appears to be a relevant issue for future climate change, the paleoclimate calibrations have to be improved. Here, surface samples from Mongolia and Siberia were analyzed to provide new calibrations for pollen and biomarker climate models. These calibrations appear to be more powerful than global calibrations, especially in an arid central Asian context. These calibrations will improve the understanding of monsoon Holocene oscillations.
Justin T. Maxwell, Grant L. Harley, Trevis J. Matheus, Brandon M. Strange, Kayla Van Aken, Tsun Fung Au, and Joshua C. Bregy
Clim. Past, 16, 1901–1916, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1901-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1901-2020, 2020
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We found that increasing the density of chronologies in the tree-ring network resulted in estimated soil moisture conditions that better matched the spatial variability of the values that were instrumentally recorded for droughts and, to a lesser extent, pluvials. By sampling trees in 2010 compared to 1980, the sensitivity of tree rings to soil moisture decreased in the southern portion of our region, where severe drought conditions have been absent over recent decades.
Stefano Segadelli, Federico Grazzini, Veronica Rossi, Margherita Aguzzi, Silvia Marvelli, Marco Marchesini, Alessandro Chelli, Roberto Francese, Maria Teresa De Nardo, and Sandro Nanni
Clim. Past, 16, 1547–1564, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1547-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1547-2020, 2020
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In an attempt to consolidate trends in the hydrological cycle induced by recent warming, we conducted a multidisciplinary study combining meteorological data, climate proxies from the literature, and original coring and pollen data acquired in an area that has been hit by record-breaking precipitation events. A detailed study of recent flash-flood deposits compared with fossil peat bog and lake sediments supports the expected increase in precipitation intensity during warm climatic phases.
Bo Cheng, Jennifer Adams, Jianhui Chen, Aifeng Zhou, Qing Zhang, and Anson W. Mackay
Clim. Past, 16, 543–554, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-543-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-543-2020, 2020
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The Qinling mountains in China are biodiversity rich. We studied one of the high-latitude lakes on Mount Taibai with a view to looking at how aquatic diversity responded to long-term changes in climate over the past 3500 years. We specifically looked at a group of single-celled algae called diatoms, as they are very sensitive to the environment. We found that these algae changed gradually over time, but they showed abrupt change during the period known as the Little Ice Age, about 400 years ago.
Xingxing Liu, Youbin Sun, Jef Vandenberghe, Peng Cheng, Xu Zhang, Evan J. Gowan, Gerrit Lohmann, and Zhisheng An
Clim. Past, 16, 315–324, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-315-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-315-2020, 2020
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The East Asian summer monsoon and winter monsoon are anticorrelated on a centennial timescale during 16–1 ka. The centennial monsoon variability is connected to changes of both solar activity and North Atlantic cooling events during the Early Holocene. Then, North Atlantic cooling became the major forcing of events during the Late Holocene. This work presents the great challenge and potential to understand the response of the monsoon system to global climate changes in the past and the future.
Antonio García-Alix, Jaime L. Toney, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Carmen Pérez-Martínez, Laura Jiménez, Marta Rodrigo-Gámiz, R. Scott Anderson, Jon Camuera, Francisco J. Jiménez-Espejo, Dhais Peña-Angulo, and María J. Ramos-Román
Clim. Past, 16, 245–263, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-245-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-245-2020, 2020
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In this paper we identify warming thresholds, rates, and forcing mechanisms from a novel alpine temperature record of the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Common Era in order to contextualize the modern warming and its potential impact on these vulnerable alpine ecosystems. To do so, we have developed and applied the first lacustrine temperature calibration in alpine lakes for algal compounds, called long-chain alkyl diols, which is a significant advance in biomarker paleothermometry.
Stef Vansteenberge, Niels J. de Winter, Matthias Sinnesael, Sophie Verheyden, Steven Goderis, Stijn J. M. Van Malderen, Frank Vanhaecke, and Philippe Claeys
Clim. Past, 16, 141–160, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-141-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-141-2020, 2020
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We measured the chemical composition (trace-element concentrations and stable-isotope ratios) of a Belgian speleothem that deposited annual layers. Our sub-annual resolution dataset allows us to investigate how the chemistry of this speleothem recorded changes in the environment and climate in northwestern Europe. We then use this information to reconstruct climate change during the 16th and 17th century on the seasonal scale and demonstrate that environmental change drives speleothem chemistry.
Alexander Land, Sabine Remmele, Jutta Hofmann, Daniel Reichle, Margaret Eppli, Christian Zang, Allan Buras, Sebastian Hein, and Reiner Zimmermann
Clim. Past, 15, 1677–1690, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1677-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1677-2019, 2019
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With the use of precipitation sensitive oak ring-width series from the Main River region (southern Germany) a 2000-year long hydroclimate reconstruction has been developed. The ring series are sensitive to the sum of rainfall from 26 February to 6 July. This region suffered from severe, long-lasting droughts in the past two millennia (e.g., AD 500/510s, 940s, 1170s, 1390s and 1160s). In the AD 550s, 1050s, 1310s and 1480s, multi-year periods with high rainfall hit the region.
Nils Weitzel, Andreas Hense, and Christian Ohlwein
Clim. Past, 15, 1275–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1275-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1275-2019, 2019
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A new method for probabilistic spatial reconstructions of past climate states is presented, which combines pollen data with a multi-model ensemble of climate simulations in a Bayesian framework. The approach is applied to reconstruct summer and winter temperature in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Our reconstructions account for multiple sources of uncertainty and are well suited for quantitative statistical analyses of the climate under different forcing conditions.
Inken Heidke, Denis Scholz, and Thorsten Hoffmann
Clim. Past, 15, 1025–1037, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1025-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1025-2019, 2019
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This is the first quantitative study of lignin biomarkers in stalagmites and cave drip water. Lignin is only produced by higher plants; therefore, its analysis can be used to reconstruct the vegetation of the past. We compared our lignin results with stable isotope and trace element records from the same samples and found correlations or similarities with P, Ba, U and Mg concentrations as well as δ13C values. These results can help to better interpret other vegetation proxies.
Johannes Hepp, Lorenz Wüthrich, Tobias Bromm, Marcel Bliedtner, Imke Kathrin Schäfer, Bruno Glaser, Kazimierz Rozanski, Frank Sirocko, Roland Zech, and Michael Zech
Clim. Past, 15, 713–733, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-713-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-713-2019, 2019
Olga V. Churakova (Sidorova), Marina V. Fonti, Matthias Saurer, Sébastien Guillet, Christophe Corona, Patrick Fonti, Vladimir S. Myglan, Alexander V. Kirdyanov, Oksana V. Naumova, Dmitriy V. Ovchinnikov, Alexander V. Shashkin, Irina P. Panyushkina, Ulf Büntgen, Malcolm K. Hughes, Eugene A. Vaganov, Rolf T. W. Siegwolf, and Markus Stoffel
Clim. Past, 15, 685–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-685-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-685-2019, 2019
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We present a unique dataset of multiple tree-ring and stable isotope parameters, representing temperature-sensitive Siberian ecotones, to assess climatic impacts after six large stratospheric volcanic eruptions at 535, 540, 1257, 1640, 1815, and 1991 CE. Besides the well-documented effects of temperature derived from tree-ring width and latewood density, stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree-ring cellulose provide information about moisture and sunshine duration changes after the events.
Monica Bini, Giovanni Zanchetta, Aurel Perşoiu, Rosine Cartier, Albert Català, Isabel Cacho, Jonathan R. Dean, Federico Di Rita, Russell N. Drysdale, Martin Finnè, Ilaria Isola, Bassem Jalali, Fabrizio Lirer, Donatella Magri, Alessia Masi, Leszek Marks, Anna Maria Mercuri, Odile Peyron, Laura Sadori, Marie-Alexandrine Sicre, Fabian Welc, Christoph Zielhofer, and Elodie Brisset
Clim. Past, 15, 555–577, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-555-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-555-2019, 2019
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The Mediterranean region has returned some of the clearest evidence of a climatically dry period occurring approximately 4200 years ago. We reviewed selected proxies to infer regional climate patterns between 4.3 and 3.8 ka. Temperature data suggest a cooling anomaly, even if this is not uniform, whereas winter was drier, along with dry summers. However, some exceptions to this prevail, where wetter condition seems to have persisted, suggesting regional heterogeneity.
Amy J. Dougherty, Jeong-Heon Choi, Chris S. M. Turney, and Anthony Dosseto
Clim. Past, 15, 389–404, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-389-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-389-2019, 2019
Áslaug Geirsdóttir, Gifford H. Miller, John T. Andrews, David J. Harning, Leif S. Anderson, Christopher Florian, Darren J. Larsen, and Thor Thordarson
Clim. Past, 15, 25–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-25-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-25-2019, 2019
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Compositing climate proxies in sediment from seven Iceland lakes documents abrupt summer cooling between 4.5 and 4.0 ka, statistically indistinguishable from 4.2 ka. Although the decline in summer insolation was an important factor, a combination of superposed changes in ocean circulation and explosive Icelandic volcanism were likely responsible for the abrupt perturbation recorded by our proxies. Lake and catchment proxies recovered to a colder equilibrium state following the perturbation.
Haiwei Zhang, Hai Cheng, Yanjun Cai, Christoph Spötl, Gayatri Kathayat, Ashish Sinha, R. Lawrence Edwards, and Liangcheng Tan
Clim. Past, 14, 1805–1817, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1805-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1805-2018, 2018
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The collapses of several Neolithic cultures in China are considered to have been associated with abrupt climate change during the 4.2 ka BP event; however, the hydroclimate of this event in China is still poorly known. Based on stalagmite records from monsoonal China, we found that north China was dry but south China was wet during this event. We propose that the rain belt remained longer at its southern position, giving rise to a pronounced humidity gradient between north and south China.
Alice Callegaro, Dario Battistel, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Felipe Matsubara Pereira, Torben Kirchgeorg, Maria del Carmen Villoslada Hidalgo, Broxton W. Bird, and Carlo Barbante
Clim. Past, 14, 1543–1563, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1543-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1543-2018, 2018
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Holocene fires and vegetation are reconstructed using different molecular markers with a single analytical method, applied for the first time to lake sediments from Tibet. The early Holocene shows oscillations between grasses and conifers, with smouldering fires represented by levoglucosan peaks, and high-temperature fires represented by PAHs. The lack of human FeSts excludes local human influence on fire and vegetation changes. Late Holocene displays an increase in local to regional combustion.
Kees Nooren, Wim Z. Hoek, Brian J. Dermody, Didier Galop, Sarah Metcalfe, Gerald Islebe, and Hans Middelkoop
Clim. Past, 14, 1253–1273, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1253-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1253-2018, 2018
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We present two new palaeoclimatic records for the central Maya lowlands, adding valuable new insights to the impact of climate change on the development of Maya civilisation. Lake Tuspan's diatom record is indicative of precipitation changes at a local scale, while a beach ridge elevation record from the world's largest late Holocene beach ridge plain provides a regional picture.
Markus Czymzik, Raimund Muscheler, Florian Adolphi, Florian Mekhaldi, Nadine Dräger, Florian Ott, Michał Słowinski, Mirosław Błaszkiewicz, Ala Aldahan, Göran Possnert, and Achim Brauer
Clim. Past, 14, 687–696, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-687-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-687-2018, 2018
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Our results provide a proof of concept for facilitating 10Be in varved lake sediments as a novel synchronization tool required for investigating leads and lags of proxy responses to climate variability. They also point to some limitations of 10Be in these archives mainly connected to in-lake sediment resuspension processes.
Darrell S. Kaufman and PAGES 2k special-issue editorial team
Clim. Past, 14, 593–600, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-593-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-593-2018, 2018
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We explain the procedure used to attain a high and consistent level of data stewardship across a special issue of the journal Climate of the Past. We discuss the challenges related to (1) determining which data are essential for public archival, (2) using data generated by others, and (3) understanding data citations. We anticipate that open-data sharing in paleo sciences will accelerate as the advantages become more evident and as practices that reduce data loss become the accepted convention.
Haipeng Wang, Jianhui Chen, Shengda Zhang, David D. Zhang, Zongli Wang, Qinghai Xu, Shengqian Chen, Shijin Wang, Shichang Kang, and Fahu Chen
Clim. Past, 14, 383–396, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-383-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-383-2018, 2018
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The chironomid-inferred temperature record from Gonghai Lake exhibits a stepwise decreasing trend since 4 ka. A cold event in the Era of Disunity, the Sui-Tang Warm Period, the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age can all be recognized in our record, as well as in many other temperature reconstructions in China. Local wars in Shanxi Province, documented in the historical literature during the past 2700 years, are statistically significantly correlated with changes in temperature.
Hansi K. A. Singh, Gregory J. Hakim, Robert Tardif, Julien Emile-Geay, and David C. Noone
Clim. Past, 14, 157–174, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-157-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-157-2018, 2018
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The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is prominent in the climate system. We study the AMO over the last 2000 years using a novel proxy framework, the Last Millennium Reanalysis. We find that the AMO is linked to continental warming, Arctic sea ice retreat, and an Atlantic precipitation shift. Low clouds decrease globally. We find no distinct multidecadal spectral peak in the AMO over the last 2 millennia, suggesting that human activities may have enhanced the AMO in the modern era.
Ny Riavo Gilbertinie Voarintsoa, Loren Bruce Railsback, George Albert Brook, Lixin Wang, Gayatri Kathayat, Hai Cheng, Xianglei Li, Richard Lawrence Edwards, Amos Fety Michel Rakotondrazafy, and Marie Olga Madison Razanatseheno
Clim. Past, 13, 1771–1790, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1771-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1771-2017, 2017
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This research has been an investigation of two stalagmites from two caves in NW Madagascar to reconstruct the region's paleoenvironmental changes, and to understand the linkage of such changes to the dynamics of the ITCZ. Stable isotopes, mineralogy, and petrography suggest wetter climate conditions than today during the early and late Holocene, when the mean ITCZ was south, and drier during the mid-Holocene when the ITCZ was north.
Wei Ding, Qinghai Xu, and Pavel E. Tarasov
Clim. Past, 13, 1285–1300, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1285-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1285-2017, 2017
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Pollen-based past climate reconstruction for regions with long-term human occupation is always controversial. We examined the bias induced by the human impact on vegetation in a climate reconstruction for temperate eastern China by comparing the deviations in the reconstructed results for a fossil record based on two pollen–climate calibration sets. Climatic signals in pollen assemblages are indeed obscured by human impact; however, the extent of the bias could be assessed.
Oliver Rach, Ansgar Kahmen, Achim Brauer, and Dirk Sachse
Clim. Past, 13, 741–757, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-741-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-741-2017, 2017
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Currently, reconstructions of past changes in the hydrological cycle are usually qualitative, which is a major drawback for testing the accuracy of models in predicting future responses. Here we present a proof of concept of a novel approach to deriving quantitative paleohydrological data, i.e. changes in relative humidity, from lacustrine sediment archives, employing a combination of organic geochemical methods and plant physiological modeling.
Juan José Gómez-Navarro, Eduardo Zorita, Christoph C. Raible, and Raphael Neukom
Clim. Past, 13, 629–648, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-629-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-629-2017, 2017
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This contribution aims at assessing to what extent the analogue method, a classic technique used in other branches of meteorology and climatology, can be used to perform gridded reconstructions of annual temperature based on the limited information from available but un-calibrated proxies spread across different locations of the world. We conclude that it is indeed possible, albeit with certain limitations that render the method comparable to more classic techniques.
Atsushi Okazaki and Kei Yoshimura
Clim. Past, 13, 379–393, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-379-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-379-2017, 2017
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Data assimilation has been successfully applied in the field of paleoclimatology to reconstruct past climate. However, data reconstructed from proxies have been assimilated, as opposed to the actual proxy values, which prevented full utilization of the information recorded in the proxies. This study propose a new data assimilation system in which actual proxy data are directly assimilated.
Enlou Zhang, Jie Chang, Yanmin Cao, Hongqu Tang, Pete Langdon, James Shulmeister, Rong Wang, Xiangdong Yang, and Ji Shen
Clim. Past, 13, 185–199, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-185-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-185-2017, 2017
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This paper reports the first development of sub-fossil chironomid-based mean July temperature transfer functions from China. The transfer functions yield reliable reconstructions that are comparable to the instrumental record. The application of this new tool will provide long-term quantitative palaeoclimate estimates from south-western China which is a critical region for understanding the dynamic and evolution of the Indian Ocean south-west Monsoon system.
Kira Rehfeld, Mathias Trachsel, Richard J. Telford, and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 12, 2255–2270, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2255-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2255-2016, 2016
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Indirect evidence on past climate comes from the former composition of ecological communities such as plants, preserved as pollen grains in sediments of lakes. Transfer functions convert relative counts of species to a climatologically meaningful scale (e.g. annual mean temperature in degrees C). We show that the fundamental assumptions in the algorithms impact the reconstruction results in he idealized model world, in particular if the reconstructed variables were not ecologically relevant.
Qing Yang, Xiaoqiang Li, Xinying Zhou, Keliang Zhao, and Nan Sun
Clim. Past, 12, 2229–2240, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2229-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2229-2016, 2016
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The fossilized seeds of common millet are suited to the production of quantitative Holocene precipitation reconstructions. Our reconstructed results showed that summer precipitation from 7.7–3.4 ka BP was ~ 50 mm, or 17 % higher than present levels. Maximal mean summer precipitation peaked at 414 mm during 6.1–5.5 ka BP, ~ 109 mm, or 36 % higher than today, indicating the EASM peaked at this time. This work can provide a new proxy for further research into continuous paleoprecipitation sequences.
Michael Deininger, Martin Werner, and Frank McDermott
Clim. Past, 12, 2127–2143, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2127-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2127-2016, 2016
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This study investigates the NAO (Northern Atlantic Oscillation)-related mechanisms that control winter precipitation stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope gradients across Europe. The results show that past longitudinal stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope gradients in European rainfall stored in palaeoclimate archives (e.g. speleothems) can be used to infer the past winter NAO modes from its variations.
Liangjun Zhu, Yuandong Zhang, Zongshan Li, Binde Guo, and Xiaochun Wang
Clim. Past, 12, 1485–1498, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1485-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1485-2016, 2016
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We present a 368-year late summer maximum temperature reconstruction based on spruce tree rings. It touches on the critical topic of climate reconstruction in the eastern edge of Tibetan Plateau and represents an extension and enhancement of climate records for this area. The Little Ice Age was well represented and 20th century warming was not obvious in this reconstruction. This temperature variation may be affected by global land–sea atmospheric circulation as well as solar and volcanic forcing.
Frazer Matthews-Bird, Stephen J. Brooks, Philip B. Holden, Encarni Montoya, and William D. Gosling
Clim. Past, 12, 1263–1280, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1263-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1263-2016, 2016
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Chironomidae are a family of two-winged aquatic fly of the order Diptera. The family is species rich (> 5000 described species) and extremely sensitive to environmental change, particualy temperature. Across the Northern Hemisphere, chironomids have been widely used as paleotemperature proxies as the chitinous remains of the insect are readily preserved in lake sediments. This is the first study using chironomids as paleotemperature proxies in tropical South America.
Karsten Schittek, Sebastian T. Kock, Andreas Lücke, Jonathan Hense, Christian Ohlendorf, Julio J. Kulemeyer, Liliana C. Lupo, and Frank Schäbitz
Clim. Past, 12, 1165–1180, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1165-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1165-2016, 2016
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Cushion peatlands are versatile climate archives for the study of past environmental changes. We present the environmental history for the last 2100 years of Cerro Tuzgle peatland, which is located in the NW Argentine Puna. The results reflect prominent late Holocene climate anomalies and provide evidence that Northern Hemisphere climate oscillations were extensive. Volcanic forcing at the beginning of the 19th century seems to have had an impact on climatic settings in the Central Andes
Nicholas P. McKay and Julien Emile-Geay
Clim. Past, 12, 1093–1100, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1093-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1093-2016, 2016
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The lack of accepted data formats and data standards in paleoclimatology is a growing problem that slows progress in the field. Here, we propose a preliminary data standard for paleoclimate data, general enough to accommodate all the proxy and measurement types encountered in a large international collaboration (PAGES 2k). We also introduce a data format for such structured data (Linked Paleo Data, or LiPD), leveraging recent advances in knowledge representation (Linked Open Data).
Niamh Cahill, Andrew C. Kemp, Benjamin P. Horton, and Andrew C. Parnell
Clim. Past, 12, 525–542, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-525-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-525-2016, 2016
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We propose a Bayesian model for the reconstruction and analysis of former sea levels. The model provides a single, unifying framework for reconstructing and analyzing sea level through time with fully quantified uncertainty. We illustrate our approach using a case study of Common Era (last 2000 years) sea levels from New Jersey.
J. Emile-Geay and M. Tingley
Clim. Past, 12, 31–50, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-31-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-31-2016, 2016
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Ignoring nonlinearity in palaeoclimate records (e.g. continental run-off proxies) runs the risk of severely overstating changes in climate variability. Even with the correct model and parameters, some information is irretrievably lost by such proxies. However, we find that a simple empirical transform can do much to improve the situation, and makes them amenable to classical analyses. Doing so on two palaeo-ENSO records markedly changes some of the quantitative inferences made from such records.
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Short summary
Stalagmites are valuable climate archives, but unlike other proxies the use of stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) is still difficult. A stalagmite from the Austrian Alps was analyzed using a new laser ablation method for fast radiocarbon (14C) analysis. This allowed 14C and δ13C to be combined, showing that besides soil and bedrock a third source is contributing during periods of warm, wet climate: old organic matter.
Stalagmites are valuable climate archives, but unlike other proxies the use of stable carbon...
