Articles | Volume 21, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-795-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-795-2025
Research article
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11 Apr 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 11 Apr 2025

High-resolution Holocene record based on detailed tephrochronology from Torfdalsvatn, north Iceland, reveals natural and anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial and aquatic environments

David J. Harning, Christopher R. Florian, Áslaug Geirsdóttir, Thor Thordarson, Gifford H. Miller, Yarrow Axford, and Sædís Ólafsdóttir

Data sets

NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Torfdalsvatn, Iceland Geochemistry and Magnetic Susceptibility Data during the Holocene David J. Harning et al. https://doi.org/10.25921/nhdj-bp74

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Co-editor-in-chief
This manuscript deserves to be highlighted as it presents an incredible dataset, analysed using state-of-the-art techniques and summarised in a clear and readable form. As the reviewers pointed out, the content could easily have resulted in two articles (or even more...) - a practice that is sometimes done to increase ‘academic output’. However, the authors have chosen to provide a comprehensive overview and interpretation of the results. In addition, the site studied is of great importance for Icelandic studies of Holocene climate change.
Short summary
Questions remain about the past climate in Iceland, including the relative impacts of natural and human factors on vegetation change and soil erosion. We present a sub-centennial-scale record of landscape and algal productivity from a lake in north Iceland. Along with a high-resolution tephra age constraint that covers the last ∼ 12 000 years, our record provides an environmental template for the region and novel insight into the sensitivity of the Icelandic ecosystem to natural and human impacts.
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