A lateglacial climatic reversion in hokkaido, Northeast Asia, inferred from the Larix pollen record

Abstract

At present, Larix gmelini is a main component of taiga developed in north Sakhalin, northeast China and east Siberia. During the interval from ∼11.8 to 12.4 ka BP, pollen assemblages from north Hokkaido, Japan, are dominated by Larix. Pollen assemblages of this Lateglacial climatic reversal, known as the “Kenbuchi Stadial”, are similar to pollen assemblages from the Last Glacial Maximum in north Hokkaido. Vegetation of Hokkaido inferred from these pollen assemblages — open taiga composed of Larix gmelini, Pinus pumila and Picea jezoensis and/or Picea glehnii — may have been like that of north Sakhalin today. Comparison of these fossil pollen assemblages from Hokkaido with pollen assemblages from modern surface samples in Sakhalin suggests that ∼ 11.8 to 12.4 ka BP, temperatures relative to today were at least 9°C lower in January and 7°C lower in August, and that annual precipitation was at least 735 mm lower than present.