A novel geochemical approach to paleorecords of dust deposition and effective humidity: 8500 years of peat accumulation at Store Mosse (the “Great Bog”), Sweden

Abstract

Both bog surface wetness and atmospheric dust deposition are intricately linked to changes in the hydrological cycle and pairing these types of records at the same site provides complementary information. Here a peat core from Store Mosse in southern Sweden covering the last 8500 years was used to make a high-resolution paleoclimate reconstruction based on a combination of bog development, colourimetric humification and inorganic geochemistry data. The coupling of Principal Component Analysis with changepoint modelling allowed for precise linking of changes in bog surface wetness and dust deposition records.A long-term trend towards warm (and possibly wet) conditions starts ca 8150 cal yr BP and culminates with the most pronounced conditions from 6900 to 6600 cal yr BP. The most significant arid period at Store Mosse occurred between 6500 and 5600 cal yr BP during which dust deposition was significantly higher. Wetter conditions dominate from 5500 to 4980 cal yr BP as the transition from the Hypsithermal and into the Neoglacial is made. After a shift to drier conditions, humification enters a more stable period that lasts from 4525 until 3200 cal yr BP. It is during this time that the first possible anthropogenic dust signals occur at ca 4200 cal yr BP. From 3200 cal yr BP to present humification generally shows a long-term decline moving towards wetter conditions. The main exceptions are during the transition from the Neoglacial to Roman Warm Period which is registered as a significantly wetter period and two dry periods recorded 2365 to 2155 cal yr BP and 1275–1105 cal yr BP. In general, the observed changes agree well with regional records of effective humidity and temperature. The high temporal resolution of the Store Mosse record reveals that palaeoclimatic change over the last 8500 years in southern Sweden has had a complex and variable structure.