Glacial and climatic events in iceland reflecting regional north atlantic climatic shifts during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition

Abstract

This paper presents a summary of the evidence for glacial and climatic changes during the late Pleistocene-early Holocene transition in Iceland. The deglaciation during the Bølling-Allerød event was interrupted by a short-lived Older Dryas glacial advance. A biostratigraphical record from northern Iceland shows significant climate warming in late Allerød, when mean July temperatures were at least as warm as those of today. An abrupt cooling marked the beginning of the Younger Dryas event. It was characterised by a cold and stable polar climate and an extensive glaciation, before the postglacial warming of climate set in. The Icelandic paleoclimatic record is discussed in the light of climatic oscillations recorded from the GRIP ice-core, from the Greenland Inland Ice, and with reference to major shifts in the oceanic front systems, recorded in the Troll 8903 marine sediment core from the North Sea. The Vedde Ash gives a unique opportunity to address the chronological problems and correlate event stratigraphies of the different proxies. It is concluded that the Icelandic record of glacial and climatic changes during the late Pleistocene—early Holocene transition largely reflects the climatic development in the North Atlantic region.