Abstract
Continental records with absolute dates of the timing and progression of climatic conditions during the Last Interglacial (LIG) from northern Europe are rare. Speleothems from northern Europe have a large potential as archives for LIG environmental conditions since they were formed in sheltered environments and may be preserved beneath ice sheets. Here, we present δ13C and δ18O values from speleothem Kf-21, from Korallgrottan in Jämtland (northwest Sweden). Kf-21 is dated with five MC-ICPMS U-Th dates with errors smaller than ~1 ka. Kf-21 started forming at ~130.2 ka and the main growth phase with relatively constant growth rates lasted from 127.3 ka to 124.4 ka, after which calcite formation ceased. Both δ13C and δ18O show rapid shifts but also trends, with a range of values within their Holocene counterparts from Korallgrottan. Our results indicate an early onset of the LIG in northern Europe with ice-free conditions at ~130 ka. Higher growth rates combined with more negative δ18O values between ~127.3 and 126.8 ka, interpreted here as warmer and more humid conditions, as well as indications of a millennial-scale cold spell centered at 126.2 ka, resemble findings from speleothem records from other parts of Europe, highlighting that these were regional scale climatic patterns.
Highlights
The timing of the Last Interglacial’s (LIG) inception has been actively studied for decades (e.g., [1,2,3]), as well as, in connection with it, the role of different drivers of interglacial climate
Based on the coherent timing of the downturn in temperature and precipitation proxies, including robustly dated speleothems from northwest Sweden, west France and central Italy, we suggest that an abrupt climate event driven by a disturbance of
The new Kf-21 record from Korallgrottan, northwest Sweden, reveals that relatively warm climate conditions above the cave, allowing for the accumulation of soil, and vegetation growth prevailed already at around 130 ka, providing the first minimum absolute age determination for the timing of deglaciation of the central area of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet following the penultimate glaciation (MIS 6). It suggests that speleothem formation in northernmost Europe commenced well before
Summary
The timing of the Last Interglacial’s (LIG) inception has been actively studied for decades (e.g., [1,2,3]), as well as, in connection with it, the role of different drivers of interglacial climate. An underlying motivation is to understand the timing and progression of a warm period uninfluenced by human activity and to draw parallels between LIG with Holocene climates with regard to the strength of positive feedback mechanisms [7,8,9]. Quaternary 2019, 2, 29 the Last Ice Age [10,11] Their growth requires the presence of liquid water, i.e., carbonate formation is proof for temperatures above the freezing point in the cave environment. Speleothems are datable with high precision, with dating errors typically around a few hundred years for LIG samples, and the achievable temporal resolution can reach a few decades (e.g., [15]), enabling the detection and characterization of abrupt environmental events and transitions
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