Late Holocene climate variability in central Korea indicated by vegetation, geochemistry, and fire records of the Yongneup moor

Abstract

In many cases, proxy-based palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in East Asia have shown mixed signatures of summer temperature and precipitation, driven by the predominant regional impact of the East Asian Summer Monsoon. Although these studies have contributed significantly to understanding the past variability in East Asian summer climate during the Holocene period, relatively little has been learned about climatic conditions in other seasons, such as winter and spring, and variations in the individual climatic elements of temperature and precipitation. To address these issues, in this study, we present a reconstruction of a 3000-year fire and vegetation history of the Yongneup moor, central Korea, during the late Holocene based on multi-proxy analyses of pollen, geochemistry, and macrocharcoal. Our data identify two fire episodes at Yongneup during ca. 2900–2700 and 2400–2300 cal yr B.P., possibly caused amid deteriorated climatic conditions not only in summer but also in winter–spring during contemporaneous grand solar minima. During the last two millennia, Yongneup likely experienced cold weather conditions at ca. 1420–1230 and 1000–590 cal yr B.P. and warm conditions at ca. 1850–1420 and 1230–1000 cal yr B.P., as well as wet conditions during ca. 1530–1400, 1220–1000, and 890–700 cal yr B.P. and drier conditions during ca. 1750–1530, 1400–1220, 1000–890, and 700–530 cal yr B.P. The dry periods were coincident with an increased El Niño–Southern Oscillation in the Tropical Pacific Ocean, which supports its role in controlling the hydroclimate of the Korean Peninsula. Our results also emphasise the potential value of further research on the “Millennium Eruption” of Mount Paektu/Changbaishan (946 CE), whose climatic consequences in the East Asian region remain poorly understood. • Late Holocene climate variability in Korea reconstructed from the Yongneup moor • Fire events coincident with solar minima at ca. 2900–2700 and 2400–2300 cal yr B.P. • Potential impact of climate deterioration on Mumun (Bronze Age) societies in Korea • Fluctuations in cold–warm and dry-wet conditions during the last two millennia • Implication on the volcanic impact of the “Millennium Eruption” of Mount Paektu