Younger Dryas pollen records from central and southern Yakutia

Abstract

Analysis of palynmorphic successions from central and southern Yakutia has resulted in enhanced understanding of the effects of the Younger Dryas event. During the Allerod, central Yakutia was marked by steppe conditions, with Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae and other taxa, in addition to shrubs Betula nana and B. fructicosa. River floodplain areas supported larch-birch forests. The transition to the Younger Dryas environment, indicated by increases in steppe and tundra elements and decreases in arboreal taxa, was marked by decreases in mean summer temperature by ±3°C, and drier conditions. Re-colonization of central Yakutia by larch-birch woodlands and “yernik” steppe assemblages dominated by shrub birch marked the conclusion of the Younger Dryas. In southern Yakutia, the Allerod larch-alder-shrub birch vegetation assemblages were replaced by steppe assemblages dominated by bunchgrass and forbs during the Younger Dryas. Subsequently, alder re-colonized southern Yakutia, ca. 10,200–10,300 BP.