Cal Years Research Articles

Climate variability over the last 2000 years inferred from glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) in alkaline Nalin Lake of Inner Mongolia, China

Nalin Lake from western Inner Mongolia of China is a shallow oxbow lake with a laminated sedimentary record. The distributions of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers in lacustrine sediment core collected in Nalin Lake in June 2011 were examined in combination with other paleoclimate proxies. The cyclization index of branched tetraethers (CBTs)-inferred pH values changed primarily between 7.67 and 8.63. These changes were synchronous with those from the actual measurement and previous studies. The newly proposed CBT/methylation index of branched tetraethers (MBTs) palaeothermometer was also applied to produce a mean annual air temperature record for Nalin Lake spanning circa the last 2000 years. Over much of the record temperature fluctuated from ~2.76 to 7.61 °C, with a mean value of ~4.76 °C. The proposed CBT/MBT-based temperatures revealed a strong similarity to the local records, both documenting the moderate Medieval Warm Period from 600 to 1200 A.D. (1400–800 cal year BP) and a cooling anomaly Little Ice Age around 16th century. The CBT/MBT temperature patterns seemed to follow variations in the historical and Northern Hemisphere records of the mean annual air temperature. These suggested that the signals were produced during this period. Identification of high alkalinity in association with the decreased fluvial input by multiple indices was consistent with the previous observations due to the cutoff of Yellow River channel. Therefore, CBT/MBT temperature records of lake sediment core can potentially be a useful tool in reconstructing past variations of alkaline lacustrine climate.

Mid- and late-Holocene vegetation history, climate and human impact in the forest-steppe ecotone of European Russia: new data and a regional synthesis

Appropriate management of contemporary environments requires knowledge of their long-term history. We use palaeoecological data to explore how contemporary forest-steppe environments have been shaped by climate change and human impacts through the Holocene using the western Mid-Russian Upland as a case-study. Our paper presents new reconstructions of Mid- and Late Holocene climate, vegetation dynamics and local environmental change based on pollen, plant macrofossil and testate amoeba records from a site at Selikhovo (Mid-Russian Upland, Russia). Eutrophic fen vegetation dominated by Phragmites australis developed around 6800 cal year BP and has been resilient to episodes of local burning and variable input of mineral material through the Holocene. New and previously-published data show that the boundary between broadleaf forest and steppe occupied a similar position to present during the period 7000–4800 cal year BP, despite a warmer and drier climate, but shifted to the south following climate cooling and an increase in precipitation from 4800–2500 cal year BP. A subsequent decline in woodland cover was caused by both climate change and human impacts, with human activity becoming increasingly significant over the last two millennia. Prior to major human disturbance (about 1700 cal year BP) the landscape was dominated by mixed broadleaf-pine forests with some spruce covering about 60 % of the study area. Our results emphasize the variability of steppe-forest habitats over long time periods and the need to consider human impacts and climate change when setting targets for habitat conservation.

Early Holocene palaeoseasonality inferred from the stable isotope composition of Unio shells from Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Seasonal δ13C and δ18O data are presented from 14 Unio sub-fossil shells unearthed at the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük in central Turkey, spanning the occupation period ca. 9150–8000 cal years BP. The shells likely lived in the small lakes/wetlands around the site before being gathered and taken to Çatalhöyük. Wet-dry seasonal cycles are clearly apparent in the δ18Oshell profiles with low winter values reflecting winter precipitation and high δ18O in the summer resulting from evaporation. The most striking trend in the δ18O data is the drop in maximum summer δ18O ca. 8300 years BP, which we infer as indicating lower summer evaporation and hence a reduction in seasonality. Previous palaeoclimate records from the area have suggested cooler and more arid conditions, with reduced precipitation, around this time. While the drop in summer δ18O values could be due to reduced summer temperatures reducing summer evaporation, but there was little change in winter δ18O, perhaps suggesting winter growth cessation or reduced influence of winter climate change on δ18O. This shift in seasonal climate could be linked to solar-forced climate change beginning ca. 8600 years BP, and enhanced by the regional expression of the 8·2k event. Changing water balance over the occupation period is likely an important contributory factor behind observed cultural changes at Çatalhöyük in the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic period. Our results might be considered to support the fission-fusion farming hypothesis as we provide additional evidence for wet winter/early spring conditions during the Early Holocene which likely caused flooding of the Çarşamba Fan. The changing water balance after ca. 8300 years BP (i.e. reduced seasonality and potentially reduced local summer evaporation) is also coincidental with the proposed end of this farming system due to multi-decadal drought.

Geochemical characterization and dating of R tephra, a postglacial marker bed in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA

The oldest postglacial lapilli–ash tephra recognized in sedimentary records surrounding Mount Rainier (Washington State, USA) is R tephra, a very early Holocene deposit that acts as an important stratigraphic and geochronologic marker bed. This multidisciplinary study incorporates tephrostratigraphy, radiocarbon dating, petrography, and electron microprobe analysis to characterize R tephra. Tephra samples were collected from Tipsoo Lake and a stream-cut exposure in the Cowlitz Divide area of Mount Rainier National Park. Field evidence from 25 new sites suggests that R tephra locally contains internal bedding and has a wider distribution than previously reported. Herein, we provide the first robust suite of geochemical data that characterize the tephra. Glass compositions are heterogeneous, predominantly ranging from andesite to rhyolite in ash- to lapilli-sized clasts. The mineral assemblage consists of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and magnetite with trace apatite and ilmenite. Subaerial R tephra deposits appear more weathered in hand sample than subaqueous deposits, but weathering indices suggest negligible chemical weathering in both deposits. Statistical analysis of radiocarbon ages provides a median age for R tephra of ∼10 050 cal years BP, and a 2σ error range between 9960 and 10 130 cal years BP.

Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental fluctuations inferred for the Middle and Late Pleniglacial transition and Late Pleniglacial (MIS3/MIS2 and MIS2) based on high-resolution (ca. 35 and 70 years) complex sedimentological and paleoecological data from the

The Katymar brickyard profile, found at the northernmost fringe of the Backa loess plateau, is one of the thickest and best developed last glacial loess sequences of Central Europe. In the present work high resolution (at 2 cm and 4 cm intervals representing ca. 35 and 70 years) magnetic susceptibility, grain-size, LOI, water-solution trace elements measurements and pollen, phytholithic, anthracological and malacological analyses were implemented on samples derived from the 11,5 m profile corresponding to a period between 35,000 and 13,000 cal BP years (from the terminal phase of MIS3 to the end of MIS2).

Age and evolution of the Littorina Sea in the light of geochemical analysis and radiocarbon dating sediment of cores from the Arkona Basin and Mecklenburg Bay (SW Baltic Sea)

Two sediment cores from the Mecklenburg Bay and Arkona Basin were analysed in terms of their geochemical composition and stratigraphy. The main stages of the Baltic Sea evolution – Baltic Ice Lake, Ancylus Lake, and Littorina Sea – were identified in both analysed cores. The most pronounced period was the transition between the Ancylus Lake and the Littorina Sea. The character of the initial stage of the Littorina Sea was clearly defined in the Mecklenburg Bay sediments and is marked by a stepwise increase in loss on ignition and contents of biogenic silica, calcium, magnesium, iron, and strontium. The record of the onset of the Littorina Sea in the Arkona Basin sediments is marked by an abrupt change of the geochemical parameters. The age of the initial Littorina Sea in the Mecklenburg Bay was estimated at about 8200 cal years BP and was probably older than the transgression within the Arkona Basin.

Obliquity‐driven expansion of North Atlantic sea ice during the last glacial

AbstractNorth Atlantic late Pleistocene climate (60,000 to 11,650 years ago) was characterized by abrupt and extreme millennial duration oscillations known as Dansgaard‐Oeschger (D‐O) events. However, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 23,000 to 19,000 cal years ago (23 to 19 ka), no D‐O events are observed in the Greenland ice cores. Our new analysis of the Greenland δ18O record reveals a switch in the stability of the climate system around 30 ka, suggesting that a critical threshold was passed. Climate system modeling suggests that low axial obliquity at this time caused vastly expanded sea ice in the Labrador Sea, shifting Northern Hemisphere westerly winds south and reducing the strength of meridional overturning circulation. The results suggest that these feedbacks tipped the climate system into full glacial conditions, leading to maximum continental ice growth during the LGM.

Tephrochronology of the southernmost Andean Southern Volcanic Zone, Chile

Correlations among and identification of the source volcanoes for over 60 Late Glacial and Holocene tephras preserved in eight lacustrine sediment cores taken from small lakes near Coyhaique, Chile (46° S), were made based on the stratigraphic position of the tephra in the cores, lithostratigraphic data (tephra layer thickness and grain size), and tephra petrochemistry (glass color and morphology, phenocryst phases, and bulk-tephra trace element contents determined by ICP-MS). The cores preserve a record of explosive eruptions, since ∼17,800 calibrated years before present (cal years BP), of the volcanoes of the southernmost Andean Southern Volcanic Zone (SSVZ). The suggested source volcanoes for 55 of these tephras include Hudson (32 events), Mentolat (10 events), and either Maca or Cay or some of the many minor monogenetic eruptive centers (MECs; 13 events) in the area. Only four of these eruptions had been previously identified in tephra outcrops in the region, indicating the value of lake cores for identifying smaller eruptions in tephrochronologic studies. The tephra records preserved in these lake cores, combined with those in marine cores, which extend these records back to 20,000 cal years BP, prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, suggest that no significant temporal change in the frequency of explosive eruptions was associated with deglaciation. Over this time period, Hudson volcano, one of the largest and longest lived volcanoes in the Southern Andes, has had >55 eruptions (four of them were very large) and has produced >45 km3 of pyroclastic material, making it also one of the most active volcanoes in the SVZ in terms of both frequency and volume of explosive eruptions.

Radiocarbon dates and anthropogenic signal in the South-Central Andes (12,500–600 cal. years BP)

This paper presents the analysis of the anthropogenic signal documented by four time-series in the highlands of the South-Central Andes (Puna of Argentina and North Chile) spanning the period between 12,500 and 600 cal years BP. Our goal is to extract demographic and occupational histories from temporal data. In this way, based upon the full radiocarbon dataset and the sites of provenance of the dates, we built the following time-series: the summed probability distribution of calibrated ages; the relative frequency of calibrated ages; the relative frequency of sites per unit of time; and the frequency of new sites per unit of time. For controlling the effects of site destruction on the anthropogenic signal, we used the exponential model as well as the volcanic empirical model of taphonomic bias. The four time-series coincide in showing a regional pattern with a phase of low and fluctuating demography of relative long term duration, followed by an growth phase well evident at 5000 cal BP in a context the economic intensification. The long-term demographic success of the hunter-gatherers in the highlands many millennia before the consolidation of food production exemplifies the flexibility of this mode of subsistence for achieving human adaptation to extreme selective environments as the Puna.

Vegetation dynamics from a coastal peatland: insights from combined plant macrofossil and pollen data

ABSTRACTThis paper reports the results of plant‐macrofossil investigations from a peat layer buried within coastal alluvium at the Caburn, a site adjacent to the English chalkland. The data collected are compared against a published mid‐Holocene pollen sequence with the macrofossil record providing greater taxonomic resolution and establishing a local presence for many taxa. Alnus glutinosa pollen is abundant and Alnus macrofossils are recorded continuously over a c. 3000 cal year period. Fluctuations in the number of Alnus propagules and the presence of seeds of light‐demanding herbaceous plants suggest that regeneration occurred at a local scale, a process which is likely to have been promoted by a rising water table and sediment consolidation. Taxus baccata macrofossils were also recovered, indicating that the high pollen values previously reported may be the result of yew being present within the wetland area. The Tilia macrofossils establish the presence nearby of T. cordata, T. × europaea and T. platyphyllos. High pollen values for Quercus, Tilia and Alnus coincide with the occurrence of their anthers. Deposition within inflorescences is therefore likely to have been an important mode of pollen delivery. The usefulness of both techniques in studies that utilize peats derived from fen carr vegetation are discussed.

Distribution, genesis and annual-origin of De Geer moraines in Sweden: insights revealed by LiDAR

De Geer moraines (DGMs) were first identified in Sweden by Gerard De Geer in 1889 and have been mapped since then in many parts of Sweden. Using airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, we have mapped DGMs over the entire country, and we show that they occur predominantly in two distinct areas: in south-central Sweden north of the Middle Swedish end-moraine zone and in northeast Sweden. DGM formation occurs predominantly where the local relief is low, the ice-margin retreat rate was high and the sedimentation rate low. Formation of DGMs occurred over short time spans of a few hundred years – between 11 500 and 11 000 cal years BP for the southern group and from 10 700 and 9900 cal years BP for the DGMs in the north. DGMs have been suggested to be made by a number of processes at subaquatic ice margins, including pushing during winter readvance, squeezing into subglacial crevasses, deformation during calving events and deposition as subaquatic fans. Therefore, we recognize DGMs to be equifinal landforms, made by several related mechanisms. However, we observe that the most common occurrence of DGMs in Sweden are as regularly spaced even ridges below the highest shoreline whose spacing closely corresponds to independently determined ice-margin retreat rates. We therefore suggest that where regular evenly spaced DGMs occur, their spacing likely represents the local ice-margin retreat rate, and that the majority of these ridges were made annually by winter advances.

Vegetation and climatic variability in southeastern Madhya Pradesh, India since Mid-Holocene, based on pollen records

Pollen analysis of 1.75 m deep sediment core from Tula-Jalda (Amarkantak) in Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh unravels that around 4500–3600 cal years BP, this region supported open mixed tropical deciduous forests comprising chiefly Madhuca indica followed by Terminalia, Mitragyna parvifolia, Haldina cordifolia, Emblica officinalis and Acacia, under a warm and relatively less humid climate. The retrieval of Cerealia and other cultural plants, viz. Artemisia, Cheno/Am and Caryophyllaceae signifies that the region was under cereal-based agricultural practice. The open mixed deciduous forests got enriched and dense around 3600–2761 cal years BP with the expansion of trees that already existed coupled with invasion of Symplocos, Diospyros, Lannea coromandelica and Radermachera with the inception of a warm and moderately humid climate in response to increased monsoon precipitation. Around 2761–2200 cal years BP, much expansion of the forests took place owing toinitiation of a warm and more humid climate, attributed to intensification of the southwest (SW) monsoon. The modern Sal (Shorea robusta) forests were established around 2200 cal years BP, as clearly deciphered by the steady presence of S. robusta along with close allies such as M. indica, Terminalia, H. cordifolia, E. officinalis, etc. This change in the vegetation scenario implies that a warm and relatively more humid climate prevailed with timely arrival of the more active SW monsoon.

Aboriginal Memories of Inundation of the Australian Coast Dating from More than 7000 Years Ago

ABSTRACTStories belonging to Australian Aboriginal groups tell of a time when the former coastline of mainland Australia was inundated by rising sea level. Stories are presented from 21 locations from every part of this coastline. In most instances it is plausible to assume that these stories refer to events that occurred more than about 7000 years ago, the approximate time at which the sea level reached its present level around Australia. They therefore provide empirical corroboration of postglacial sea-level rise. For each of the 21 locations, the minimum water depth (below the present sea level) needed for the details of the particular group of local-area stories to be true is calculated. This is then compared with the sea-level envelope for Australia (Lewis et al., Quaternary Science Reviews 74, 2013), and maximum and minimum ages for the most recent time that these details could have been observed are calculated. This method of dating Aboriginal stories shows that they appear to have endured since 7250–13 070 cal years bp (5300–11 120 bc). The implications of this extraordinary longevity of oral traditions are discussed, including those aspects of Aboriginal culture that ensured effective transgenerational communication and the possibility that traditions of comparable antiquity may exist in similar cultures.

Vegetation, climate and lake changes over the last 7000 years at the boreal treeline in north-central Siberia

Abstract Palaeoecological investigations in the larch forest-tundra ecotone in northern Siberia have the potential to reveal Holocene environmental variations, which likely have consequences for global climate change because of the strong high-latitude feedback mechanisms. A sediment core, collected from a small lake (radius ∼100 m), was used to reconstruct the development of the lake and its catchment as well as vegetation and summer temperatures over the last 7100 calibrated years. A multi-proxy approach was taken including pollen and sedimentological analyses. Our data indicate a gradual replacement of open larch forests by tundra with scattered single trees as found today in the vicinity of the lake. An overall trend of cooling summer temperature from a ∼2 °C warmer-than-present mid-Holocene summer temperatures until the establishment of modern conditions around 3000 years ago is reconstructed based on a regional pollen-climate transfer function. The inference of regional vegetation changes was compared to local changes in the lake's catchment. An initial small water depression occurred from 7100 to 6500 cal years BP. Afterwards, a small lake formed and deepened, probably due to thermokarst processes. Although the general trends of local and regional environmental change match, the lake catchment changes show higher variability. Furthermore, changes in the lake catchment slightly precede those in the regional vegetation. Both proxies highlight that marked environmental changes occurred in the Siberian forest-tundra ecotone over the course of the Holocene.

Indian monsoon variations during three contrasting climatic periods: The Holocene, Heinrich Stadial 2 and the last interglacial–glacial transition

In contrast to the East Asian and African monsoons the Indian monsoon is still poorly documented throughout the last climatic cycle (last 135,000 years). Pollen analysis from two marine sediment cores (NGHP-01-16A and NGHP-01-19B) collected from the offshore Godavari and Mahanadi basins, both located in the Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ) reveals changes in Indian summer monsoon variability and intensity during three contrasting climatic periods: the Holocene, the Heinrich Stadial (HS) 2 and the Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5/4 during the ice sheet growth transition. During the first part of the Holocene between 11,300 and 4200 cal years BP, characterized by high insolation (minimum precession, maximum obliquity), the maximum extension of the coastal forest and mangrove reflects high monsoon rainfall. This climatic regime contrasts with that of the second phase of the Holocene, from 4200 cal years BP to the present, marked by the development of drier vegetation in a context of low insolation (maximum precession, minimum obliquity). The historical period in India is characterized by an alternation of strong and weak monsoon centennial phases that may reflect the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age, respectively. During the HS 2, a period of low insolation and extensive iceberg discharge in the North Atlantic Ocean, vegetation was dominated by grassland and dry flora indicating pronounced aridity as the result of a weak Indian summer monsoon. The MIS 5/4 glaciation, also associated with low insolation but moderate freshwater fluxes, was characterized by a weaker reduction of the Indian summer monsoon and a decrease of seasonal contrast as recorded by the expansion of dry vegetation and the development of Artemisia, respectively. Our results support model predictions suggesting that insolation changes control the long term trend of the Indian monsoon precipitation, but its millennial scale variability and intensity are instead modulated by atmospheric teleconnections to remote phenomena in the North Atlantic, Eurasia or the Indian Ocean.

Sedimentary Core Analysis: Implications on the Evolution of Pulicat Lake, East Coast of India

Abstract: A shallow sedimentary core (PL-1) of 12.5m length was analyzed for lithological, paleontological and radiocarbon dating. The core shows fairly uniform lithological (sandy) composition and foraminifera. The marine molluskan shells at 12m depth provide 3660±80 yr BP age by 14C isotope dating. This age in correlation with timing of mid-late Holocene sea levels, facilitates to infer that the Pulicat lake has emerged during 2nd high stand sea level (4330±2500 cal years BP) in late Holocene.

Climate variability and storm impacts as major drivers for human coastal marsh withdrawal over the Neolithic period (Southern Brittany, NW France)

Relationships between climate variations, vegetation dynamics, and early human activities during the Neolithic have been reconstructed from high-resolution pollen and foraminiferal records obtained from cores retrieved from coastal wetland located in southern Brittany (Guidel, NW France). Our data show that the area around Guidel corresponded to a dense temperate forest locally replaced by riparian forest in the marsh, without any human disturbance during the early Neolithic. During the mid-Neolithic, between 6500 and 5500 cal years BP, the first episode of probable human settlement is recorded, as suggested by the increase of anthropogenic plants. This early record of human impact is consistent with archeological studies that find a high concentration of funeral monuments around Guidel during this cultural period. This complex first phase is interrupted by the disappearance of anthropogenic influence coinciding with a cold/humid climate period in the region characterized by recurrent major storms. Then, at the transition between the middle to late Neolithic, at 5500 cal years BP, a second phase of human retreat is signaled by both vegetation dynamics and archeological records; this interval also coincides with a climatic deterioration marked by cold/humid conditions recorded in the region (Sorrel et al., 2012). The results of the present study imply that human settlement/departure over the Neolithic was probably influenced by climatic variations. During the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Middle Ages, a progressive decline of the arboreal forest synchronous with an increase of anthropogenic plants, confirms the high and persistent human activity around the site. Furthermore, our results at Guidel suggest a different anthropogenic trend recorded between north and south Brittany. The human impact is well recorded during the Neolithic at Guidel, while in northern Brittany human settlement is not recorded before the Bronze Age, consistent with existing archeological data.

Lake Store Finnsjøen – a key for understanding Lateglacial/early Holocene vegetation and ice sheet dynamics in the central Scandes Mountains

The Lateglacial (LG) deglaciation and vegetation development in the Scandes Mountains has been debated for a century. Here we present new evidence from microfossils, radiocarbon dated plant macrofossils and sedimentary ancient DNA from laminated sediments in Lake Store Finnsjøen (1260 m a.s.l.) at Dovre, Central Norway. Combined with previous results from three other Dovre lakes, this allows for new interpretations of events during and immediately after the LG deglaciation. The Finnsjøen sediments present the first uninterrupted record of local vegetation development in the Scandes Mountains from the late Younger Dryas (YD), ca 12,000 cal years BP, to the early Holocene around 9700 cal years BP. The local vegetation in late YD/early Holocene was extremely sparse with pioneer herbs (e.g. Artemisia norvegica, Beckwithia, Campanula cf. uniflora, Koenigia, Oxyria, Papaver, Saxifraga spp.) and dwarf-shrubs (Betula nana, Salix including Salix polaris). From 11,300 cal years BP, local vegetation rapidly closed with dominant Dryas, Saxifraga spp., and Silene acaulis. From ca 10,700 cal years BP, open birch-forests with juniper, Empetrum nigrum and other dwarf-shrubs developed. Pine forests established within the area from 10,300 cal years BP. We identified the cold Preboreal Oscillation (PBO), not earlier described from pollen data in South Norway, around 11,400 cal years BP by a regional pollen signal. Distinct local vegetation changes were not detected until the post-PBO warming around 11,300 cal years BP. Apparently, the earlier warming at the YD/Holocene transition at 11,650 cal years BP was too weak and short-lived for vegetation closure at high altitudes at Dovre. For the first time, we demonstrate a regional glacier readvance and local ice cap formations during the YD in the Scandes Mountains. In two of the deep lakes with small catchments, YD glaciation blocked sedimentation without removing old sediments and caused a hiatus separating sediments of the ice-free LG interstadial (LGI) from those of the ice-free Holocene period. Both regional glaciers and local ice caps caused hiati. Ice-free pre-YD conditions at Dovre followed by a YD readvance point to a scenario that is intermediate between the maximum ice model postulating a thick glacier during the entire LG, and the minimum ice model postulating thin and multi-domed early LG ice.

Low‐frequency storminess signal at Bermuda linked to cooling events in the North Atlantic region

AbstractNorth Atlantic climate archives provide evidence for increased storm activity during the Little Ice Age (150 to 600 calibrated years (cal years) B.P.) and centered at 1700 and 3000 cal years B.P., typically in centennial‐scale sedimentary records. Meteorological (tropical versus extratropical storms) and climate forcings of this signal remain poorly understood, although variability in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) are frequently hypothesized to be involved. Here we present records of late Holocene storminess and coastal temperature change from a Bermudian submarine cave that is hydrographically circulated with the coastal ocean. Thermal variability in the cave is documented by stable oxygen isotope values of cave benthic foraminifera, which document a close linkage between regional temperature change and NAO phasing during the late Holocene. However, erosion of terrestrial sediment into the submarine cave provides a “storminess signal” that correlates with higher‐latitude storminess archives and broader North Atlantic cooling events. Understanding the driver of this storminess signal will require higher‐resolution storm records to disentangle the contribution of tropical versus extratropical cyclones and a better understanding of cyclone activity during hemispheric cooling periods. Most importantly, however, the signal in Bermuda appears more closely correlated with proxy‐based evidence for subtle AMOC reductions than NAO phasing.

Application of palaeoecology for peatland conservation at Mossdale Moor, UK

Abstract In a recent discussion of research priorities for palaeoecology, it was suggested that palaeoecological data can be applied and used to inform nature conservation practice. The present study exemplifies this approach and was conducted on a degraded blanket mire in Yorkshire, UK, in collaboration with a field-based moorland restoration agency. High-resolution, multiproxy palaeoecological analyses on a peat core from Mossdale Moor reconstructed mid to late-Holocene vegetation changes. Humification, pollen, plant macrofossil and charcoal analyses carried out throughout the peat profile show marked changes in species composition and indicate their potential causes. Results suggest that human clearance in the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition may have initiated peat growth at Mossdale Moor, making this landscape ‘semi-natural’ in its origin. Further human-induced changes are identified at 1300 cal years BP, most likely clearance by fire, and between 20 and 0 cm depth where a substantial charcoal increase is interpreted as recent (