Aeolian dust and chemistry records from the EDML and EDC ice cores

To improve quantitative interpretation of ice core aeolian dust records a systematic methodical comparison has been made involving methods of water-insoluble particle counting (Coulter Counter and laser-sensing particle detector), soluble ions (ion chromatography, IC, and continuous flow analysis, CFA), elemental analysis (inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, ICP-MS, at pH 1 and after full acid digestion), and water-insoluble elemental analysis (proton induced X-ray emission, PIXE). Ice core samples covering the last deglaciation have been used from the EPICA Dome C (EDC) and the EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) ice cores. All methods correlate very well amongst each other. The ratios of glacial age concentrations to Holocene concentrations, which are typically a factor ~100, differ significantly between the methods, but differences are limited to a factor < 2 for most methods with insoluble particles showing the largest change. The recovery of ICP-MS measurements depends on the digestion method and is different for different elements and during different climatic periods. EDC and EDML samples have similar dust composition, which suggests a common dust source or a common mixture of sources for the two sites. The analysed samples further reveal a change of dust composition during the last deglaciation.

High-resolution carbon dioxide concentration records from the EPICA Dome C ice core (EDC99)

Changes in past atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations can be determined by measuring the composition of air trapped in ice cores from Antarctica. So far, the Antarctic Vostok and EPICA Dome C ice cores have provided a composite record of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over the past 650,000 years. Here we present results of the lowest 200 m of the Dome C ice core, extending the record of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration by two complete glacial cycles to 800,000 yr before present. From previously published data and the present work, we find that atmospheric carbon dioxide is strongly correlated with Antarctic temperature throughout eight glacial cycles but with significantly lower concentrations between 650,000 and 750,000 yr before present. Carbon dioxide levels are below 180 parts per million by volume (p.p.m.v.) for a period of 3,000 yr during Marine Isotope Stage 16, possibly reflecting more pronounced oceanic carbon storage. We report the lowest carbon dioxide concentration measured in an ice core, which extends the pre-industrial range of carbon dioxide concentrations during the late Quaternary by about 10 p.p.m.v. to 172-300 p.p.m.v.

Pollen records and age determination of site Bokanjacko Blato

In summary, one may conclude that human influence in the Bokanjac area started in the Eneolithic or Earlier Bronze Age - the third to second millennia Cal. BC. Traces of agriculture are weak or missing in the pollen diagram but grazing is indicated. Chestnut and walnut were introduced by humans to the area in classical times. These findings are in general agreement with the results of earlier studies at coastal sites north-west and south-east of Bokanjacko Blato.

(Table 1) Gas tie points used to correlate NorthGRIP and Vostol records

North Atlantic sediment records (MD95-2042), Greenland (Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP)) and Antarctica (Byrd and Vostok) ice core climate records have been synchronized over marine isotopic stage 3 (MIS 3) (64 to 24 kyr B.P.) (Shackleton et al., 2000). The resulting common timescale suggested that MD95-2042 d18Obenthic fluctuations were synchronous with temperature changes in Antarctica (dDice or d18Oice records). In order to assess the persistency of this result we have used here the recent Greenland NorthGRIP ice core covering the last glacial inception. We transfer the Antarctic Vostok GT4 timescale to NorthGRIP d18Oice and MD95-2042 d18Oplanktonic records and precisely quantify all the relative timing uncertainties. During the rapid warming of Dansgaard-Oeschger 24, MD95-2042 d18Obenthic decrease is in phase with d18Oplanktonic decrease and therefore with NorthGRIP temperature increase, but it takes place 1700 ± 1100 years after the Antarctic warming. Thus the present study reveals that the results obtained previously for MIS 3 cannot be generalized and demonstrates the need to improve common chronologies for marine and polar archives.

Pollen records of 11 profiles from Wendland in northern Germany

1) Ingesamt 11 Profile aus sechs Mooren und Seen im Gebiet des Hannoverschen Wendlandes wurden pollenanalytisch untersucht. Die Ablagerungen umfassen den Zeitraum vom Beginn der Älteren Tundrenzeit bis zur Gegenwart. 2) Die Waldgeschichte des Hannoverschen Wendlandes weist teils Merkmale der atlantisch geprägten Gebiete Nordwestdeutschlands, teils solche des kontinental beeinflußten nordostdeutschen Raumes auf und nimmt damit eine Zwischenstellung ein. 3) Die Kiefer wandert zu Beginn der Allerödzeit ein, d.h. später als im mecklenburgisch-märkischen Gebiet und im mitteldeutschen Trockengebiet. Im Verlauf der Allerödzeit bildeten sich hier wie dort lichte Kiefern-Birken-Wälder aus. 4) In der Jüngeren Tundrenzeit fand zunächst nur eine geringe Auflichtung der Wälder statt, und die Kiefer überwog weiterhin. Erst im späteren Verlauf dieser stadialen Phase breitete sich die Birke aus und verdrängte die Kiefer. Der späte Rückgang der Kiefer stellt eine Parallele zu der Entwicklung in Südostmecklenburg und in der Altmark dar. Die Abgrenzung dieser Phasen in der Jüngeren Tundrenzeit ist durch eine 14C-Datierung gesichert. 5) Noch im Atlantikum ähneln die Diagramme aus dem Gartower Talsandgebiet im Osten des Wendlandes in ihren hohen Kiefernanteilen denen der Sandergebiete in Brandenburg. Die Diagramme aus dem Moränengebiet des westlichen Wendlandes schließen dagegen mehr an die der östlichen Lüneburger Heide und des Hamburger Gebietes an. Dieser Unterschied wird auf edaphische Unterschiede zurückgeführt. 6) Seit dem frühen Subboreal glich auch die Vegetation des Gartower Gebietes mehr den buchenarmen Waldgesellschaften auf sauren Sandböden, wie sie im atlantischen Westen vorkommen. Die Kiefern sind fast ganz aus dem Waldbild verschwunden, wobei der rasche Rückgang zu Beginn des Subboreals sicher zu einem wesentlichen Teil vom Menschen beeinflusst worden ist. Die anschließende kiefernarme Zeit dauerte im gesamten Wendland bis zum Beginn der Kieferaufforstungen in der Neuzeit. 7) In allen untersuchten Diagrammen ist etwa seit dem Subboreal eine Besiedlung nachzuweisen. Diese muß im Osten des Wendlandes intensiver gewesen sein als im Westen. Es lassen sich Phasen geringer und intensiver Besiedlung nachweisen. 8) Seit Beginn des Subboreals ist das Waldbild schon so stark vom Menschen beeinflusst, dass die Ausbreitungsgeschichte der Laubwaldarten nicht ohne Berücksichtigung der Siedlungsphasen diskutiert werden kann. Besonders im Westen bestand eine ausgedehnte Lindenphase, die durch eine Siedlungszeit (Bronzezeit) beendet wurde. Beim folgenden Rückgang der Siedlungsintensität breitet sich bevorzugt die Hainbuche aus, die dann bei der nächsten Besiedlungsphase (Eisenzeit) zurückging. Erst danach erfolgte die maximale Rotbuchenausbreitung, die nur im Westteil des Wendlandes bedeutende Ausmaße zeigte, während im Ostteil rot- und hainbuchenreiche Eichenwälder entstanden. 9) Seit Beginn der mittelalterlichen Besiedlung ist dann der Eingriff des Menschen so stark gewesen, dass die edaphisch bedingten Unterschiede zwischen Moränen- und Sandergebieten im Pollenspektrum verwischt wurden. Sowohl die buchenreichen Wälder des westlichen als auch die buchenarmen Wälder des mittleren und des östlichen Teilgebietes müssen zu fast reinen Eichenwäldern geworden sein. 10) Calluna-Heiden sind im östlichen Wendland schon in vorgeschichtlicher Zeit nachzuweisen. Im Mittelalter und in der Neuzeit treten sie im gesamten Wendland auf. Etwa im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert war die Ausdehnung der Heideflächen am größten. Erst danach wurden sie im Zuge der Kiefernaufforstungen bis auf geringe Reste verdrängt. 11) Während in der spätglazialen Vegetation Juniperus auftritt, ist der Wacholder sowohl in vorgeschichtlicher als auch in geschichtlicher Zeit - im Gegensatz zur Lüneburger Heide - wohl niemals ein Bestandteil der anthropogenen Calluna-Heiden gewesen.

Pollen records from Elbe-Weser Dreieck

A long-running interdisciplinary research project on the development of landscape, prehistoric habitation and the history of vegetation within a "siedlungskammer" (limited habitation areal from neolithic to modern times has been carried out in the NW German lowlands, The siedlungskammer Flögeln is situated between the rivers Weser and EIbe and comprises about 23.5 km^2. It is an isolated pleistocene area surrounded by bogs, the soils consisting mainly of poor sands. In this siedlungskammer large-seale archaeological excavations and mappings have been performed, parallel to pedological, historical and above all pollen analytical investigations. The aim of the project is to record the individual phases in time, to delimit the respective settlement areas and to reconstruct the conditions of life and economy for each time period. A dense network of 10 pollen diagrams has been constructed. Several of them derive from the marginal area and from the centre of the large raised bog north of the siedlungskammer. These diagrams reflect the history of vegetation and habitation of a large region; due to the large pollen source area the habitation phases in the diagrams are poorly defined. Even in the utmost marginal diagram of this woodless bog, a great village with adjoining fields, situated only 100 m away from it, is registered with only low values of anthropogenic indicators. In contrast to this, the numerous pollen diagrams from kettle-hole bogs inside the siedlungskammer yield an exact picture of the habitation of the siedlungskammer and their individual parts. Early traces of habitation can be identified in the pollen diagram soon after the elm decline (around 5190 BP). Some time later in the middle neolithic period there follows a marked habitation phase, which starts between 4500 and 4400 BP and reflects the immigration of the trichterbecher culture. It corresponds to the landnam phase of Iversen in Denmark and begins with a sharp decline of the pollen curves of lime and oak, followed by the increase of anthropogenic indicators pointing to arable and pastural farming. High values of wild grasses and Calluna witness extensive forest grazing. This middle to late neolithic habitation is also registered archaeologically by settlements and numerous graves. After low human activity during Bronze Age and Older Iron Age times the archaeological and pollen analytical records of Roman and Migration periods is again very strong. This is followed by a gap in habitation during the 6th and 7th centuries and afterwards in the western part of the siedlungskammer from about 700 AD until the 14th century by the activity of the medieval village of Dalem, that was also excavated and whose fields were recorded by phosphate mapping to a size of 117 hectares. This medieval settlement phase is marked by much cereal cultivation (mainly rye). The dense network of pollen diagrams offers an opportunity to register the dispersion of the anthropogenic indicators from the areas of settlement to different distances and thus to obtain quantitative clues for the assessment of these anthropogenic indicators in pollen diagrams. In fig. 4 the reflection of the neolithic culture in the kettle-hole bogs and the large raised bog is shown in 3 phases: a) pre landnam, b) TRB-landnam, c) post landnam. Among arboreal pollen the reaction of Quercus is sharp close to the settlement but is not found at more distant profiles, whilst in contrast to this Tilia shows a significant decline even far away from the settlements. The record of most anthropogenic indicators outside the habitation area is very low, in particular cereal pollen is poorly dispersed; much more certain as an indicator for habitation (also for arable farming!) is Plantago lanceolata. A strong increase of wild grasses (partly Calluna aswell) some distance from the habitation areas indicates far reaching forest grazing. Fig. 5 illustrates the reflection of the anthropogenie indicators from the medieval village Dalem. In this instance the field area could be mapped exactly using phosphate investigations, and it has been possible to indicate the precise distances of the profile sites from the medieval fields. Here also, there is a clear correlation between decreasing anthropogenic indicators and increasing distance. In a kettle-hole bog (FLH) a distance of 3000 m away this marked settlement phase is not registered. The contrast between the pollen diagrams SWK and FLH (fig. 2 + 3, enclosure), illustrates the strong differences between diagrams from kettlehole bogs close to and distant from the settlements, for the neolithic as well as for the medieval period. On the basis of the examples presented here, implications concerning the interpretation of pollen diagrams with respect to habitation phases are discussed.

Charcoal records of two sediment cores off SW Africa

We analyze sedimentary charcoal records to show that the changes in fire regime over the past 21,000 yrs are predictable from changes in regional climates. Analyses of paleo- fire data show that fire increases monotonically with changes in temperature and peaks at intermediate moisture levels, and that temperature is quantitatively the most important driver of changes in biomass burning over the past 21,000 yrs. Given that a similar relationship between climate drivers and fire emerges from analyses of the interannual variability in biomass burning shown by remote-sensing observations of month-by-month burnt area between 1996 and 2008, our results signal a serious cause for concern in the face of continuing global warming.

Pollen and non-pollen palynomorph records of the Holocene part of the composite sediment core TMD from lake Tso Moriri (NW India) and of modern surface samples from the Tso Moriri region

The high-altitude lake Tso Moriri (32°55'46'' N, 78°19'24'' E; 4522 m a.s.l.) is situated at the margin of the ISM and westerly influences in the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh. Human settlements are rare and domestic and wild animals are concentrating at the alpine meadows. A set of modern surface samples and fossil pollen from deep-water TMD core was evaluated with a focus on indicator types revealing human impact, grazing activities and lake system development during the last ca. 12 cal ka BP. Furthermore, the non-pollen palynomorph (NPP) record, comprising remains of limnic algae and invertebrates as well as fungal spores and charred plant tissue fragments, were examined in order to attest palaeolimnic phases and human impact, respectively. Changes in the early and middle Holocene limnic environment are mainly influenced by regional climatic conditions and glacier-fed meltwater flow in the catchment area. The NPP record indicates low lake productivity with high influx of freshwater between ca. 11.5 and 4.5 cal ka BP which is in agreement with the regional monsoon dynamics and published climate reconstructions. Geomorphologic observations suggest that during this period of enhanced precipitation the lake had a regular outflow and contributed large amounts of water to the Sutlej River, the lower reaches of which were integral part of the Indus Civilization area. The inferred minimum fresh water input and maximum lake productivity between ca. 4.5-1.8 cal ka BP coincides with the reconstruction of greatest aridity and glaciation in the Korzong valley resulting in significantly reduced or even ceased outflow. We suggest that lowered lake levels and river discharge on a larger regional scale may have caused irrigation problems and harvest losses in the Indus valley and lowlands occupied by sedentary agricultural communities. This scenario, in turn, supports the theory that, Mature Harappan urbanism (ca. 4.5-3.9 cal ka BP) emerged in order to facilitate storage, protection, administration, and redistribution of crop yields and secondly, the eventual collapse of the Harappan Culture (ca. 3.5-3 cal ka BP) was promoted by prolonged aridity. There is no clear evidence for human impact around Tso Moriri prior to ca. 3.7 cal ka BP, with a more distinct record since ca. 2.7 cal ka BP. This suggests that the sedimentary record from Tso Moriri primarily archives the regional climate history.

Pollen records and lithology of profiles from Lobsigensee, Switzerland

Lobsigensee is a small kettle hole lake 15 km north-west of Bern on the Swiss Plateau, at an altitude of 514 m asl. Its surface is 2ha today, its maximum depth 2.7 m; it has no inlet and the overflow functions mainly during snow melting. The area was covered by Rhone ice during the Last Glaciation (map in Fig.2). Local geology, climate and vegetation are summarized in Figure 3A-C, the history of settlement in Figures 5-7. In order to reconstruct the vegetational and environmental history of the lake and its surroundings pollen analysis and other bio- and isotope stratigraphies were applied to twelve profiles cored across the basin with modified Livingstone corers (Fig.3 D). (1) The standard diagram: The central core LQ-90 is described as the standard pollen diagram (Chapter 3) with 10 local pollen assemblage zones of the Late-Glacial (local PAZ Ll to Ll0, from about 16'000(7) to 10'000 years BP) and 20 PAZ of the Holocene (local PAZ L11 to L30), see Figs. 8-10 and 20-24. Local PAZ L 1 to L3 are in the Late-Glacial clay and record the vegetational development after the ice retreat: L1 shows very low pollen concentration and high Pinus percentages due to long-distance transport and reworking; the latter mechanism is corroborated by the findings of thermophilous and pre-Quaternary taxa. Local PAZ L2 has a high di versi ty of non-arboreal pollen (NAP) and reflects the Late-Glacial steppe rich in heliophilous species. Local PAZ L3 is similar but additionally rich in Betula nana and Sal1x, thus reflecting a "shrub tundra". The PAZ L1 to L3 belong to the Oldest Dryas biozone. Local PAZ L4 to L 10 are found in the gyttja of the profundal or in the lake marl of the littoral and record the Late-Glacial forests. L4 is the shrub phase of reforestation with very high Junlperus and rapidly increasing Betula percentages. L5 is the PAZ with a first, L7 with a second dominance of tree-birches, separated by L6 showing a depression in the Betula curve. L4 to L7 can be assigned to the Balling biozone. Possible correlation of the Betula depression to the Older Dryas biozone is discussed. In local PAZ L8 Plnus immigrates and expands. L9 shows a facies difference in that Plnus dominates over Betula in littoral but not in profundal spectra. L8 and L9 belong to the Allerod biozone. In its youngest part the volcanic ash from Laach/Eifel is regularly found (11,000 BP). The local PAZ Ll0 corresponds to the Younger Dryas blozone. The merely slight increase of the NAP indicates that the pine forests of the lowland were not strongly affected by a cooler climate. In order to evaluate the significance of the littoral accumulation of coniferous pollen the littoral profile LQ-150 is compared to the profundal. Radiocarbon stratigraphies derived from different materials are presented in Figures 13 and 14 and in Tables 2 and 3. The hard-water errors in the gyttja samples and the carbonate samples are similar. The samples of terrestrial plant macrofossils are not affected by hard-water errors. Two plateaux of constant age appear in the age-depth relationship; their consequence for biostratigraphy as well as pollen concentration and influx diagrams are discussed. Radiocarbon ages of the Late-Glacial pollen zones are shown in Table 10. The Holocene vegetational history is recorded in the local PAZ L 11 to L30. After a Preboreal (PAZ L11) dominated by pine and birch the expansions of Corylus, Ulmus and Quercus are very rapid. Among these taxa Corylus dominates dur ing the Boreal (PAZ L 12 and L 1 3), whereas the components of the mixed oak forest dominate in the Older Atlantic (PAZ L14 to L16). In the Younger Atlantic (PAZ L 17 to L 19) Fagus and Alnus play an increasing, the mixed oak forest a decreasing role. During the period of local PAZ L19 Neolithic settlers lived on the shore of Lobsigensee. During the Subboreal (PAZ L20 and L21) and the Older Subatlantic (L22 to L25) strong fluctuations of Fagus and often antagonistic peaks of NAP, Alnus, Betula and Corylus can be interpreted as signs of human impact on vegetation. L23 is characterized not only by high values of NAP (especially apophytes and anthropochorous species) but also by the appearance of Juglans, Castanea and Secale which point to the Roman colonization of the area. For a certain period during the Younger Subatlantic (PAZ L26 to L30) the lake was used for retting hemp (Cannabis). Later the dominance of Quercus pollen indicates the importance of wood pastures. The youngest sediments reflect the wide-spread agricultural grass lands and the plantation of Pinus and Picea. Radiocarbon dates for the Holocene are given in Figure 23 and Table 4, the extrapolated ages of the Holocene pollen zones in Table 15. (2) The cross sections: Figures 25 and 26 give a summary of the litho- and palynostratigraphy of the two cross sections. Based on 11 Late-Glacial and 9 Holocene pollen diagrams (in addition to the standard ones), the consistency of the criteria for the definition of the pollen zones is examined in Tables 7 and 8 for the Late-Glacial and in Tables 11 to 14 for the Holocene. Sediment thicknesses across the basin for each pollen zone are presented in these tables as well as in Figures 43 to 45 for the Late-Glacial and in Figures 59 to 65 for the Holocene. Sediment focusing can explain differences between the gyttja cores of the profundal. Focusing is more than compensated for through "stretching" by carbonate precipitation on the littoral terrace. Pollen influx to the cross section are discussed (Chapters 4.1.5. and 4.2.3.). (3) The regional pollen zones: Based on some selected sites between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance regional pollen zones are proposed (Table 16, 17 and 19). (4) Paleoecology: Climatic change in the Late-Glacial can be inferred from Coleoptera, Trichoptera, Chironomidae and d18O of carbonates: a distinct warming is recorded around 12' 600 BP and around 10' 000 BP. The Younger Dryas biozone (10'700-10'000 BP) was the only cooling found in the Late-Glacial. The Betula depression often correlated wi th the Older Dryas biozone was possibl not colder but dryer than the previous period. During the Holocene the lowland site is not very sensitive to the minor climatic changes. Table 22 summarizes climatic and trophic changes before 8'000 BP as deduced from various biostratigraphies studied by a number of authors. Ostracods, Chironomids and fossil pigments indicate that anoxic conditions prevailed during the BoIling (possibly meromixis). Changes in the lake level are illustrated in Figure 74. A first lake-level lowering occurred in the early Holocene (10'000 to 9'000 BP), a second during the Atlantic (about 6'800 to 5'200 BP). The first "shrinking" of the lake volume resulted in a eutrophication recorded by laminations in the profundal and by pigments of Cyanophyceae. The second fall in water level corresponds to an increase of Nymphaeaceae. Human impact can be inferred in three ways: eutrophication of the lake (since the Neolithic), changes of terrestrial vegetation by deforestations (cyclicity of Fagus, see Figures 78 to 80), and enhanced erosion (increasing sedimentation rates by inwashed clay, particularly since the Roman Colonization, see Figures 49 and 81). Summary: This paper was planned as the final report on Lobsigensee. However, a number of issues are not answered but can only be asked more precisely, for example: (1) For the two periods with the highest rates of change, Le. the Bolling and the Preboreal biozones, pollen influx may reflect vegetation dynamics. Detailed investigations of these periods in annually laminated sediments are planned. (2) Biostratigraphies other than palynostratigraphy are needed to estimate the degree of linkage or independence in the development of terrestrial and lacustrine ecosystems. Often our sampling intervals were not identical, thus influencing our temporal resolution. (3) 6180- and 14C-stratigraPhies with high resolution will elucidate the leads and lags of these dynamic periods. Plateaux of constant age in the age-depth relationship have a strong bearing on both biological and geophysical understanding of Late-Glacial and early Holocene developments. (4) Numerical methods applied to the pollen diagrams of the cross section will help to quantify the significance of similari ties and dissimilarities across a single basin (with Prof. Birks). (5) Numerical methods applied to different sites on the Swiss Plateau and on the transect across the Alps will be helpful in evaluating the influence of different environmental factors (with Prof. Birks). (6) A new map 1: 1000 with 50cm-contour lines prov ided by Prof. Zurbuchen will be combined with a grid of cores sampling the transition from lake marl to peat enabling us to calculate paleo-volumes of the lake. This is interesting for the two "shrinking periods" (in Fig. 74A numbers 2-6 and 7-10), both accompanied by eutrophication. The pal eo-volume during the Neoli thic set tlement of the Cortaillod culture linked wi th an est l.mate of trophic change derived from diatoms (Prof. Smol in prep.) could possibly give an indication of the size of the human population of this period. (7) For the period with the antagonism between Fagus peaks and ABC-peaks close collaboration between palynologists, geochemists and archeologists should enable us to determine the influence of prehistoric and historic people on vegetation (collaboration with Prof. Stockli and Prof. Herzig). (8) The core LL-75 taken with a "cold letter box" will be analysed for major and trace elements by Dr. Sturm for 210pb and 137Cs by Prof.von Gunten and for pollen. We will see if our local PAZ L30 really corresponds to the surface sediment and if the small seepage lake reflects modern pollution.

Fossil pollen record of composite sediment core TMD from Tso Moriri, analysis of modern surface pollen samples, mean annual precipitation reconstruction, and digitisation and recalibration of different discussed palaeoclimate proxy records

This paper presents a new fossil pollen record from Tso Moriri (32°54'N, 78°19'E, 4512 m a.s.l.) and seeks to reconstruct changes in mean annual precipitation (MAP) during the last 12,000 years. This high-alpine lake occupies an area of 140 km**2 in a glacial-tectonic valley in the northwestern Himalaya. The region has a cold climate, with a MAP <300 mm, and open vegetation. The hydrology is controlled by the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM), but winter westerly-associated precipitation also affects the regional water balance. Results indicate that precipitation levels varied significantly during the Holocene. After a rapid increase in MAP, a phase of maximum humidity was reached between ca. 11 to 9.6 cal ka BP, followed by a gradual decline in MAP. This trend parallels the reduction in the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Comparison of different palaeoclimate proxy records reveal evidence for a stronger Holocene decrease in precipitation in the northern versus the southern parts of the ISM domain. The long-term trend of ISM weakening is overlaid with several short periods of greater dryness, which are broadly synchronous with the North Atlantic cold spells, suggesting reduced amounts of westerly-associated winter precipitation. Compared to the mid and late Holocene, it appears that westerlies had a greater influence on the western parts of the ISM domain during the early Holocene. During this period, the westerly-associated summer precipitation belt was positioned at Mediterranean latitudes and amplified the ISM-derived precipitation. The Tso Moriri pollen record and moisture reconstructions also suggest that changes in climatic conditions affected the ancient Harappan Civilisation, which flourished in the greater Indus Valley from approximately 5.2 to 3 cal ka BP. The prolonged Holocene trend towards aridity, punctuated by an interval of increased dryness (between ca. 4.5 to 4.3 cal ka BP), may have pushed the Mature Harappan urban settlements (between ca. 4.5 to 3.9 cal ka BP) to develop more efficient agricultural practices to deal with the increasingly acute water shortages. The amplified aridity associated with North Atlantic cooling between ca. 4 to 3.6 and around 3.2 cal ka BP further hindered local agriculture, possibly causing the deurbanisation that occurred from ca. 3.9 cal ka BP and eventual collapse of the Harappan Civilisation between ca. 3.5 to 3 cal ka BP.

Pollen records of profile Krumbach from southern Germany

Some years ago a fossil lake basin was found in the northeastern part of the former Rhine-pied- mont-glacier, situated between the endmoraine system ofthe elassical Riß- andWürm glacia- tions, respectively. The lacustrine sediments contain the pollenflora ofthe Eemian interglacial. They are intensively thrusted. These sediments are eovered by a loam-layer, rieh in elasts. The thickness of this loam-layer varies between at least 170 and 400 cm. It consists in its major part of loess-loam and solifluction material. Yet just on top of the lake sediments mentioned an in- tensively compressed loam, characterized by quarzgrains with all features of glacially pressed material, together with striated elasts is met with. It strongly resembles atil!. Ifthis is true, the stratigraphie division ofthe last glaciation strongly deviates from the hitherto accepted scheme, incorporating an early glacier advance, long before the elassical young-endmoraine systems of the Würm glaciation were formed.

Environmental analyses of cyclic Middle Eocene sediments and palynomorph records of ODP Hole 189-1172A

The influence of orbital precession on early Paleogene climate and ocean circulation patterns in the southeast Pacific region is investigated by combining environmental analyses of cyclic Middle Eocene sediments and palynomorph records recovered from ODP Hole 1172A on the East Tasman Plateau with climate model simulations. Integration of results indicates that in the marine realm, direct effects of precessional forcing are not pronounced, although increased precipitation/runoff could have enhanced dinoflagellate cyst production. On the southeast Australian continent, the most pronounced effects of precessional forcing were fluctuations in summer precipitation and temperature on the Antarctic Margin. These fluctuations resulted in vegetational changes, most notably in the distribution of Nothofagus (subgenus Brassospora). The climate model results suggest significant fluctuations in sea ice in the Ross Sea, notably during Austral summers. This is consistent with the influx of Antarctic heterotrophic dinoflagellates in the early part of the studied record. The data demonstrate a strong precessionally driven climate variability and thus support the concept that precessional forcing could have played a role in early Antarctic glaciation via changes in runoff and/or precipitation.

Palynological records of sediments from the Odderade type locality, north Germany

Reinvestigation of the Odderade Interstadial in its type locality led to an augmentation of the flora list and correction of some misinterpretations (e.g. Omorica, Frangula). The Eemian, stadials FW 1 and 3, and the interstadials Amersfoort/Broerup and Odderade have been manifested by pollen analyses. FW 1 and FW 3 are probably not completely free from forested areas. The new pollen diagrams considered with older data from Odderade, and in comparison with other regions in Central Europe, fit essentially with the classification and development of Vegetation during the Early Weichselian in Oerel by Behre & Lade (1986).