Sea-surface temperature reconstruction of sediments from the North Pacific and North Atlantic

Holocene climate variability is investigated in the North Pacific and North Atlantic realms, using alkenone-derived sea-surface temperature (SST) records as well as a millennial scale simulation with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The alkenone SST data indicate a temperature increase over almost the entire North Pacific from 7 cal kyr BP to the present. A dipole pattern with a continuous cooling in the northeastern Atlantic and a warming in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the northern Red Sea is detected in the North Atlantic realm. Similarly, SST variations are opposite in sign between the northeastern Pacific and the northeastern Atlantic. A 2300 year long AOGCM climate simulation reveals a similar SST seesaw between the northeastern Pacific and the northeastern Atlantic on centennial time scales. Our analysis of the alkenone SST data and the model results suggests fundamental inter-oceanic teleconnections during the Holocene.

Tab. 1+2: Representative electron-microprobe analyses of minerals from Du Toit Nunataks

An example of cordierite-bearing gneiss that is part of a high-grade gneiss-migmatite sequence is described from the Hatch Plain in the Read Mountains of the Shackleton Range, Antarctica, for the first time. The cordierite-bearing rocks constitute the more melanosomic portions of the metatectic and migmatitic rocks that are associated with relict granulite facies rocks such as enderbitic granulite and enderbitic garnet granulite. The predominant mineral assemblage in the cordierite-bearing rocks is chemically homogeneous cordierite (XMg 0.61) and biotite (XMg 0.47), strongly zoned garnet (XMg 0.18-0.11), sillimanite, K-feldspar (Or81-94Ab5-18An0.6), plagioclase (An28), and quartz. Inclusions of sillimanite and biotite relics in both garnet and cordierite indicate that garnet and cordierite were produced by the coupled, discontinuous reaction biotite + sillimanite + quartz = cordierite + garnet + K-feldspar + H2O. Various garnet-biotite and garnet-cordierite geothermometers and sillimanite-quartz-plagioclase-garnet-cordierite geobarometers yield a continuous clockwise path in the P-T diagram. The P-T conditions for equilibrium between garnet core and cordierite and between garnet core and biotite during peak metamorphism and migmatization were estimated to be 690 °C at 5-6 kb. This was followed by cooling and unloading with continuously changing conditions down to 515 °C at 2-3 kb. This low-pressure re-equilibration correlates with the pressure conditions evaluated by SCHULZE (1989) for the widespread granitic gneisses of the Read Group in the Shackleton Range. The associated relict enderbitic granulites representing low-pressure type granulite (8 kb; 790 °C) are comparable to similar low-pressure granulites from the East Antarctic craton. They were either formed by under-accretion processes after collision (WELLS 1979, p. 217) or they are a product of remetamorphism at P-T conditions intermediate between granulite and amphibolite facies. A model of a multiple imbrication zone with crustal thickening (CUTHBERT et al. 1983) is discussed for the formation of the relict granulites of the central and eastern Read Mountains which show higher pressure conditions (8-12 kb, SCHULZE & OLESCH 1990), indicating a Proterozoic crustal thickness of at least 40 km.

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.

Pollen and macrofossils profiles and age determination from the Pittsburg Basin in the lowlands of south-central Illinois

Pollen and macrofossil evidence for the nature of the vegetation during glacial and interglacial periods in the regions south of the Wisconsinan ice margin is still very scarce. Modern opinions concerning these problems are therefore predominantly derived from geological evidence only or are extrapolated from pollen studies of late Wisconsinan deposits. Now for the first time pollen and macrofossil analyses are available from south-central Illinois covering the Holocene, the entire Wisconsinan, and most probably also Sangamonian and late Illinoian time. The cores studied came from three lakes, which originated as kettle holes in glacial drift of Illinoian age near Vandalia, Fayette County. The Wisconsinan ice sheet approached the sites from the the north to within about 60 km distance only. One of the profiles (Pittsburg Basin) probably reaches back to the late Illinoian (zone 1), which was characterized by forests with much Picea. Zone 2, most likely of Sangamonian age, represents a period of species-rich deciduous forests, which must have been similar to the ones that thrive today south and southeast of the prairie peninsula. During the entire Wisconsinan (14C dates ranging from 38,000 to 21,000 BP) thermophilous deciduous trees like Quercus, Carya, and Ulmus occurred in the region, although temporarily accompanied by tree genera with a more northerly modern distribution, such as Picea, which entered and then left south-central Illinois during the Woodfordian. Thus it is evident that arctic climatic conditions did not prevail in the lowlands of south-central Illinois (about 38°30' lat) during the Wisconsinan, even at the time of the maximum glaciation, the Woodfordian. The Wisconsinan was, however, not a period of continuous forest. The pollen assemblages of zone 3 (Altonian) indicate prairie with stands of trees, and in zone 4 the relatively abundant Artemisia pollen indicates the existence of open vegetation and stands of deciduous trees, Picea, and Pinus. True tundra may have existed north of the sites, but if so its pollen rain apparently is marked by pollen from nearby stands of trees. After the disappearance of Pinus and Picea at about 14,000 BP (estimated!), there developed a mosaic of prairies and stands of Quercus, Carya, and other deciduous tree genera (zone 5). This type of vegetation persisted until it was destroyed by cultivation during the 19th and 20th century. Major vegetational changes are not indicated in the pollen diagram for the late Wisconsinan and the Holocene. The dating of zones 1 and 2 is problematical because the sediments are beyond the14C range and because of the lack of stratigraphic evidence. The zones dated as Illinoian and Sangamonian could also represent just a Wisconsinan stadial and interstadial. This possibility, however, seems to be contradicted by the late glacial and interglacial character of the forest vegetation of that time.

Pollen profile from sediment core Höllerer See

(expanded by Eberhard Grüger, Göttingen) The site "Höllerer See" is a lake in the northern foreland of the Alps, about 30 km north of the city of Salzburg/Austria, situated in the south-western part of Oberösterreich/Austria. A 2 m long piston core from this locality, consisting entirely of calcareous gyttja, was studied by pollen analysis. The three lowermost samples (1.98, 1.95 and 1.92 m) were deposited during the Preboreal when Pinus and Betula were still the dominating forest trees. High pollen values of thermophilous woody species (mainly Corylus and Quercus, but also Ulmus, Tilia, Fraxinus) prove the Boreal age of the next younger sample (1.91 m). The following two pollen spectra attest that Alnus (1.89 m) and - later (1.88 m) - Fagus had become important members of the local (Alnus) and the regional (Fagus) vegetation. From this level up to the top of the profile these two tree taxa contribute - together with Betula - always 50 to 80 % to the arboreal pollen sum. The upper 1.89 m of sediment of the Höllerer See core evidently date from the Subboreal and the Subatlantic. As Preboreal sediment was stated at the base of the profile it must be concluded that most of the Boreal and the Atlantic is - for whatever reason - not represented by sediment in this core. As no radiocarbon dates are available age estimates of the distinguished pollen zones can be achieved only by correlating major changes of the former vegetation with historical events which probably influenced the then contemporary vegetation. The pollen grains of the Triticum and Hordeum type found in samples of zone 2.1 might indicate the growing of cereals in the region during the Late Bronze Age. The first pollen grains of Secale date from the boundary Hallstatt/Latène Age (zone 2.2). The cereal curves become continuous in Bavarian times (Bajuwarenzeit, Middle Ages, zone 3.3). The Plantago laceolata curve, continuous since 1.7 m depth (zone 2.1), points to animal breeding since the Early Subatlantic (Hallstattzeit). This curve reaches its absolute maximum in Roman time (zone 3.1). Roman time forest clearance caused a drastic decrease of tree pollen curves (start of zone 3.1). Values of anthropogenic indicators as high as in zone 3.1 are found again - after a distinct decrease in zone 3.2 - not till the Bavarians settled in the region (6th century). Maximal Fagus values and the simultaneous total lack of anthropogenic indicators mark the Migration Period (zone 3.2). The Younger Subatlantic (zone 4) is characterized by a decrease of deciduous forests due to medieval forest clearance. At the same time the conifers Pinus and Picea gained in importance. The lake was probably used for retting hemp in Medieval times. The distinction of the pollen grains of Cannabis and Humulus might not be certain in all cases. It is known that hemp as well as hop was cultivated in the study area. Markers were added to the samples at the beginning of pollen preparation (13500 Lycopodium spores, sample volume 0.5 cm**3) and counted together with the pollen grains. Therefore pollen concentrations can be calculated: Concentration = C * F / V (with C = number of grains of a particular pollen type, V = volume of the untreated pollen sample, F = marker added/marker counted). F ranges from 39 to 1688. Factors that large are not suited to produce reliably interpretable pollen concentrations. Consequently no use was made of the pollen concentrations in this thesis, although a concentration diagram is added.