Search results for "Paleoclimatology"
showing 10 items of 110 documents
Summer drought reconstruction in northeastern Spain inferred from a tree ring latewood network since 1734
2017
Drought recurrence in the Mediterranean is regarded as a fundamental factor for socio-economic development and the resilience of natural systems in context of global change. However, knowledge of past droughts has been hampered by the absence of high-resolution proxies. We present a drought reconstruction for the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula based on a new dendrochronology network considering the Standardized Evapotranspiration Precipitation Index (SPEI). A total of 774 latewood width series from 387 trees of P. sylvestris and P. uncinata were combined in an inter-regional chronology. The new chronology, calibrated against gridded climate data, reveals a robust relationship with the S…
Long-term summer temperature variations in the Pyrenees from detrended stable carbon isotopes
2015
Abstract Substantial effort has recently been put into the development of climate reconstructions from tree-ring stable carbon isotopes, though the interpretation of long-term trends retained in such timeseries remains challenging. Here we use detrended δ13C measurements in Pinus uncinata tree-rings, from the Spanish Pyrenees, to reconstruct decadal variations in summer temperature back to the 13th century. The June-August temperature signal of this reconstruction is attributed using decadally as well as annually resolved, 20th century δ13C data. Results indicate that late 20th century warming has not been unique within the context of the past 750 years. Our reconstruction contains greater …
Stable isotopes covering 96-7 ka BP from stalagmite CM (Santo Tomas Cave, Cuba)
2020
We present a new speleothem trace element and stable isotope record, which extends previous paleoclimate evidence from Cuban speleothems to the last 96 ka. Stable isotope samples were micromilled at a resolution of 0.10-0.33mm, and measured using an IRMS equipped with a Gasbench. Line scans of Element/Calcium ratios of the speleothem were measured by laser ablation ICPMS and were reduced to the resolution of the stable isotope records.
Distribution of clay minerals in Early Jurassic Peritethyan seas: palaeoclimatic significance inferred from multiproxy comparisons.
2009
13 pages; International audience; A set of published, unpublished, and new clay mineral data from 60 European and Mediterranean localities allows us to test the reliability of clay minerals as palaeoclimatic proxies for the Pliensbachian–Toarcian period (Early Jurassic) by reconstructing spatial and temporal variations of detrital fluxes at the ammonite biochronozone resolution. In order to discuss their palaeoclimatic meaning, a compilation of low-latitude belemnite δ18O, δ13C, Mg/Ca, and 87Sr/86Sr values is presented for the first time for the whole Pliensbachian– Toarcian period. Once diagenetic and authigenic biases have been identified and ruled out, kaolinite content variation is cons…
Historical Contaminant Records from Sclerochronological Archives
2015
A number of marine and freshwater organisms, including scleractinian and proteinacious corals, coralline algae, sclerosponges, and bivalve mollusks, secrete skeletons that grow larger over time and may record environmental contaminants over the lifespan of an individual. Most of these organisms also form periodic growth patterns (growth increments, lines or bands) that can be used to accurately date contaminant archives produced from chemical or physical analysis of sequential skeletal samples (termed sclerochronology). The majority of records produced from these organisms thus far have focused on paleoclimate reconstructions, but there is a vast potential for information on changes in cont…
The relationship between water and air temperature in chironomid-based paleoclimate reconstructions: Records from boreal and subarctic Finland
2014
Fossil remains of larval chironomids are one of the most useful paleolimnological proxies to reconstruct Holocene paleoclimate. We investigate the within-lake distribution of chironomids in relation to water temperature and test the usability of intralake calibration in chironomid-based temperature reconstructions. We compare our findings against the traditional multilake calibration technique in Holocene sediment cores from Finland. The results show that intralake water temperature optima of common taxa correspond closely with mean July air temperature optima in a regional multilake dataset, with exception of a few vegetation-associated taxa. A calibration model based on intralake water t…
Human adaptation strategies to abrupt climate change in Puerto Rico ca. 3.5 ka
2015
The connection between climatic change and social response is complex because change articulates a number of inter-related factors. Human decisions are filtered by social buffers – including social memory, risk perception, and cultural priorities – and the rate and scale of climate change is usually much larger than the scale of human decision-making. In this article, we provide information on climate change based on precisely dated speleothems with the response evident in archaeological sites that have radiocarbon date ranges within the same time frame. A stalagmite recovered from within the catchment area for aquifer recharge of the Pre-Arawak site of Angostura in Barceloneta, Puerto Ric…
Decadal climate variability of the North Sea during the last millennium reconstructed from bivalve shells (Arctica islandica)
2014
Uninterrupted, annually resolved paleoclimate records are crucial to contextualize the current global change. Such information is particularly relevant for the Europe realm for which weather and climate projections are still very challenging if not virtually impossible. This study presents the first precisely dated, annually resolved, multiregional Arctica islandica chronologies from the North Sea which cover the time interval ad 1040–2010 and contain important information on supra-regional climatic conditions (sea surface temperature (SST), ocean productivity, wind stress). Shell growth varied periodically on timescales of 3–8, 12–16, 28–36, 50–80, and 120–240 years, possibly indicating a…
Paleoclimate variability during the Blake geomagnetic excursion (MIS 5d) deduced from a speleothem record
2014
To evaluate possible connections between climate and the Earth's magnetic field, we examine paleoclimate proxies in a stalagmite (PA-8) recording the Blake excursion (∼112–∼116.4 ka) from Cobre cave (N Spain). Trace element, δ13C, δ18O, δ234U, fluorescent lamination, growth rate, and paleomagnetic records were synchronized using a floating lamina-counted chronology constrained by U–Th dates, providing a high-resolution multi-proxy paleoclimate record for MIS 5d. The alpine cave setting and the combination of proxies contributed to improve the confidence of the paleoclimatic interpretation. Periods of relatively warm and humid climate likely favored forest development and resulted in high sp…
The future of paleoclimate
2021
Our understanding of natural climate variability rapidly declines over the Common Era (CE) as the pre-instrumental temperature amplitude differs substantially among large-scale reconstructions. Highlighting such differences and emphasizing paleoclimatic findings is crucial for placing anthropogenic climate change in a long-term context. We argue that more proxy records are needed to accurately reconstruct first millennium CE temperature variability and value regional studies producing such data.