Publication details

An annual-resolution stable isotope record from Swiss subfossil pine trees growing in the late Glacial

Authors

PAULY Maren HELLE Gerhard BÜNTGEN Ulf WACKER Lukas TREYDTE Kerstin REINIG Frederick TURNEY Chris NIEVERGELT Daniel KROMER Bernd FRIEDRICH Michael SOOKDEO Adam HEINRICH Ingo RIEDEL Frank BALTING Daniel BRAUER Achim

Year of publication 2020
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Quaternary Science Reviews
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106550
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106550
Keywords Tree-ring cellulose; delta O-13; delta O-18; Late glacial; Switzerland; Climate
Description Previous studies have suggested that the Late Glacial period (LG; -14 600-11 700 cal BP) was characterised by abrupt and extreme climate variability over the European sector of the North Atlantic. The limited number of precisely dated, high-resolution proxy records, however, restricts our understanding of climate dynamics through the LG. Here, we present the first annually-resolved tree-cellulose stable oxygen and carbon isotope chronology (delta O-18(tree), delta C-13(tree)) covering the LG between similar to 14 050 and 12 795 cal BP, generated from a Swiss pine trees (P. sylvestris; 27 trees, 1255 years). Comparisons of delta O-1(8)tree with regional lake and ice core delta O-18 records reveal that LG climatic changes over the North Atlantic (as recorded by Greenland Stadials and Inter-Stadials) were not all experienced to the same degree in the Swiss trees. Possible explanations include: (1) LG climate oscillations may be less extreme during the summer in Switzerland, (2) tree-ring delta O-18-may capture local precipitation and humidity changes and/or (3) decayed cellulose and various micro-site conditions may overprint large-scale temperature trends found in other delta O-18 records. Despite these challenges, our study emphasises the potential to investigate hydroclimate conditions using subfossil pine stable isotopes. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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