Lateglacial and Holocene climate oscillations in the South-western Alps: An attempt at quantitative reconstruction

Ortu, Elena; Peyron, Odile; Bordon, Amandine; Beaulieu, J.‐L. de; Siniscalco, Consolata; Caramiello, Rosanna

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2008.04.004

Cited by 45 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…in the Italian south-western Alps revealed the highest T July , i.e. 2–5 °C higher than at present, in the early Holocene (Ortu et al., 2008) (Fig. 8).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Holocene temperature variations at a high-altitude site in the Eastern Alps: a chironomid record from Schwarzsee ob Sölden, Austria

Ilyashuk

Koinig

Heiri

et al. 2011

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Few well-dated, quantitative Holocene temperature reconstructions exist from high-altitude sites in the Central Eastern Alps. Here, we present a chironomid-based quantitative reconstruction of mean July air temperatures (TJuly) throughout the Holocene for a remote high-mountain lake, Schwarzsee ob Sölden, situated above the treeline at 2796 m a.s.l. in the Austrian Alps. Applying a chironomid-temperature inference model developed from lakes of the Alpine region to a high-resolution chironomid record from the lake provides evidence for early Holocene (ca 10000–8600 cal yr BP) TJuly of up to 8.5 °C, i.e. >4 °C above the modern (1977–2006) mean July temperature. The reconstruction reveals the so-called ‘8.2-ka cold event’ centered at ca 8250–8000 cal yr BP with temperatures ca 3 °C below the early-Holocene thermal maximum. Rather warm (ca 6 °C) and productive conditions prevailed during ca 7900–4500 cal yr BP. The chironomid record suggests a climate transition between ca 5200 and 4500 cal yr BP to cooler TJuly. A distinct cooling trend is evident from ca 4500 until ca 2500 cal yr BP. Thereafter, the study site experienced its coldest conditions (around 4 °C or less) throughout the rest of the Holocene, with the exception of the warming trend during the late 20th century. Beside other factors, the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation seems to be the major driving force for the long-term trends in TJuly at high altitudes in the Eastern Alps. Due to the extreme location of the lake and the limited temperature range represented by the applied calibration data set, the chironomid-based temperature reconstruction fails to track phases of the late-Holocene climatic history with TJuly cooler than 4 °C. Further chironomid-based palaeoclimate model and down-core studies are required to address this problem, provide more realistic TJuly estimates from undisturbed high-altitude lakes in the Alps, and extract a reliable regional temperature signal.

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“…in the Italian south-western Alps revealed the highest T July , i.e. 2–5 °C higher than at present, in the early Holocene (Ortu et al., 2008) (Fig. 8).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Holocene temperature variations at a high-altitude site in the Eastern Alps: a chironomid record from Schwarzsee ob Sölden, Austria

Ilyashuk

Koinig

Heiri

et al. 2011

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…Bartlein & Whitlock 1993;Cheddadi et al 1998a;Kerwin et al 2004;Nakagawa et al 2002;Sawada et al 2004;Peryon et al 2005;Ortu et al 2006Ortu et al , 2008Ortu et al , 2010Feurdean et al 2008aFeurdean et al , 2008bBordon et al 2009;. MAT has been extended by Guiot (1990), Guiot et al (1989;1992), and Cheddadi et al (1998b) to reconstruct several climatic variables from pollen assemblages for the last glacial-interglacial cycle using so-called 'palaeobioclimatic operators' as weights to emphasise preferentially the climatic signal within fossil pollen data (see below).…”

Section: The Assemblage Approach Basic Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative Climate Reconstructions Based on Late-Quaternary Biological Proxies

Birks

2011

TOECOLJ

343

284

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Abstract:The importance of reconstructing past environments quantitatively in palaeoecology is reviewed by showing that many ecological questions asked of palaeoecological data commonly involve the reconstructions of past environment. Three basic approaches to reconstructing past climate from palaeoecological data are outlined and discussed in terms of their assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses. These approaches are the indicator-species approach involving bioclimateenvelope modelling; the assemblage approach involving modern analogue techniques and response surfaces; and the multivariate calibration-function approach. Topics common to all approaches are reviewed -presentation and interpretation, evaluation and validation, comparison, and general limitations of climate reconstructions. Challenges and possible future developments are presented and the potential future role of quantitative climate reconstructions in palaeoecology is summarised.

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“…A complete analysis of the mechanisms proposed here requires the consideration of precipitation variations during the Holocene. However, paleoprecipitation data are among the most difficult information to obtain, and most of the studies conducted in the Alps generally report variable results (Kerschner and Ivy-Ochs, 2008;Ortu et al, 2008;Ilyashuk et al, 2011). Finally, it is important to highlight that, assuming a penned water condition as proposed by Anderson et al (2013), the dependency of frost-cracking processes on temperature would be strengthened.…”

Section: Conclusion: Variations Through Time and Further Research Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency of frost-cracking processes through space and time: An example from the eastern Italian Alps

2015

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Lateglacial and Holocene climate oscillations in the South-western Alps: An attempt at quantitative reconstruction

Cited by 45 publications

References 35 publications

Holocene temperature variations at a high-altitude site in the Eastern Alps: a chironomid record from Schwarzsee ob Sölden, Austria

Holocene temperature variations at a high-altitude site in the Eastern Alps: a chironomid record from Schwarzsee ob Sölden, Austria

Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative Climate Reconstructions Based on Late-Quaternary Biological Proxies

Efficiency of frost-cracking processes through space and time: An example from the eastern Italian Alps

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