Millennial-timescale quantitative estimates of climate dynamics in central Europe from earthworm calcite granules in loess deposits

Abstract

Ice core and marine archives provide detailed quantitative records of last glacial climate changes, whereas comparable terrestrial records from the mid-latitudes remain scarce. Here we quantify warm season land-surface temperatures and precipitation over millennial timescales for central Europe for the period spanning 45,000–22,000 years before present that derive from two temporally overlapping loess-palaeosol-sequences, dated at high resolution by radiocarbon on earthworm calcite granules. Interstadial temperatures were 1–4 °C warmer than stadial climate, a temperature difference which is strongly attenuated compared to Greenland records. We show that climate in the Rhine Valley was significantly cooler during the warm season and overall drier with annual precipitation values reduced by up to 70% compared to the present day. We combine quantitative estimates with mesoscale wind and moisture transport modelling demonstrating that this region was dominated by westerlies and thereby inextricably linked to North Atlantic climate forcing, although ameliorated.

Thermoelasticity of ice explains widespread damage in dripstone caves during glacial periods

“…This is consistent with the magnitude and pattern of climate change during glacial periods and especially during glacial maxima. These periods were characterized by severe cooling (on the order of 10 °C in the Alps 28 , 29 ) and by a high degree or climate variability, including Heinrich stadials and minor events of iceberg discharge into the North Atlantic, which influenced the climate in Europe 30 – 32 . Permafrost was widespread in the Central Europe between the southern margin of the Scandinavian ice sheet and the Alpine ice sheet, including the southern part of England 20 .…”

Changes in Atmospheric Dynamics Over Dansgaard‐Oeschger Climate Oscillations Around 40 ka and Their Impact on Europe

“…These heavier δ 18 O compositions, primarily explained by temperature variations, can at least partly be accounted for by different, more southerly moisture sources as indicated by our CWT analysis. The stadial layers of the Schwalbenberg loess record show more negative δ 18 O of earthworm biospheroids, which is a summer season proxy (Prud'homme et al., 2022). The more negative values may dominantly be related to lower temperatures, but a moisture source effect also cannot be excluded considering more frequent appearance of northern flow types over the summer season at this site, suggesting a North Atlantic moisture source with potentially more negative δ 18 O values.…”

“…We used Speleothem data of the Villars Cave in France (Genty et al, 2003(Genty et al, , 2005 and of the Sofular cave in Turkey (Fleitmann et al, 2009), data from lake sediments, such as the Grand Pile peat bog insect record (Ponel, 1995), the chironomid record of Unterangerberg (Ilyashuk et al, 2022), and the pollen records of Les Echets and Grand Pile (Guiot et al, 1989), Lac du Bouchet (Thouveny et al, 1994), as well as Lago Grande di Monticchio (Allen et al, 1999). Further, the Schwalbenberg loess sequence in Germany (Prud'homme et al, 2022) is taken into account.…”

“…Loess deposits are the third type of archives allowing reconstructions of seasonal temperatures and mean annual precipitation on land for stadial/interstadial timescales using the stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of earthworm calcite granules (Prud'homme et al, 2022), and specific species of land snails (Radaković et al, 2023;Sümegi & Krolopp, 2002). Only one relatively well-dated loess record could be involved in our study, which provides quantitative paleoclimate information on GS-9: the Schwalbenberg loess sequence in Germany (Prud'homme et al, 2022).…”

Radiocarbon dates from the Netherlands and Doggerland as a proxy for vegetation and faunal biomass between 55 and 5 ka cal bp

“…In contrast to the more dynamic fluvial environment, paleosoils in Middle Pleniglacial loess sequences better reflect climate changes (Schirmer, 2016; Prud'homme et al, 2022). The formation of Cambisols, characterized by soil weathering and a Bw‐horizon, is associated with interstadial conditions during the Middle Pleniglacial (Schirmer, 2016).…”