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Evidence for high-frequency late Glacial to mid-Holocene (16,800 to 5500 cal yr B.P.) climate variability from oxygen isotope values of Lough Inchiquin, Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Aaron F. Diefendorf ,
William P. Patterson ,
Henry T. Mullins ,
Neil Tibert  and
Anna Martini
Aaron F. Diefendorf*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, 114 Science Place Drive, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5E2
William P. Patterson
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, 114 Science Place Drive, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5E2
Henry T. Mullins
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
Neil Tibert
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science and Geology, University of Mary Washington, Jepson Science Center, 1301 College Ave, Fredericksburg, VA 22401, USA
Anna Martini
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 306 966 8593.Email Address:[email protected](A.F. Diefendorf), [email protected](W.P. Patterson), [email protected](H.T. Mullins),, [email protected](N. Tibert),, [email protected](A. Martini).
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Abstract

A 7.6-m core recovered from Lough Inchiquin, western Ireland provides evidence for rapid and long-term climate change from the Late Glacial period to the Mid-Holocene. We determined percentage of carbonate, total organic matter, mineralogy, and δ18Ocalcite values to provide the first high-resolution record of climate variability for this period in Ireland. Following deglaciation, rapid climate amelioration preceded large increases in GISP2 δ18Oice values by ∼2300 yr. The Oldest Dryas (15,100 to 14,500 cal yr B.P.) Late Glacial event is documented in this record as a decrease in δ18Ocalcite values. Brief warming at ∼12,700 cal yr B.P. was followed by characteristic Younger Dryas cold and dry climate conditions. A rapid increase in δ18Ocalcite values at ∼10,500 cal yr B.P. marked the onset of Boreal warming in western Ireland. The 8200 cal yr B.P. event is represented by a brief cooling in our record. Prior to general warming, a larger and previously undescribed climate anomaly between 7300 and 6700 cal yr B.P. is characterized by low δ18Ocalcite values with high-frequency variability.

Keywords

Oxygen isotopesLake sedimentIrelandLate GlacialHoloceneAtmospheric circulationClimate change
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 78 - 86
Copyright
University of Washington

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