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Subantarctic peatlands and their potential as palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic archives

Van der Putten, Nathalie LU ; Mauquoy, Dmitri ; Verbruggen, Cyriel and Björck, Svante LU (2012) In Quaternary International 268. p.65-76
Abstract
Subantarctic islands are located within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the southern westerly

wind belt, the latter called Southern Westerlies, making them unique terrestrial archives to investigate

past changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns in the southern mid-latitudes. The islands

are characterised by a treeless, phanerogam-poor flora in which bryophytes are of major importance.

Several peat-based Holocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic studies have recently been published

for South Georgia and Ile de la Possession (Iles Crozet). A range of techniques have been used in

these studies, mainly plant macrofossil analysis, but also analyses of diatoms,... (More)
Subantarctic islands are located within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the southern westerly

wind belt, the latter called Southern Westerlies, making them unique terrestrial archives to investigate

past changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns in the southern mid-latitudes. The islands

are characterised by a treeless, phanerogam-poor flora in which bryophytes are of major importance.

Several peat-based Holocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic studies have recently been published

for South Georgia and Ile de la Possession (Iles Crozet). A range of techniques have been used in

these studies, mainly plant macrofossil analysis, but also analyses of diatoms, pollen and non-pollen

microfossils, geochemical and geomagnetic measurements. The records are chronologically constrained

by radiocarbon dating. This paper brings together these data in order to give an overview of the

Subantarctic peat-based palaeoclimatic records. A new plant macrofossil record for the island of South

Georgia is added. Evidence for millennial scale Holocene climate variability was found for both islands of

which the most striking one occurred in the late Holocene. However, within the uncertainty of the age/

depth models, the timing for this climate shift to wetter and/or colder conditions on South Georgia and

windier/wetter conditions on Ile de la Possession is different for both islands. Ile de la Possession (Iles

Crozet) seems to follow the Northern Hemisphere climate evolution as the event was dated to

w2800 cal BP, a well-known climate event present in many peat-based records in north-western Europe.

In contrast, the South Georgian late Holocene climate records reveal a shift around w2200e2000 cal BP (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Quaternary International
volume
268
pages
65 - 76
publisher
Pergamon Press Ltd.
external identifiers
  • wos:000307618500007
  • scopus:84863870158
ISSN
1873-4553
DOI
10.1016/j.quaint.2011.07.032
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7c7a8aed-4af5-4797-9a5d-d0f951e260b1 (old id 2796845)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:59:23
date last changed
2022-03-20 01:54:38
@article{7c7a8aed-4af5-4797-9a5d-d0f951e260b1,
  abstract     = {{Subantarctic islands are located within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the southern westerly<br/><br>
wind belt, the latter called Southern Westerlies, making them unique terrestrial archives to investigate<br/><br>
past changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns in the southern mid-latitudes. The islands<br/><br>
are characterised by a treeless, phanerogam-poor flora in which bryophytes are of major importance.<br/><br>
Several peat-based Holocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic studies have recently been published<br/><br>
for South Georgia and Ile de la Possession (Iles Crozet). A range of techniques have been used in<br/><br>
these studies, mainly plant macrofossil analysis, but also analyses of diatoms, pollen and non-pollen<br/><br>
microfossils, geochemical and geomagnetic measurements. The records are chronologically constrained<br/><br>
by radiocarbon dating. This paper brings together these data in order to give an overview of the<br/><br>
Subantarctic peat-based palaeoclimatic records. A new plant macrofossil record for the island of South<br/><br>
Georgia is added. Evidence for millennial scale Holocene climate variability was found for both islands of<br/><br>
which the most striking one occurred in the late Holocene. However, within the uncertainty of the age/<br/><br>
depth models, the timing for this climate shift to wetter and/or colder conditions on South Georgia and<br/><br>
windier/wetter conditions on Ile de la Possession is different for both islands. Ile de la Possession (Iles<br/><br>
Crozet) seems to follow the Northern Hemisphere climate evolution as the event was dated to<br/><br>
w2800 cal BP, a well-known climate event present in many peat-based records in north-western Europe.<br/><br>
In contrast, the South Georgian late Holocene climate records reveal a shift around w2200e2000 cal BP}},
  author       = {{Van der Putten, Nathalie and Mauquoy, Dmitri and Verbruggen, Cyriel and Björck, Svante}},
  issn         = {{1873-4553}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{65--76}},
  publisher    = {{Pergamon Press Ltd.}},
  series       = {{Quaternary International}},
  title        = {{Subantarctic peatlands and their potential as palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic archives}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.07.032}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.quaint.2011.07.032}},
  volume       = {{268}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}