Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation and climate on the northern Taymyr Peninsula, Arctic Russia

• Published in: Boreas
• Main Authors: ANDREEV, ANDREI A., TARASOV, PAVEL E., SIEGERT, CHRISTINE, EBEL, TOBIAS, KLIMANOV, VLADIMIR A., MELLES, MARTIN, BOBROV, ANATOLY A., DEREVIAGIN, ALEXANDR YU., LUBINSKI, DAVID J., HUBBERTEN, HANS‐WOLFGANG
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2003
• Subjects: Arctic; Taymyr; permafrost; Taymyr Peninsula; Tundra
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2003.tb01230.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1502-3885.2003.tb01230.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2003.tb01230.x

Pollen data from a Levinson‐Lessing Lake sediment core (74°28'N, 98°38'E) and Cape Sabler, Taymyr Lake permafrost sequences (74°33'N, 100°32'E) reveal substantial environmental changes on the northern Taymyr Peninsula during the last c . 32000 14 C years. The continuous records confirm that a scarce steppe‐like vegetation with Poaceae, Artemisia and Cyperaceae dominated c . 32 000–10300 14 C yr BP, while tundra‐like vegetation with Oxyria , Ranunculaceae and Caryophyllaceae grew in wetter areas. The coldest interval occurred c . 18000 yr BP. Lateglacial pollen data show several warming events followed by a climate deterioration c . 10500 14 C yr BP, which may correspond with the Younger Dryas. The Late Pleistocene/Holocene transition, c . 10300–10000 14 C yr BP, is characterized by a change from the herb‐dominated vegetation to shrubby tundra with Betula sect. Nanae and Salix. Alnus fruticosa arrived locally c . 9000–8500 14 Cyr BP and disappeared c . 4000–3500 14 Cyr BP. Communities of Betula sect. Nanae , broadly distributed at c . 10000–3500 14 Cyr BP, almost disappeared when vegetation became similar to the modern herb tundra after 3500–3000 14 Cyr BP. Quantitative climate reconstructions show Last Glacial Maximum summer temperature about 4°C below the present and Preboreal ( c . 10 000 14 C yr BP) temperature 2–4°C above the present. Maximum summer temperature occurred between 10 000 and 5500 14 C yr BP; later summers were similar to present or slightly warmer.