Environmental responses to Lateglacial climatic fluctuations recorded in the sediments of pre-Alpine Lake Mondsee (northeastern Alps)

• Main Authors: Stefan Lauterbach, Nils Andersen, Dan L. Danielopol, Matthias Hüls, Ulrich Von Grafenstein
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Lateglacial; climate; lake sediments; Austria; sediment microfacies; µ-XRF; Alpine Lake; Greenland; NGRIP
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.635.5174; http://hal-univ-tours.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/68/08/68/PDF/lauterbach-JQS-2011.pdf

scanning; pollen; stable isotopes Investigation of the sedimentary record of pre-Alpine Lake Mondsee (Upper Austria) focused on the environmental reaction to rapid Lateglacial climatic changes. Results of this study reveal complex proxy responses that are variable in time and influenced by the long-term evolution of the lake and its catchment. A new field sampling approach facilitated continuous and precisely controlled parallel sampling at decadal to sub-annual resolution for µ-XRF element scanning, carbon geochemistry, stable isotope measurements on ostracods, pollen analyses and large-scale thin sections for microfacies analysis. The Holocene chronology is established through microscopic varve counting and supported by accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating of terrestrial plant macrofossils, whereas the Lateglacial age model is based on δ18O wiggle matching with the Greenland NGRIP record, using the GICC05 chronology. Microfacies analysis enables the detection of subtle sedimentological changes, proving that depositional processes even in rather large lake systems are highly sensitive to climate forcing. Comparing periods of major warming at the onset of the Lateglacial and Holocene and of major cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas reveals differences in proxy responses, reflecting