Chironomid-inferred July-air temperature of Lago Piccolo di Avigliana, supplement to: Larocque, Isabelle; Finsinger, Walter (2008): Late-glacial chironomid-based temperature reconstructions for Lago Piccolo di Avigliana in the southwestern Alps (Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 257(1-2), 207-223

• Main Authors: Larocque, Isabelle, Finsinger, Walter
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2008
• Subjects: DEPTH, sediment/rock; AGE; Temperature, air, July; Piston corer; Chironomid-inferred air temperature, N-American training set Larocque et al.; Chironomid-inferred air temperature, Swedish training set Larocque et al. 2006; NGRIP; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.866949; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.866949

Chironomid headcapsules were used to reconstruct late glacial and early-Holocene summer temperatures at Lago Piccolo di Avigliana (LPA). Two training sets (northern Sweden, North America) were used to infer temperatures. The reconstructed patterns of temperature change agreed well with the GRIP and NGRIP d18O records. Inferred temperatures were high during the Bølling (ca 19 °C), slowly decreased to ca 17.5 °C during the Allerød, reached lowest temperatures (ca 16 °C) during the Younger Dryas, and increased to ca. 18.5 °C during the Preboreal. The amplitudes of change at climate transitions (i.e. Oldest Dryas/Bølling: 3 °C, Allerød/Younger Dryas: 1.5 °C, and Younger Dryas/Preboreal: 2.5 °C) were smaller than in the northern Alps but similar to those recorded at another site in northeastern Italy. Our results suggest that (1) Allerød temperatures were higher in the southern Alps and (2) higher during the Preboreal (1 °C) than during the Allerød. These differences might provide an explanation for the different responses of terrestrial-vegetation to late glacial and early-Holocene climatic changes in the two regions. Other sites on both sides of the Alps should be studied to confirm these two hypotheses.