The 8.2-ka BP event in north-eastern North America: first combined oxygen and hydrogen isotopic data from peat in Newfoundland ...

Finding direct evidence for atmospheric circulation change in terrestrial records of Holocene climate variability remains a fundamental challenge. Here we present the first combined stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopic palaeorecord from a peatland core in Newfoundland, Canada. Sphagnum cellulose samp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Loader, N. J., Hughes, P. D. M., Barber, K. E., Daley, T. J., Street-Perrott, F. A., Leuenberger, Markus
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.88077
http://boris.unibe.ch/88077/
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Summary:Finding direct evidence for atmospheric circulation change in terrestrial records of Holocene climate variability remains a fundamental challenge. Here we present the first combined stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopic palaeorecord from a peatland core in Newfoundland, Canada. Sphagnum cellulose samples were isolated from a core from Nordan's Pond Bog, Newfoundland, and analysed for δD values. Combined with existing δ18O data, the resulting δD/δ18O bi-plot correlates directly with existing measurements of the modern (late 20th century) isotopic composition of precipitation from GNIP stations in Nova Scotia and Labrador, implying a close relationship between the estimated isotopic composition of source water used by the mosses and that of the source precipitation. We use the relative variations between the two isotope records to test the hypothesis that atmospheric circulation changed in the millennium following the 8.2-ka BP climate event. The data reveal a secondary complex isotopic response ∼200 years ...