New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland
Recent recession of high-mountain glacier ice and perennial snow and ice patches has exposed megafossil and macrofossil tree remnants and peat, offering a new source of Holocene high alpine vegetation history in the Scandes. Radiocarbon dates of 90 tree megafossils from Swedish Lapland, 29 of which...
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Mittuniversitetet, Avdelningen för naturvetenskap
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ftmittuniv:oai:DiVA.org:miun-25661 2023-05-15T14:22:45+02:00 New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland Kullman, Leif Öberg, Lisa 2015 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-25661 https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4480 eng eng Mittuniversitetet, Avdelningen för naturvetenskap Umea Univ, Dept Ecol & Environm Sci, Umea, Sweden Arctic, 0004-0843, 2015, 68:2, s. 141-152 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-25661 doi:10.14430/arctic4480 ISI:000357907900001 Scopus 2-s2.0-84936756173 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess glaciers tree growth megafossils macrofossils Holocene radiocarbon dating climate change Swedish Scandes Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2015 ftmittuniv https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4480 2023-04-07T06:11:19Z Recent recession of high-mountain glacier ice and perennial snow and ice patches has exposed megafossil and macrofossil tree remnants and peat, offering a new source of Holocene high alpine vegetation history in the Scandes. Radiocarbon dates of 90 tree megafossils from Swedish Lapland, 29 of which had not previously been published, range from 11 980 to 1950 cal yr BP. During the interval 9500-8500 cal yr BP, mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) grew 600-700 m higher upslope than they do today, which is a new and remarkable discovery. Subsequently, tree density gradually declined at higher elevations, and as the tree line moved downslope, the ratio of Betula to Pinus increased. Tree growth ceased around 4500 cal yr BP, presumably in response to the return of perennial ice and snow. A short episode of resumed tree growth of Betula indicates conditions warmer than present around 2000 years ago. Between c. 8500 and 7300 cal yr BP, Picea abies, Larix sibirica, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia and Alnus incana were subordinate species on a forest floor dominated by plant species characteristic of prealpine or subalpine woodlands. Growth of trees as much as 700 m higher upslope than today around 9500 cal yr BP implies that summer temperatures at that time may have been 3.0 degrees C warmer than today's temperatures (corrected for land uplift). This inferred temperature difference between the early Holocene and the present concurs with changes in the Earth's orbital parameters. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Lapland Mid Sweden University: Publications (DiVA) ARCTIC 68 2 141 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Mid Sweden University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftmittuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
glaciers tree growth megafossils macrofossils Holocene radiocarbon dating climate change Swedish Scandes Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
spellingShingle |
glaciers tree growth megafossils macrofossils Holocene radiocarbon dating climate change Swedish Scandes Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Kullman, Leif Öberg, Lisa New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland |
topic_facet |
glaciers tree growth megafossils macrofossils Holocene radiocarbon dating climate change Swedish Scandes Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
description |
Recent recession of high-mountain glacier ice and perennial snow and ice patches has exposed megafossil and macrofossil tree remnants and peat, offering a new source of Holocene high alpine vegetation history in the Scandes. Radiocarbon dates of 90 tree megafossils from Swedish Lapland, 29 of which had not previously been published, range from 11 980 to 1950 cal yr BP. During the interval 9500-8500 cal yr BP, mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) grew 600-700 m higher upslope than they do today, which is a new and remarkable discovery. Subsequently, tree density gradually declined at higher elevations, and as the tree line moved downslope, the ratio of Betula to Pinus increased. Tree growth ceased around 4500 cal yr BP, presumably in response to the return of perennial ice and snow. A short episode of resumed tree growth of Betula indicates conditions warmer than present around 2000 years ago. Between c. 8500 and 7300 cal yr BP, Picea abies, Larix sibirica, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia and Alnus incana were subordinate species on a forest floor dominated by plant species characteristic of prealpine or subalpine woodlands. Growth of trees as much as 700 m higher upslope than today around 9500 cal yr BP implies that summer temperatures at that time may have been 3.0 degrees C warmer than today's temperatures (corrected for land uplift). This inferred temperature difference between the early Holocene and the present concurs with changes in the Earth's orbital parameters. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kullman, Leif Öberg, Lisa |
author_facet |
Kullman, Leif Öberg, Lisa |
author_sort |
Kullman, Leif |
title |
New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland |
title_short |
New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland |
title_full |
New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland |
title_fullStr |
New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland |
title_full_unstemmed |
New Aspects of High-Mountain Palaeobiogeography : A Synthesis of Data from Forefields of Receding Glaciers and Ice Patches in the Tarna and Kebnekaise Mountains, Swedish Lapland |
title_sort |
new aspects of high-mountain palaeobiogeography : a synthesis of data from forefields of receding glaciers and ice patches in the tarna and kebnekaise mountains, swedish lapland |
publisher |
Mittuniversitetet, Avdelningen för naturvetenskap |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-25661 https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4480 |
genre |
Arctic Lapland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Lapland |
op_relation |
Arctic, 0004-0843, 2015, 68:2, s. 141-152 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-25661 doi:10.14430/arctic4480 ISI:000357907900001 Scopus 2-s2.0-84936756173 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4480 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
68 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
141 |
_version_ |
1766295287220928512 |