HOLOCENE CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND ECOSYSTEM CHANGES IN COASTAL EAST AND MARITIME ANTARCTICA “HOLANT” (SD/CA/01)

• Main Authors: Vyverman, Wim, Hodgson, Dominic A, Wilmotte, Annick, De Batist, Marc, Sterken, Mieke, Heirman, K, Roberts, Steven J, Fernandez-Carazo, Rafael, Tavernier, Ines, Sabbe, Koen, Van der Gucht, Kathleen, De Groot, L, Verleyen, Elie
• Other Authors: CIP - Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines - ULiège
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Belgian Science Policy Office 2012
• Subjects: Climate change; Paleoecology; Antarctica; Lake sediments; Life sciences; Environmental sciences & ecology; Microbiology; Sciences du vivant; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Microbiologie; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/227620; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/227620/1/HOLANT_FinRep2011%20ML.pdf

The Earth’s climate undergoes significant changes, which are not yet fully understood. Recent climate models revealed that the Southern Hemisphere and Antarctica in particular could have been of significant influence in past abrupt and large climate change events. Although the Holocene has not experienced climate changes of the same magnitude as during the major Quaternary glaciations, it has been marked by many, often rapid, global temperature and precipitation anomalies. In order to understand how Antarctic temperature variation can impact other regions on Earth and to test competing models concerning the causes, the spatial interrelationships and characteristics of these climate anomalies, it is necessary to learn from the record of past natural climate variability. The IGBP has recognised this need by starting a global coordination of paleoclimate studies along 3 North-South transects (i.e., the PAGES-project PEP 1, 2 and 3 traverses) in order to build a strong high-resolution network of paleoclimate studies. The goal of the PEPs is to reconstruct paleoenvironments and paleoclimate along three terrestrial transects using a multi-proxy data and modeling approach. However, these transects currently end at Southern latitudes of 52S, and are not yet fully interlinked with the ice cores from the Antarctic plateau. HOLANT explicitly extended the PEP 1 transect towards Sub- and coastal Maritime Antarctica and contribute to the PEP2 and 3 transects by establishing and comparing a series of high-resolution records of Holocene climate variability in coastal Antarctica based on biological and sedimentological proxies in (coastal) lake sediments. Since 2006, PAGES science has been redefined; within this new science structure, HOLANT will contribute to all 4 PAGES scientific foci (www.pages.unibe.ch) through three specific research questions: (i) What are the timing, duration and magnitude of Holocene climate anomalies in coastal areas in maritime, east and Sub-Antarctic regions and how are these anomalies related to ...