A chronologically reliable record of 17,000 years of biomass burning in the Lake Victoria area

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Temoltzin-Loranca, Yunuen, Gobet, Erika, Vannière, Boris, van Leeuwen, Jacqueline, F N, Wienhues, Giulia, Szidat, Sönke, Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin, Kishe, Mary, Muschick, Moritz, Seehausen, Ole, Grosjean, Martin, Tinner, Willy
• Other Authors: Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR), Universität Bern / University of Bern (UNIBE), Institute of Plant Sciences, Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249) (LCE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC), Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de l'Environnement Claude Nicolas Ledoux (UAR 3124) (MSHE), Université de Bâle = University of Basel (Unibas), Uppsala Universitet Uppsala, University of York York, UK, Swiss Federal Insitute of Aquatic Science and Technology Dübendorf (EAWAG), Institute of Ecology and Evolution Bern, Switzerland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Charcoal; Chronology; Radiocarbon; Late Pleistocene; Holocene; Pollen; Lake Victoria; Fire; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; North Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04374688; https://hal.science/hal-04374688/document; https://hal.science/hal-04374688/file/Temoltzin%20et%20al%202023.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107915

International audience The Late Glacial (14 700–11 700 cal BP) is a key climate period marked by rapid but contrasted changes in the Northern Hemisphere. Indeed, regional climate differences have been evidenced during the Late Glacial in Europe and the northern Mediterranean. However, past climate patterns are still debated since temperature and precipitation changes are poorly investigated towards the lower European latitudes. Lake Matese in southern Italy is a key site in the central Mediterranean to investigate climate patterns during the Late Glacial. This study aims to reconstruct climate changes and their impacts at Matese using a multi-proxy approach including magnetic susceptibility, geochemistry (XRF core scanning), pollen data and molecular biomarkers like branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs). Paleotemperatures and paleo-precipitation patterns are quantitatively inferred from pollen assemblages (multi-method approach: modern analogue technique, weighted averaging partial least-squares regression, random forest and boosted regression trees) and brGDGT calibrations. The results are compared to a latitudinal selection of regional climate reconstructions in Italy to better understand climate processes in Europe and in the circum-Mediterranean region. A warm Bølling–Allerød and a marked cold Younger Dryas are revealed in all climate reconstructions inferred from various proxies (chironomids, ostracods, speleothems, pollen, brGDGTs), showing no latitudinal differences in terms of temperatures across Italy. During the Bølling–Allerød, no significant changes in terms of precipitation are recorded; however, a contrasted pattern is visible during the Younger Dryas. Slightly wetter conditions are recorded south of 42∘ N, whereas dry conditions are recorded north of 42∘ N. During the Younger Dryas, cold conditions can be attributed to the southward position of North Atlantic sea ice and of the polar frontal jet stream, whereas the increase in precipitation in southern Italy seems to be linked ...