Mediaeval climatic warming recorded by radiocarbon dated alpine tree-line shift on the Kola Peninsula, Russia

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Hiller, A., Böttger, Tatjana, Kremenetski, C.V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications, London 2001
• Subjects: Alpine tree-line; subfossil wood; radiocarbon dating; Kola Peninsula; late Holocene; Pinus sylvestris; Mediaeval warm phase; Russia; Khibiny; Fennoscandia; kola peninsula
• Online Access: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=6427; https://doi.org/10.1191/095968301678302931

Studies of the tree-line history in northern Fennoscandia provide useful evidence about the Holocene environment and the region's climatic history. Here we report on late-Holocene alpine tree-line movement in the Khibiny low mountains on the Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia. A highly representative collection of subfossil woods above the modern tree-line was obtained and 49 pine samples were radiocarbon dated. Their radiocarbon ages range fromc. 1400 to 3000 yr BP with a distinct maximum betweenc. 800 and 1000 yr BP (about cal. ad 1000 to 1300). We conclude that, especially during the Mediaeval climatic optimum, pine forests grew at least 100–140 m above the modern pine tree-line in the Khibiny mountains.