New evidence of Holocene atmospheric circulation dynamics based on lake sediments from southern Sweden: a link to the Siberian High

Oxygen (delta O-18) and carbon (delta C-13) isotope records of calcitic carbonate components (Chara sp. algal encrustations and Bithynia tentaculata gastropod opercula) from a lake-sediment succession on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland, south-eastern Sweden, have been obtained to investigate region...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Science Reviews
Main Authors: Muschitiello, F., Schwark, L., Wohlfarth, B., Sturm, C., Hammarlund, Dan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2013
Subjects:
Geology
Lake sediments
Stable isotopes
Sweden
Holocene
Palaeoclimatology
Atmospheric circulation
Siberian High
Greenland
ice core
Online Access:https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4172118
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.07.026
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Summary:Oxygen (delta O-18) and carbon (delta C-13) isotope records of calcitic carbonate components (Chara sp. algal encrustations and Bithynia tentaculata gastropod opercula) from a lake-sediment succession on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland, south-eastern Sweden, have been obtained to investigate regional climate dynamics during the Holocene. The hydrological sensitivity of the small lake, particularly in terms of spring snowmelt contribution to the local water budget, provides a means of tracing past changes in the influence of snow-bearing easterly winds across the Baltic Sea Proper, which signifies the wintertime strength of the Siberian High. Repeated episodic depletions in O-18 at the centennial scale correlate with events of increased potassium concentration in the GISP2 ice-core record from Greenland, which indicates a coupling to large-scale fluctuations in atmospheric circulation patterns. A corresponding correlation with simultaneous depletions in C-13 suggests repeated responses of the local lake hydrology to snow-rich winters through decreasing water residence time, perhaps augmented by methanogenesis due to prolonged ice-cover seasons under the influence of an expanding Siberian High. Frequency analysis of the isotopic records reveals well-defined fluctuations at quasi-500-520-, 670-, 830- and 1430-yr periodicities, and a gradually stronger impact of Polar air outbreaks across the southern Baltic Sea region with time after ca 6000 cal. BP. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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