An annual-resolution stable isotope record from Swiss subfossil pine trees growing in the Late Glacial

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Pauly, M, Helle, G, Büntgen, U, Wacker, L, Treydte, K, Reinig, F, Turney, C, Nievergelt, D, Kromer, B, Friedrich, M, Sookdeo, A, Heinrich, I, Riedel, F, Balting, D, Brauer, A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020
• Subjects: Greenland; ice core; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/13088/; http://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/13088/1/13088.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106550

Previous studies have suggested that the Late Glacial period (LG; ~ 14,600 – 11,700 cal BP) was characterised by abrupt and extreme climate variability over the European sector of the North Atlantic. The limited number of precisely dated, high-resolution proxy records, however, restricts our understanding of climate dynamics through the LG. Here, we present the first annually-resolved tree-cellulose stable oxygen and carbon isotope chronology (δ18Otree, δ13Ctree) covering the LG between ~14,050 – 12,795 cal BP, generated from a Swiss pine trees (P. sylvestris; 27 trees, 1255 years). Comparisons of δ18Otree with regional lake and ice core δ18O records reveal that LG climatic changes over the North Atlantic (as recorded by Greenland Stadials and Inter- Stadials) were not all experienced to the same degree in the Swiss trees. Possible explanations include: (1) LG climate oscillations may be less extreme during the summer in Switzerland, (2) tree-ring δ18O may capture local precipitation and humidity changes and/or (3) decayed cellulose and various micro-site conditions may overprint large-scale temperature trends found in other δ18O records. Despite these challenges, our study emphasises the potential to investigate hydroclimate conditions using subfossil pine stable isotopes.