Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic?
Pollen and spore analysis is the most successfully used palaeobotanical discipline for reconstructing Holocene vegetation and climate history throughout the world. Subantarctic islands are very specific areas. They are located in the circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean in latitudes that are under strong...
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ftunivgent:oai:archive.ugent.be:2141050 2023-10-01T03:50:46+02:00 Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic? Van der Putten, Nathalie Verbruggen, Cyriel Björck, Svante de Beaulieu, Jacques-Louis Barrow, Chris J Frenot, Yves 2012 application/pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-2141050 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612441804 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050/file/2141051 eng eng https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-2141050 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683612441804 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050/file/2141051 No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess HOLOCENE ISSN: 0959-6836 Earth and Environmental Sciences palynology Îles Crozet Holocene Subantarctic plant macrofossil analysis South Georgia CAL KYR BP KERGUELEN ISLANDS PEAT CALIBRATION HISTORY RECORD journalArticle info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2012 ftunivgent https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612441804 2023-09-06T22:36:30Z Pollen and spore analysis is the most successfully used palaeobotanical discipline for reconstructing Holocene vegetation and climate history throughout the world. Subantarctic islands are very specific areas. They are located in the circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean in latitudes that are under strong influence of the southern westerly winds, and are characterised by a treeless, phanerogam-poor flora. Palynological research on many of these islands has resulted in diverging conclusions about how to infer climate history from pollen data. In this study we compare pollen data with macrofossil data on the one hand, and the palaeoenvironmental history based on a multiproxy record on the other hand, of two peat sequences from two different subantarctic islands, South Georgia and Île de la Possession (Îles Crozet). We conclude that palynology must be used with caution as a proxy for climate change on these islands, especially when no other proxy data are available. The upland–lowland principle, as it has been applied in pollen studies in the South Indian Ocean islands, results in erroneous conclusions about climate change on Île de la Possession. More palaeoclimatic multiproxy and pollen studies, in combination with pollen–vegetation relationship studies, can, however, contribute to a more reliable model of how to interpret pollen data in the Subantarctic. We want to stress that our conclusions are only based on Holocene records. Consequently, the question remains if palynology can be used as a palaeoclimatic proxy when climatic changes were more pronounced such as during the last glacial–interglacial transition. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Îles Crozet Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean Ghent University Academic Bibliography Antarctic Indian Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean The Holocene 22 10 1113 1121 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Ghent University Academic Bibliography |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgent |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth and Environmental Sciences palynology Îles Crozet Holocene Subantarctic plant macrofossil analysis South Georgia CAL KYR BP KERGUELEN ISLANDS PEAT CALIBRATION HISTORY RECORD |
spellingShingle |
Earth and Environmental Sciences palynology Îles Crozet Holocene Subantarctic plant macrofossil analysis South Georgia CAL KYR BP KERGUELEN ISLANDS PEAT CALIBRATION HISTORY RECORD Van der Putten, Nathalie Verbruggen, Cyriel Björck, Svante de Beaulieu, Jacques-Louis Barrow, Chris J Frenot, Yves Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic? |
topic_facet |
Earth and Environmental Sciences palynology Îles Crozet Holocene Subantarctic plant macrofossil analysis South Georgia CAL KYR BP KERGUELEN ISLANDS PEAT CALIBRATION HISTORY RECORD |
description |
Pollen and spore analysis is the most successfully used palaeobotanical discipline for reconstructing Holocene vegetation and climate history throughout the world. Subantarctic islands are very specific areas. They are located in the circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean in latitudes that are under strong influence of the southern westerly winds, and are characterised by a treeless, phanerogam-poor flora. Palynological research on many of these islands has resulted in diverging conclusions about how to infer climate history from pollen data. In this study we compare pollen data with macrofossil data on the one hand, and the palaeoenvironmental history based on a multiproxy record on the other hand, of two peat sequences from two different subantarctic islands, South Georgia and Île de la Possession (Îles Crozet). We conclude that palynology must be used with caution as a proxy for climate change on these islands, especially when no other proxy data are available. The upland–lowland principle, as it has been applied in pollen studies in the South Indian Ocean islands, results in erroneous conclusions about climate change on Île de la Possession. More palaeoclimatic multiproxy and pollen studies, in combination with pollen–vegetation relationship studies, can, however, contribute to a more reliable model of how to interpret pollen data in the Subantarctic. We want to stress that our conclusions are only based on Holocene records. Consequently, the question remains if palynology can be used as a palaeoclimatic proxy when climatic changes were more pronounced such as during the last glacial–interglacial transition. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Van der Putten, Nathalie Verbruggen, Cyriel Björck, Svante de Beaulieu, Jacques-Louis Barrow, Chris J Frenot, Yves |
author_facet |
Van der Putten, Nathalie Verbruggen, Cyriel Björck, Svante de Beaulieu, Jacques-Louis Barrow, Chris J Frenot, Yves |
author_sort |
Van der Putten, Nathalie |
title |
Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic? |
title_short |
Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic? |
title_full |
Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic? |
title_fullStr |
Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Is palynology a credible climate proxy in the Subantarctic? |
title_sort |
is palynology a credible climate proxy in the subantarctic? |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-2141050 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612441804 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050/file/2141051 |
geographic |
Antarctic Indian Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Indian Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Îles Crozet Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Îles Crozet Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
op_source |
HOLOCENE ISSN: 0959-6836 |
op_relation |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-2141050 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683612441804 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2141050/file/2141051 |
op_rights |
No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612441804 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1113 |
op_container_end_page |
1121 |
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1778527322079494144 |