Millennial-timescale quantitative estimates of climate dynamics in central Europe from earthworm calcite granules in loess deposits

• Published in: Communications Earth & Environment
• Main Authors: Prud’homme, Charlotte, Fischer, Peter, Jöris, Olaf, Gromov, Sergey, Vinnepand, Mathias, Hatté, Christine, Vonhof, Hubert, Moine, Olivier, Vött, Andreas, Fitzsimmons, Kathryn, E
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Rhine Valley; loess-palaeosol-sequences; central Europe; glacial climate changes; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; Greenland; ice core; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03871063; https://hal.science/hal-03871063/document; https://hal.science/hal-03871063/file/s43247-022-00595-3.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00595-3

International audience Ice core and marine archives provide detailed quantitative records of last glacial climate changes, whereas comparable terrestrial records from the mid-latitudes remain scarce. Here we quantify warm season land-surface temperatures and precipitation over millennial timescales for central Europe for the period spanning 45,000-22,000 years before present that derive from two temporally overlapping loess-palaeosol-sequences, dated at high resolution by radiocarbon on earthworm calcite granules. Interstadial temperatures were 1-4 °C warmer than stadial climate, a temperature difference which is strongly attenuated compared to Greenland records. We show that climate in the Rhine Valley was significantly cooler during the warm season and overall drier with annual precipitation values reduced by up to 70% compared to the present day. We combine quantitative estimates with mesoscale wind and moisture transport modelling demonstrating that this region was dominated by westerlies and thereby inextricably linked to North Atlantic climate forcing, although ameliorated.