scholarly journals Holocene alluvial sequence of Val de Zaragoza (Los Monegros) in the palaeoenvironmental context of the Ebro Basin (Spain)

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.L. Peña-Monné ◽  
M.M. Sampietro-Vattuone ◽  
L.A. Longares-Aladrén ◽  
F. Pérez-Lambán ◽  
M. Sánchez-Fabre ◽  
...  

Flat-bottomed valleys formed by Holocene fills are the most characteristic landforms in the center of the Ebro basin. This paper analyzes, within a regional framework, a small fluvial basin located in the north of the Alcubierre Range. Three Holocene morphosedimentary units (H1-H3) and a sub-functional level (H4) are identified. These units are representative of the regional geomorphological evolutionary process in the Ebro basin. New chronological insights on climate and landscape management are provided by a study of the Bastarás weir, a construction made for water flow management during the Little Ice Age (LIA). The integration of Val de Zaragoza radiocarbon datings into the regional framework enables the authors to identify the main formation stages, as well as the influence of climatic and human factors on its evolution. The intensification of human pressure in the territory is reflected in a progressive increase in sediment accumulation rates in the valleys, peaking during Roman times and the Little Ice Age.

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1539-1553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Angela Bassetti ◽  
Serge Berné ◽  
Marie-Alexandrine Sicre ◽  
Bernard Dennielou ◽  
Yoann Alonso ◽  
...  

Abstract. Expanded marine Holocene archives are relatively scarce in the Mediterranean Sea because most of the sediments were trapped in catchment areas during this period. Mud belts are the most suitable targets to access expanded Holocene records. These sedimentary bodies represent excellent archives for the study of sea–land interactions and notably the impact of the hydrological activity on sediment accumulation. We retrieved a 7.2 m long sediment core from the Rhône mud belt in the Gulf of Lions in an area where the average accumulation rate is ca. 0.70 m 1000 yr−1. This core thus provides a continuous and high-resolution record of the last 10 ka cal BP. A multiproxy dataset (XRF core scan, 14C dates, grain size and organic-matter analysis) combined with seismic stratigraphic analysis was used to document decadal to centennial changes in the Rhône hydrological activity. Our results show that (1) the early Holocene was characterized by high sediment delivery likely indicative of local intense (but short-duration) rainfall events, (2) important sediment delivery around 7 ka cal BP presumably related to increased river flux, (3) a progressive increase in continental/marine input during the mid-Holocene despite increased distance from river outlets due to sea-level rise possibly related to higher atmospheric humidity caused by the southward migration of the storm tracks in the North Atlantic, (4) multidecadal to centennial humid events took place in the late Holocene. Some of these events correspond to the cold periods identified in the North Atlantic (Little Ice Age, LIA; Dark Ages Cold Period) and also coincide with time intervals of major floods in the northern Alps. Other humid events are also observed during relatively warm periods (Roman Humid Period and Medieval Climate Anomaly).


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Bassetti ◽  
S. Berné ◽  
M. A. Sicre ◽  
B. Dennielou ◽  
Y. Alonso ◽  
...  

Abstract. Expanded marine Holocene archives are relatively scarce in the Mediterranean Sea because most of the sediments were trapped in catchment areas during this period. Mud belts are most suitable targets to access expanded Holocene records. These sedimentary bodies represent excellent archives for the study of sea-land interactions and notably the impact of the hydrological activity on sediment accumulation. We retrieved a 7.2 m-long sediment core from the Rhone mud belt in the Gulf of Lions in an area where the average accumulation rate is of ca. 0.70 m/1000 years. This core thus provides a continuous and high-resolution record of the last 10 ka cal BP. A multi-proxy dataset (XRF-core scan, 14C dates, grain size and organic matter analysis) combined with seismic stratigraphic analysis was used to document decadal to centennial changes of the Rhone hydrological activity. Our results show that 1) the Early Holocene was characterized by high sediment delivery likely indicative of local intense (but short duration) rainfall events , 2) important sediment delivery around 7 ka cal BP roughly presumably related to increased river flux, 3) a progressive increase of continental/marine input during the Mid-Holocene despite increased distance from river outlets due to sea-level rise possibly related to higher atmospheric humidity caused by the southward migration of the storm tracks in the North Atlantic, 4) multi-decadal to centennial humid events in the Late Holocene. Some of these events correspond to the cold periods identified in the North Atlantic (Little Ice Age, LIA; Dark Age) and also coincide with time intervals of major floods a in the Northern Alps. Other humid events are also observed during relatively warm periods (Roman Humid Period and Medieval Climate Anomaly).


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1239-1248 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rodríguez-Ramírez ◽  
M. Caballero ◽  
P. Roy ◽  
B. Ortega ◽  
G. Vázquez-Castro ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present results of analysis of biological (diatoms and ostracodes) and non-biological (Ti, Ca / Ti, total inorganic carbon, magnetic susceptibility) variables from an 8.8 m long, high-resolution (~ 20 yr sample−1) laminated sediment sequence from Lake Santa María del Oro (SMO), western Mexico. This lake lies at a sensitive location between the dry climates of northern Mexico, under the influence of the North Pacific subtropical high-pressure cell and the moister climates of central Mexico, under the influence of the seasonal migration of the intertropical convergence zone and the North American monsoon (NAM). The sequence covers the last 2000 years and provides evidence of two periods of human impact in the catchment, shown by increases in the diatom Achnanthidium minutissimum. The first from AD 100 to 400 (Early Classic) is related to the shaft and chamber tombs cultural tradition in western Mexico, and the second is related to Post-Classic occupation from AD 1100 to 1300. Both periods correspond to relatively wet conditions. Three dry intervals are identified from increased carbonate and the presence of ostracodes and aerophilous Eolimna minima. The first, from AD 500 to 1000 (most intense during the late Classic, from AD 600 to 800), correlates with the end of the shaft and chamber tradition in western Mexico after ca. AD 600. This late Classic dry period is the most important climatic signal in the Mesoamerican region during the last 2000 years, and has been recorded at several sites from Yucatan to the Pacific coast. In the Yucatan area, this dry interval has been related with the demise of the Maya culture at the end of the Classic (AD 850 to 950). The last two dry events (AD 1400 to 1550 and 1690 to 1770) correspond with the onset of, and the late, Little Ice Age, and follow largely the Spörer and Maunder minima in solar radiation. The first of these intervals (AD 1400 to 1550) shows the most intense signal over western Mexico; however this pattern is different at other sites. Dry/wet intervals in the SMO record are related with lower/higher intensity of the NAM over this region, respectively.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1687-1720 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Fohlmeister ◽  
A. Schröder-Ritzrau ◽  
D. Scholz ◽  
C. Spötl ◽  
D. F. C. Riechelmann ◽  
...  

Abstract. Holocene climate was characterised by variability on multi-centennial to multi-decadal time scales. In central Europe, these fluctuations were most pronounced during winter. Here we present a new record of past winter climate variability for the last 10.8 ka based on four speleothems from Bunker Cave, Western Germany. Due to its central European location, the cave site is particularly well suited to record changes in precipitation and temperature in response to changes in the North Atlantic realm. We present high resolution records of δ18O, δ13C values and Mg/Ca ratios. We attribute changes in the Mg/Ca ratio to variations in the meteoric precipitation. The stable C isotope composition of the speleothems most likely reflects changes in vegetation and precipitation and variations in the δ18O signal are interpreted as variations in meteoric precipitation and temperature. We found cold and dry periods between 9 and 7 ka, 6.5 and 5.5 ka, 4 and 3 ka as well as between 0.7 to 0.2 ka. The proxy signals in our stalagmites compare well with other isotope records and, thus, seem representative for central European Holocene climate variability. The prominent 8.2 ka event and the Little Ice Age cold events are both recorded in the Bunker cave record. However, these events show a contrasting relationship between climate and δ18O, which is explained by different causes underlying the two climate anomalies. Whereas the Little Ice Age is attributed to a pronounced negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, the 8.2 ka event was triggered by cooler conditions in the North Atlantic due to a slowdown of the Thermohaline Circulation.


Author(s):  
Adam Sookdeo ◽  
Bernd Kromer ◽  
Florian Adolphi ◽  
Jürg Beer ◽  
Nicolas Brehm ◽  
...  

<p>The Younger Dryas stadial (YD) was a return to glacial-like conditions in the North Atlantic region that interrupted deglacial warming around 12900 cal BP (before 1950 AD). Terrestrial and marine records suggest this event was initiated by the interruption of deep-water formation arising from North American freshwater runoff, but the causes of the millennia-long duration remain unclear. To investigate the solar activity, a possible YD driver, we exploit the cosmic production signals of tree-ring radiocarbon (<sup>14</sup>C) and ice-core beryllium-10 (<sup>10</sup>Be). Here we present the highest temporally resolved dataset of <sup>14</sup>C measurements (n = 1558) derived from European tree rings that have been accurately extended back to 14226 cal BP (±8, 2-σ), allowing precise alignment of ice-core records across this period. We identify a substantial increase in <sup>14</sup>C and <sup>10</sup>Be production starting at 12780 cal BP is comparable in magnitude to the historic Little Ice Age, being a clear sign of grand solar minima. We hypothesize the timing of the grand solar minima provides a significant amplifying factor leading to the harsh sustained glacial-like conditions seen in the YD.</p>


2010 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.H. Masiokas ◽  
B.H. Luckman ◽  
R. Villalba ◽  
A. Ripalta ◽  
J. Rabassa

Little Ice Age (LIA) fluctuations of Glaciar R"o Manso, north Patagonian Andes, Argentina are studied using information from previous work and dendrogeomorphological analyses of living and subfossil wood. The most extensive LIA expansion occurred between the late 1700s and the 1830"1840s. Except for a massive older frontal moraine system apparently predating ca. 2240 14C yr BP and a small section of a south lateral moraine ridge that is at least 300 yr old, the early nineteenth century advance overrode surficial evidence of any earlier LIA glacier events. Over the past 150 yr the gently sloping, heavily debris-covered lower glacier tongue has thinned significantly, but several short periods of readvance or stasis have been identified and tree-ring dated to the mid-1870s, 1890s, 1900s, 1920s, 1950s, and the mid-1970s. Ice mass loss has increased in recent years due to calving into a rapidly growing proglacial lake. The neighboring debris-free and land-based Glaciar Fr"as has also retreated markedly in recent years but shows substantial differences in the timing of the peak LIA advance (early 1600s). This indicates that site-specific factors can have a significant impact on the resulting glacier records and should thus be considered carefully in the development and assessment of regional glacier chronologies.


The Holocene ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 1405-1412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Fensterer ◽  
Denis Scholz ◽  
Dirk Hoffmann ◽  
Christoph Spötl ◽  
Jesús M Pajón ◽  
...  

Here we present the first high-resolution δ18O record of a stalagmite from western Cuba. The record reflects precipitation variability in the northwestern Caribbean during the last 1.3 ka and exhibits a correlation to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). This suggests a relationship between Caribbean rainfall intensity and North Atlantic sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies. A potential mechanism for this relationship may be the strength of the Thermohaline Circulation (THC). For a weaker THC, lower SSTs in the North Atlantic possibly lead to a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and drier conditions in Cuba. Thus, this Cuban stalagmite records drier conditions during cold phases in the North Atlantic such as the ‘Little Ice Age’. This study contributes to the understanding of teleconnections between North Atlantic SSTs and northern Caribbean climate variability during the past 1.3 ka.


2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (184) ◽  
pp. 131-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bea Csatho ◽  
Toni Schenk ◽  
C.J. Van Der Veen ◽  
William B. Krabill

AbstractRapid thinning and velocity increase on major Greenland outlet glaciers during the last two decades may indicate that these glaciers became unstable as a consequence of the Jakobshavn effect (Hughes, 1986), with terminus retreat leading to increased discharge from the interior and consequent further thinning and retreat. To assess whether recent trends deviate from longer-term behavior, we measured glacier surface elevations and terminus positions for Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, using historical photographs acquired in 1944, 1953, 1959, 1964 and 1985. These results were combined with data from historical records, aerial photographs, ground surveys, airborne laser altimetry and field mapping of lateral moraines and trimlines, to reconstruct the history of changes since the Little Ice Age (LIA). We identified three periods of rapid thinning since the LIA: 1902–13, 1930–59 and 1999–present. During the first half of the 20th century, the calving front appears to have been grounded and it started to float during the late 1940s. The south and north tributaries exhibit different behavior. For example, the north tributary was thinning between 1959 and 1985 during a period when the calving front was stationary and the south tributary was in balance. The record of intermittent thinning, combined with changes in ice-marginal extent and position of the calving front, together with changes in velocity, imply that the behavior of the lower parts of this glacier represents a complex ice-dynamical response to local climate forcings and interactions with drainage from the interior.


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