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Absence of a Medieval Climate Anomaly, Little Ice Age and twentieth century warming in Skarvsnes, Lützow Holm Bay, East Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2014

Ines Tavernier ,
Elie Verleyen ,
Dominic A. Hodgson ,
Katrien Heirman ,
Stephen J. Roberts ,
Satoshi Imura ,
Sakae Kudoh ,
Koen Sabbe ,
Marc De Batist  and
Wim Vyverman
Ines Tavernier*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Elie Verleyen
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Dominic A. Hodgson
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK Durham University, Department of Geography, South Road, Durham DHI 3LE, UK
Katrien Heirman
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Renard Centre of Marine Geology, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Stephen J. Roberts
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
Satoshi Imura
Affiliation:
National Institute for Polar Research, 10-3, Midoricho, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8518, Japan
Sakae Kudoh
Affiliation:
National Institute for Polar Research, 10-3, Midoricho, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8518, Japan
Koen Sabbe
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Marc De Batist
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Renard Centre of Marine Geology, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Wim Vyverman
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Palaeoclimate changes, such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age, are well-defined in the Northern Hemisphere during the past 2000 years. In contrast, these anomalies appear to be either absent, or less well-defined, in high-latitude regions of the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we inferred environmental changes during the past two millennia from proxies in a sediment core from Mago Ike, an East Antarctic lake in Skarvsnes (Lützow Holm Bay). Variations in lake primary production were inferred from fossil pigments, sedimentological and geochemical proxies and combined with absolute diatom counts to infer past diatom productivity and community changes. Three distinct stratigraphic zones were recognized, resulting from a shift from marine to lacustrine conditions with a clear transition zone in between. The presence of open-water marine diatoms indicates a coastal zone seasonally free of sea ice between c. 2120–1500 cal yr bp. Subsequently, the lake became isolated from the ocean due to isostatic uplift. Freshwater conditions were established from c. 1120 cal yr bp onwards after which the proxies are considered highly sensitive to temperature changes. There is no evidence for a Medieval Climate Anomaly, Little Ice Age or twentieth century warming in our lake sediment record suggesting that studies that have imposed Northern Hemisphere climate anomalies onto Southern Hemisphere palaeoclimate records should be treated with caution.

Keywords

diatom-based transfer functionHolocene climate changesisolation basinpalaeoclimatologySyowa Oasis
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 26 , Supplement 5 , October 2014 , pp. 585 - 598
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2014 

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Footnotes

*

joint lead authorship

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