Pollen profile of sediment core Dethlingen, Germany

DOI

To better understand the environmental variability during the Holsteinian interglacial, we have palynologically analyzed a new core from Dethlingen, northern Germany, at a decadal resolution. Our data provide insights into the vegetation dynamics and thus also climate variability during the meso- to telocratic forest phases of the interglacial. Temperate mixed forests dominated the regional landscape throughout the Holsteinian. However, changes in the forest composition during the younger stages of the interglacial suggest a climatic transition towards milder conditions in winter. The strong presence of boreal floral elements during the older stages of the Holsteinian interglacial suggests a high seasonality. In contrast, during the younger stages the development of sub-Atlantic and Atlantic floral elements suggests increasingly warm and humid climatic conditions. Peak warming during the younger stage of the Holsteinian is marked by the maximum pollen abundances of Buxus, Abies, and Quercus. Although the vegetation dynamics suggest a general warming trend throughout the Holsteinian interglacial, abrupt as well as gradual changes in the relative abundances of temperate plants indicate considerable climatic variability. In particular, two marked declines in temperate taxa leading to the transient development of boreal and sub-temperate forests indicate short-term climatic oscillations that occurred within full interglacial conditions. The palynological signatures of these two regressive phases in vegetation development differ with regard to the expansion of pioneer trees, the abundances and rates of change of temperate taxa, and the presence of frost-sensitive taxa. These differences point to different mechanisms responsible for the individual regressive phases. Assuming a correlation of the interglacial at Dethlingen with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11, our data suggest that temperate forests prevailed in northern Germany during the younger parts of MIS 11c.

Supplement to: Koutsodendris, Andreas; Müller, Ulrich C; Pross, Jörg; Brauer, Achim; Kotthoff, Ulrich; Lotter, André F (2010): Vegetation dynamics and climate variability during the Holsteinian interglacial based on a pollen record from Dethlingen (northern Germany). Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(23-24), 3298-3307

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.835962
Related Identifier IsSupplementTo https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.07.024
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.835978
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.835964
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.835962
Provenance
Creator Koutsodendris, Andreas ORCID logo; Müller, Ulrich C; Pross, Jörg; Brauer, Achim ORCID logo; Kotthoff, Ulrich; Lotter, André F
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2010
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Supplementary Dataset; Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 14726 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (10.139 LON, 52.963 LAT); Lower Saxony, Northern Germany