Evidence for the Little Ice Age in upland northwestern Europe: multiproxy climate data from three blanket mires in northern England

Chambers, F. M.; Webb, J. C.; Thom, T.

Abstract

The Little Ice Age (LIA) is a well-recognised palaeoclimatic phenomenon, although its causes, duration and severity have been matters of debate and dispute. Data from a wide range of archives have been used to infer climate variability before, during and after the LIA. Some recently published proxy-climate data from peatlands imply that two particularly severe episodes within the LIA may be contemporaneous between hemispheres; these echo a previous climatic downturn of similar severity but lesser duration. Here, we present palaeoclimate data from the mid to late-Holocene, reconstructed from three blanket peats in Yorkshire: Mossdale Moor, Oxenhope Moor and West Arkengarthdale. Multiproxy techniques used for palaeoclimatic reconstruction were plant macrofossil, pollen and humification analyses. Dating was provided by a radiocarbon-based chronology, aided by spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) for all sites, and 210Pb dates for one. The LIA presents as the most severe downturn within the entirety of each palaeoenvironmental record at the three sites. These indications are compared with terrestrial datasets from northwest Europe and elsewhere. A broad degree of synchronicity is evident, signifying that the LIA is the harshest down-turn in global climate in the last 8000 years, and overall the most prolonged within the Holocene.

Citation

Chambers, F. M., Webb, J. C., & Thom, T. (in press). Evidence for the Little Ice Age in upland northwestern Europe: multiproxy climate data from three blanket mires in northern England. Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 19, 2018
• Deposit Date: Feb 14, 2018
• Print ISSN: 0031-0182
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: palaeoecology, peatlands, Holocene, palaeoclimate
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/597111
• Contract Date: Feb 16, 2018