Wim Z. Hoek

Late-glacial and early Holocene climatic events and chronology of vegetation development in the Netherlands

The Weichselian Late-glacial marks the transition from the Weichselian Late Pleniglacial to the warmer Holocene. During this period climate changed rapidly, as did vegetation and the abiotic landscape. For analysis of the relationship between these changes, accurate chronologies are essential. In the Netherlands, a compilation has been made of over 250 palynologically investigated sites relating to this period. A regional zonation has been constructed based on common trends in vegetation development. On palynological grounds, not only the classical Late-glacial sub-division but also minor changes can be recognized within the Allerod, Late Dryas and Early Preboreal. After a critical evaluation of the available radiocarbon dates this zonation has been attached to the14C timescale. Palynological changes which can be attributed to episodes of climatic cooling are recorded at 12 100, 11 500, 10 950 and 9950 B.P. The chronological framework made it possible to compare vegetation development with other proxy records. Climatic events recorded in oxygen-isotope records from Swiss lake sediments and the Greenland ice cores are also reflected in the regional vegetation development in the Netherlands. The regional trends in vegetation development expressed by the pollen zones are considered to be related to changes in climate, while anomalies reflect other, local environmental changes.

Vegetation response to the 14.7 and11.5 ka yrs BP climate transitions: is vegetation lagging climate?

Abstract The transition from the Last Glacial towards the Holocene is marked by two rapid increases in temperature. These climate transitions are recorded in detail in the Greenland ice-cores, and these records reveal that the climate shifts around 14.7 and 11.5 ka cal. BP seem to have occurred within a few years only. In this paper it is argued that vegetation did respond directly to the climatic warming round 14.7 and 11.5 ka cal. BP. The response of vegetation must, however, not be regarded as an immediate establishment of forests. It is most likely to assume that vegetation present at the moment of climatic improvement, responded by increased flowering, which thus should be reflected in the palynological record as an increased presence. These palynological events occur at approximately 14.8 and 11.7 ka cal. BP, based on calibrated radiocarbon ages. From the palynological evidence, which is available from numerous terrestrial records, the vegetation response to the climate changes seems to be quite different for both transitions. As climate remained relatively warm since the climatic improvement, forests could develop. In the early Lateglacial, it took some time for a dense forest to develop, due to both migrational lags and the delayed response of permafrost melting. For the Early Holocene, forest stands were relatively near, relict permafrost did not occur, and hence vegetation could recover quickly after the climatic improvement.

Validation of climate model-inferred regional temperature change for late-glacial Europe

Comparisons of climate model hindcasts with independent proxy data are essential for assessing model performance in non-analogue situations. However, standardized paleoclimate datasets for assessing the spatial pattern of past climatic change across continents are lacking for some of the most dynamic episodes of Earths recent past. Here we present a new chironomid-based paleotemperature dataset designed to assess climate model hindcasts of regional summer temperature change in Europe during the late-glacial and early Holocene. Latitudinal and longitudinal patterns of inferred temperature change are in excellent agreement with simulations by the ECHAM-4 model, implying that atmospheric general circulation models like ECHAM-4 can successfully predict regionally diverging temperature trends in Europe, even when conditions differ significantly from present. However, ECHAM-4 infers larger amplitudes of change and higher temperatures during warm phases than our paleotemperature estimates, suggesting that this and similar models may overestimate past and potentially also future summer temperature changes in Europe.

Climatic and environmental events over the Last Termination, as recorded in The Netherlands: a review

The Last Termination, or Weichselian Lateglacial (ca 15-10 ka cal. BP), is a time period with rapid changes in climate and environment. The oxygen-isotope records of the Greenland ice-cores are regarded as the most complete climate proxy for the North Atlantic region. In The Netherlands several other proxies have been investigated and dated in great detail over the last few decades. However, changes registered in the different records are not by definition causally related to climate changes. Comparison of the different records on a common time-scale permits evaluation of the interrelationships and correlations to the Greenland ice-cores. Some events are the result of the complex interplay of different environmental variables and have no causal relationship with climate changes at all. By comparing the different records on a common time-scale and examining spatial patterns, the links between the proxies become evident.

Nanodiamonds and wildfire evidence in the Usselo horizon postdate the Allerød-Younger Dryas boundary

The controversial Younger Dryas impact hypothesis suggests that at the onset of the Younger Dryas an extraterrestrial impact over North America caused a global catastrophe. The main evidence for this impact—after the other markers proved to be neither reproducible nor consistent with an impact—is the alleged occurrence of several nanodiamond polymorphs, including the proposed presence of lonsdaleite, a shock polymorph of diamond. We examined the Usselo soil horizon at Geldrop-Aalsterhut (The Netherlands), which formed during the Allerød/Early Younger Dryas and would have captured such impact material. Our accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates of 14 individual charcoal particles are internally consistent and show that wildfires occurred well after the proposed impact. In addition we present evidence for the occurrence of cubic diamond in glass-like carbon. No lonsdaleite was found. The relation of the cubic nanodiamonds to glass-like carbon, which is produced during wildfires, suggests that these nanodiamonds might have formed after, rather than at the onset of, the Younger Dryas. Our analysis thus provides no support for the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.

Mid-Holocene water-level changes in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta (western Netherlands): implications for the reconstruction of relative mean sea-level rise, palaeoriver-gradients and coastal evolution

We present a revised relative mean sea-level (MSL) curve for the Rhine-Meuse delta, western Netherlands, for the period 7900-5300 cal yr BP. The revision is based on a series of new and previously unpublished local groundwater-level index data from buried Late Glacial aeolian dunes in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta, and reinterpretation of existing data. The new index data consist of (AMS and conventional) radiocarbon dates of samples, collected from the base of peat formed on dune slopes, near Vlaardingen (21 index points), Hillegersberg (one index point), and Hardinxveld-Giessendam (10 index points). The Vlaardingen data represent the coast-nearest Rhine-Meuse delta local water-level record, which therefore is highly indicative for sea-level change. Pollen and macrofossil analysis, and dating of paired samples was carried out to assess the reliability of the groundwater-level index data. The revision of the MSL curve involves: (1) a significant (0 to >1 m) upward adjustment for the period 7900-7300 cal yr BP; (2) a downward adjustment of ≤0.25 m for the period 6650-5300 cal yr BP. The new data indirectly support the reliability of the part of the curve for the period 7300-6650 cal yr BP. A longitudinally fairly uniform river gradient of 2.5-3.0 cm/km in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta during the period 6650-5600 cal yr BP can be inferred from the data sets. A significant river gradient extended further towards the coastline than previously thought and it may be that also the revised MSL curve reflects river-gradient effects. An increased floodbasin effect (stronger intra-coastal tidal damping) seems to have developed in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta in de period 7500-6600 cal yr BP, and was probably a complex response to a major avulsion of the Rhine.

Abiotic landscape and vegetation patterns in the Netherlands during the Weichselian Late Glacial

The Late Glacial landscape of the Netherlands was a landscape with changing geomorphology and vegetation. Glacial, eolian and fluvial processes in the time before the Late Glacial initially had formed the main landscape types that still existed during the Late Glacial. In these landscape types, geomorphological processes persisted, particularly during intervals when the vegetation cover was discontinuous.Vegetation development initiated soil formation and stabilised the substratum. On the other hand, the abiotic landscape influenced vegetation development, and particularly vegetation patterns. The Late Glacial vegetation patterns, changing in time, have been reconstructed on the basis of a palynological database containing the data from over 250 pollen diagrams from the Netherlands. Patterns of vegetation and abiotic landscape appear to compare to each other in many instances, indicating the close interrelationship between vegetation and the abiotic landscape.

Climate-driven fluvial development and valley abandonment at the last glacial-interglacial transition (Oude IJssel-Rhine, Germany)

In the Weichselian, the Lower Rhine in the Dutch-German border region has used three courses, dissecting ice-marginal topography inherited from the Saalian. In the Late Weichselian, the three courses functioned simultaneously, with the central one gaining importance and the outer ones abandoning. This study aims to reconstruct the fluvial development and forcings that culminated in abandonment of the northern branch ‘Oude IJssel-Rhine’, at the time of the Lateglacial to Holocene transition. The fluvial architecture is studied using a cored transect over the full width of the valley, detailed cross-sections over palaeochannels and geomorphological analysis using digital elevation and borehole data. Biostratigraphy, radiocarbon dating and OSL dating provide a timeframe to reconstruct the temporal fluvial development. In its phase of abandonment, the fluvial evolution of the Oude IJssel-Rhine course is controlled by the ameliorating climate and related vegetation and discharge changes, besides by intrinsic (autogenic) fluvial behaviour such as the competition for discharge with the winning central branch and the vicinity of the Lippe tributary confluence. The rapid climate warming at the start of the Late Glacial resulted in flow contraction as the initial response. Other fluvial geomorphic adjustments followed, with some delay. An aggrading braided or transitional system persisted until the start of the Allerod, when channel patterns finally changed to meandering. Floodplain incision occurred at the Allerod - Younger Dryas transition and a multi-channel system developed fed by Rhine discharge. At the start of the Holocene, this system transformed into a small-scale, local meandering system, which was abandoned shortly after the start of the Holocene. The final abandonment of the Oude IJssel-Rhine and Niers-Rhine courses can be attributed to deep incision of the Central Rhine course in the earliest Holocene and is considered to be controlled by flow contraction induced by climate and related vegetation and discharge changes.

Explosive eruption of El Chichon volcano (Mexico) disrupted 6th century Maya civilization and contributed to global cooling

A remarkably long period of Northern Hemispheric cooling in the 6th century CE, which disrupted human societies across large parts of the globe, has been attributed to volcanic forcing of climate. A major tropical eruption in 540 CE is thought to have played a key role, but there is no consensus about the source volcano to date. Here, we present evidence for El Chichon in southern Mexico as the most likely candidate, based on a refined reconstruction of the volcano’s eruption history. A new chronological framework, derived from distal tephra deposits and the world’s largest Holocene beach ridge plain along the Gulf of Mexico, enabled us to positively link a major explosive event to a prominent volcanic sulfur spike in bipolar ice core records, dated at 540 CE. We speculate that voluminous tephra fall from the eruption had a severe environmental impact on Maya societies, leading to temporary cultural decline, site abandonment, and migration within the core area of Maya civilization.

Centennial-scale lake-level lowstand at Lake Uddelermeer (The Netherlands) indicates changes in moisture source region prior to the 2.8-kyr event

The Uddelermeer is a unique lake for The Netherlands, containing a sediment record that continuously registered environmental and climatic change from the late Pleistocene on to the present. A 15.6-m-long sediment record was retrieved from the deepest part of the sedimentary basin and an age–depth model was developed using radiocarbon dating, 210Pb dating, and Bayesian modeling. Lake-level change was reconstructed using a novel combination of high-resolution palaeoecological proxies (e.g. pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, chironomids), quantitative determinations of lake-level change (ground-penetrating radar), and estimates of changes in precipitation (lipid biomarker stable isotopes). We conclude that lake levels were at least as high as present-day water levels from the late glacial to 3150 cal. yr BP, with the exception of at least one lake-level lowstand during the Preboreal period. Lake levels were ca. 2.5 m lower than at present between 3150 and 2800 cal. yr BP, which might have been the result of a change in moisture source region prior to the so-called 2.8-kyr event. Increasing precipitation amounts around 2800 cal. yr BP resulted in a lake-level rise of about 3.5–4 m to levels that were 1–1.5 m higher than at present, in line with increased precipitation levels as inferred for the 2.8-kyr event from nearby raised bog areas as well as with reconstructions of higher lake levels in the French Alps, all of which have been previously attributed to a phase of decreased solar activity. Lake levels decreased to their present level only during recent times, although the exact timing of the drop in lake levels is unclear.