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Detailed 10Be and 14C dating and supporting pollen analysis of Alpine Lateglacial glacial and landslide deposits in the Hohen Tauern Mountains (Austria) constrain a sequence-based stratigraphy comprising a major landslide (13.0±1.1 ka) overlain by till and termino-lateral moraines of an advancing (12.6±1.0 ka) and retreating (11.3±0.8 ka) glacier in turn overlain by a minor landslide (10.8±1.1 ka). These results define glacier activity during the Younger Dryas age Egesen stadial bracketed by landslide activities during the Bolling-Allerod interstadial and the Preboreal. In contrast to recent studies on Holocene glaciation in the Alps, no traces of any Holocene glacier advance bigger than during the Little Ice Age are documented. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the advantages of using an allostratigraphical approach based on unconformity-bounded sedimentary units as a tool for glacial stratigraphy in formerly glaciated mountain regions, rather than a stratigraphy based on either isolated morphological features or lithostratigraphical characteristics.

The Hercynian mountain ranges were islands of mountain glaciation and alpine tundra in a Central European ice-free corridor during the Late Pleistocene. Today they are notable areas of glacial landforms, alpine-forest free areas, peatlands and woodlands. However, our knowledge of the Lateglacial and early Holocene environmental changes in this region is limited. We present a new multi-proxy reconstruction of a mid-altitude environment in the Bohemian Forest spanning this period. A core (5.2 m length) in the Černé Lake cirque (1028 m a.s.l.) was subjected to lithological, geochemical, pollen and macrofossil analysis supplemented by two optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and 10 AMS radiocarbon dates. We determined the impact of regional and supraregional climate changes on the environment. The two most significant changes in sedimentation during the Lateglacial (17.6 and 15.8–15.5 cal. ka BP) were synchronous with regional glacial chronostratigraphy. Unlike Central European mountain ranges, in the Bohemian Forest the Younger Dryas was not coincident with glacier re-advance, but was a dry, cold episode with low lake levels, which prevailed until the early Preboreal. Plant macrofossils indicate local establishment of Betula nana and Betula pendula/pubescens at 15.4–13.4 cal. ka BP. Comparison with Holocene records from Central Europe shows a similar immigration history of vegetation at mid and higher altitudes. The tree line exceeded an altitude of ~1000 m a.s.l. around 10.5 cal. ka BP and coincided with rapid geochemical changes in the sediment. The 8.2 ka BP event did not have any response in the sedimentary record, but corresponded to stabilization of the Picea abies population and expansion of Fagus. Fagus colonized the Bohemian Forest earlier than other Hercynian mid-mountains, but never predominated in the composition of the forest at higher elevations. Abies alba was the last tree species that immigrated to the study area.

The history of the Lateglacial and Preboreal sedimentary succession from the Store Slotseng kettle hole basin, SW Denmark is presented. A tephrostratigraphical and multi-proxy investigation of the sediments, including stable isotope geochemistry, reveals small- and large-scale changes in the surrounding environment through time. Three distinct tephra horizons are observed. Two of them are identified as the Preboreal Hasseldalen Tephra and the Younger Dryas Vedde Ash. The third was deposited around the Pre-Bolling/Bolling transition. The Preboreal sediments record two significant decreases in authigenic carbonate content. Using tephrostratigraphy the lower one is identified as occurring during the Preboreal Oscillation, while the upper one is contemporaneous with the Rammelbeek Phase, which by some is recognised above the Preboreal Oscillation. This period has not previously been observed in this region. The discovery of the Hasseldalen Tephra in the Store Slotseng basin expands the known southwestern limit of the ash cloud, and increases the area for potential future observations. The Hasseldalen Tephra (c. 11.3 cal. ka BP) was deposited just prior to the Preboreal Oscillation and as such has a large potential for precise correlation and characterization of this short climatic perturbation.

The paper summarises materials on the mammal remains in northeastern Europe, dated by radiocarbon. Altogether, 23 local faunas of small mammals and 47 local faunas of large mammals were analysed. Multidimensional statistical analysis shows a strong correlation between changes in small mammal fauna composition and climate changes throughout time. The correlations with the spatial gradients, however, are less pronounced. The faunas are classified into three groups: (1) faunas of Holocene age; (2) Late Pleistocene stadial' assemblages; and (3) Late Pleistocene interstadial' assemblages. In some cases, changes in species abundance are better understood in terms of biotic interrelations rather than of climatic effects. The most pronounced change in small mammal fauna composition and structure occurred at the Preboreal/Boreal boundary, and a less conspicuous alteration took place at the LGM/Lateglacial transition. The most noticeable transformation in the large mammal fauna composition is dated to the early Holocene. Less significant changes are observed at the Middle Weichselian/LGM transition and at the LGM/Lateglacial transition. It is safely concluded that variations in the faunas of small and large mammals recorded in NE Europe during the last 35000 years occurred synchronously and unidirectionally.

Erbs-Hansen, D. R., Knudsen, K. L., Gary, A. C., Jansen, E., Gyllencreutz, R., Scao, V. & Lambeck, K. 2011: Late Younger Dryas and early Holocene palaeoenvironments in the Skagerrak, eastern North Atlantic: a multiproxy study. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2011.00205.x. ISSN 0300-9843 A high-resolution study of palaeoenvironmental changes through the late Younger Dryas and early Holocene in the Skagerrak, the eastern North Atlantic, is based on multiproxy analyses of core MD99-2286 combined with palaeowater depth modelling for the area. The late Younger Dryas was characterized by a cold ice-distal benthic foraminiferal fauna. After the transition to the Preboreal (c. 11 650 cal. a BP) this fauna was replaced by a Cassidulina neoteretis-dominated fauna, indicating the influence of chilled Atlantic Water at the sea floor. Persisting relatively cold bottom-water conditions until c. 10 300 cal. a BP are presumably a result of an outflow of glacial meltwater from the Baltic area across south-central Sweden, which led to a strong stratification of the water column at MD99-2286, as also indicated by C. neoteretis. A short-term peak in the C/N ratio at c. 10 200 cal. a BP is suggested to indicate input of terrestrial material, which may represent the drainage of an ice-dammed lake in southern Norway, the Glomma event. After the last drainage route across south-central Sweden closed, c. 10 300 cal. a BP, the meltwater influence diminished, and the Skagerrak resembled a fjord with a stable inflow of waters from the North Atlantic through the Norwegian Trench and a gradual increase in boreal species. Full interglacial conditions were established at the sea floor from c. 9250 cal. a BP. Subsequent warm stable conditions were interrupted by a short-term cooling around 8300–8200 cal. a BP, representing the 8.2 ka event.

Lysa, A., Hjelstuen, B. O. & Larsen, E. 2009: Fjord infill in a high-relief area: Rapid deposition influenced by deglaciation dynamics, glacio-isostatic rebound and gravitational activity. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00117.x. ISSN 0300-9483. Seismic profiles and gravity cores have been collected from the previously glaciated Nordfjord system on the west coast of Norway. The results give new information about the deglaciation history of the area and contribute to our understanding of fjord fill in high relief areas. During the last deglaciation, up to 360 m of sediments was deposited in the 135 km long fjord system. Shortly after the coastal area became ice-free, ∼12 300 14C years BP, the first ice-marginal deposits were formed, probably due to a minor glacier re-advance. The greatest volume of sediments in the fjord was deposited during the Allerod ice recession period, the Younger Dryas re-advance and the succeeding ice retreat period until the ice disappeared from the fjord in early Preboreal. During the Allerod, the fjord was ice-free and glaciomarine stratified sediments were deposited. The ice margin is suggested to have been located just west of Lake Strynevatnet before the advance during the Younger Dryas. In the late phase of the Younger Dryas, and within the succeeding ∼1000 years, the glacio-isostatic rebound was rapid, and extensive re-sedimentation took place. Slide activities continued into mid-Holocene, albeit with less intensity and were followed by normal and calm marine conditions that prevailed until the present. One huge rock avalanche into the fjord took place between 2200 and 1800 14C yr BP, probably triggering a tsunami and several slides in the fjord. Even though glacigenic sediments totally dominate in terms of sediment volume, the present study underlines the importance of re-sedimentation and other gravitational processes in such fjord settings.

Shallow seismic data and vibrocore information, sequence stratigraphic and faunal evidence have been used for documentation of Late Weichselian reactivation of faulting in the south central Kattegat, southern Scandinavia. The study area is situated on the Fennoscandian Border Zone, where tectonic activity has been recurrent since Early Palaeozoic time and still occurs, as shown by present earthquake activity. New data from the area south of the island of Anholt show that after deglaciation fast isostatic rebound resulted in reactivation of a NW-SE striking normal fault system. This tectonic episode is dated to a period starting shortly before 15.0 cal. ka BP and ending around 13.5 cal. ka BP, after regression had already reached a level of about 30 m b.s.l. The vertical displacement associated with the faulting was in the order of 20 m. More generally, the results support the previously reported late Weichselian sea-level highstand, which was followed by forced regression until the eustatic sea-level rise surpassed the rate of glacio-isostatic rebound in early Preboreal. Our findings further imply that drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake through the Oresund at c. 15 cal. ka BP (Bergsten & Nordberg 1992) may have been triggered by tectonic activity in this region.

Late Quaternary marine deposits from Edgeoya (eastern part of the Svalbard archipelago) were analysed lithologically and micropalaeontologically. The studied sections show coarsening upward developments which reflect shallowing of the depositional area connected to Holocene land uplift. Four foraminiferal assemblages are recognized and are referred to successively decreasing water depths. The oldest assemblage is dominated by Elphidum excavatum and was formed under high glacial influence at a depth of c. 75 m in late Younger Dryas time. The youngest assemblage is dominated by Elphidium frigidum and reflects Holocene shallow water to beach conditions. Transverse ridges (mostly of cross bedded gravel) occurring in the outer parts of the valleys are interpreted as submarine ice front deltas accumulated during a period with permanent position of the glacier fronts. This stop in glacial retreat, called the Visdalen event, is referred to early Preboreal time.

High-resolution palaeoecological proxies of pollen, macrofossils and diatoms from an isolation lake provide a long-term record of the Holocene landscape history and shoreline displacement on the Biskopsmala Peninsula in central Blekinge, SE Sweden. During the Preboreal/Boreal transition, the peninsula was sparsely vegetated by woodlands, along with lateglacial dwarf shrub/steppe communities. The lake basin was isolated from the shallow Yoldia Sea during this time. The regional climate improved from 10 700 cal. BP, evident as progressive expansion of Pinus -dominated mixed forest with deciduous trees. The lake basin was probably connected with the Ancylus Lake during the period 10 700-10 100 cal. BP. Subsequently the basin became isolated again, corresponding to the Early Littorina Sea phase. Replacement of freshwater diatoms by those with brackish-water affinity at 8100 cal. BP indicates the initial transgression of the Littorina Sea in this basin. But not until 7500 cal. BP were brackish conditions fully established. Peaks of brackish-marine diatoms and dinoflagellates during 7500-7000 cal. BP indicate increased saltwater inflow to the Baltic Sea in response to global meltwater pulse 3. However, interactive changes in seagrass and stonewort macrofossil concentrations suggest that three minor transgressions during 5900-5300, 5000-4700 and 4400-4000 cal. BP occurred locally, associated with centennial-scale variations in regional wind pattern or coastal storminess. By 3000 cal. BP, the lake basin was finally isolated from the Baltic, and thereafter the landscape on the peninsula became gradually more influenced by human activities.

A pollen-based quantitative climate reconstruction from a lake-sediment core on the Norwegian Barents Sea coast provides insights about climatic change over the Greenland stadial 1 (GS-1) to early-Holocene transition. GS-1 was characterized by low July mean temperatures (c. 6.0°C) and dry conditions probably resembling modern arctic deserts. The increase in July mean temperatures to the Holocene level (10.0–12.0°C) took place in a two-step pattern interrupted by a short cool period with July mean temperatures of c. 8.0°C during the early Preboreal at c. 11450–11200 cal. yr BP. The reconstruction also suggests two other early-Holocene coolings of c. 1.5°C, dating to 10900–10800 cal. yr BP and 10400–10200 cal. yr BP, synchronously with short-term decreases in δ18O values in the Greenland ice cores. These results reflect the highly unstable nature of the early-Holocene climate in northernmost Fennoscandia. Apart from the cooling at 10900–10800 cal. yr BP, the reconstructed cold events correlate with fluxes of fresh water to the North Atlantic and related reductions of North Atlantic deep-water formation, suggesting that the rapid climate changes resulted from the dynamics of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and oceanic energy transport during the GS-1 to early-Holocene transition.

Pollen data from a Levinson-Lessing Lake sediment core (74°28'N, 98°38'E) and Cape Sabler, Taymyr Lake permafrost sequences (74°33'N, 100°32'E) reveal substantial environmental changes on the northern Taymyr Peninsula during the last c. 32000 14C years. The continuous records confirm that a scarce steppe-like vegetation with Poaceae, Artemisia and Cyperaceae dominated c. 32 000–10300 14C yr BP, while tundra-like vegetation with Oxyria, Ranunculaceae and Caryophyllaceae grew in wetter areas. The coldest interval occurred c. 18000 yr BP. Lateglacial pollen data show several warming events followed by a climate deterioration c. 10500 14C yr BP, which may correspond with the Younger Dryas. The Late Pleistocene/Holocene transition, c. 10300–10000 14C yr BP, is characterized by a change from the herb-dominated vegetation to shrubby tundra with Betula sect. Nanae and Salix. Alnus fruticosa arrived locally c. 9000–8500 14Cyr BP and disappeared c. 4000–3500 14Cyr BP. Communities of Betula sect. Nanae, broadly distributed at c. 10000–3500 14Cyr BP, almost disappeared when vegetation became similar to the modern herb tundra after 3500–3000 14Cyr BP. Quantitative climate reconstructions show Last Glacial Maximum summer temperature about 4°C below the present and Preboreal (c. 10 000 14C yr BP) temperature 2–4°C above the present. Maximum summer temperature occurred between 10 000 and 5500 14C yr BP; later summers were similar to present or slightly warmer.

Several distinctive marginal moraines of Preboreal age have been observed in Norway. They are grouped into three major morainal zones that are radiocarbon dated at about 9900±100, 9600±100 and 9300±100 B.P. respectively. The following deglaciation of central Norway was rapid and most likely completed about 8500 B.P. Evidence of glacier fluctuations up to recent time is discussed. The results are based partly on observations by the field parties of the I.G.C.P. project ‘Quaternary Glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere’.

Oxygen-isotope profiles for the Late-Glacial carbonate sediments from Red Bog and adjacent Lough Gur in County Limerick in western Ireland are readily correlated with the classical hiozones delineated on pollen diagrams for the same cores. The estimated summer temperatures of the Bolling/Allerod were as high as those in the early Holocene and are correlated with increasing Milankovitch summer insolation. This warm phase was abruptly terminated in the Younger Dryas cold episode by a depletion of 4% in δ18O, suggesting a summer atmospheric temperature decrease of about 12°C, comparable to that inferred from fossil beetle data. The Younger Dryas phase is attributed to a major cooling of the sea-surface temperature by a postulated discharge of icebergs similar to that of the Heinrich events, for the icebergs were much more effective than simple meltwater in cooling the sea surface and thus the climate over Europe. Shorter-term cool phases (Older Dryas. Gerzensee. Preboreal oscillation) are also recognized.

At approximately 9200 BP the Romerike area of southeastern Norway was flooded as much as c. 35 m by a jokulhlaup from the ice-dammed lake ‘Nedre Gl'amsjo’. The flood formed characteristic erosion patterns in the surface of soft sediments and eroded channels in overflow passes. Icebergs driven by the floodwater scoured the bottom and formed imprints on the flooded surface when they were stranded as the waterlevel fell. Information from the eroison features is used to reconstruct the palaeocurrents.

Pollen and mollusc deposits in a sedimentation series laid down in the Dattnau valley during the Late Glacial and early Post-glacial were studied. For the first time δ13C and δ18O in land-snail shells were measured. It was possible to reconstruct vegetational and climatic developments from the Bolling (c. 12,500 B.P.) until well into the early Boreal (c. 9,000 B.P.). The two sets of findings agree well. The Late Glacial is seen to comprise two intervals: the continuous, locally rather moist, warm Bolling/Allerod period, and the subsequent dry. cold Younger Dryas. The profile ceases after the changeover from the Late Glacial to the Post-glacial. The transitions from the Allerod to the Younger Dryas and hence to the Preboreal and Boreal are both clearly identifiable in the pollen diagram; the mollusc record, however, ceases to be interpretable shortly before the climatic change to the Post-glacial. The δ18O curve shows a clear distinction between the AllerOd and the Younger Dryas. The Gerzensee fluctuation, immediately before this transition. is evident as a negative deviation.

The older ‘moraine lines’ outside the Ra Moraine in the outer Oslofjord area have been correlated with events in Bohuslan, Sweden. Recent radiocarbon datings in the vicinity of the Ra Moraine and a radiocarbon dated sea-level curve for the Ski area show that the Ra Moraine was formed during the Early Younger Dryas, whereas the Ski Moraine was formed at the end of the Younger Dryas chronozone. An equidistant shoreline diagram together with a large number of marine limit observations have been used to establish the position of the glacier front during Late Younger Dryas and Early Preboreal chronozones. Reconnaissance mapping indicates a fairly regular recession with many short stops during the Bolling, Older Dryas and Allerod chronozones; at least two readvances to the Ra Moraine before 10,600 years B.P.; a rapid recession during the Middle Younger Dryas and a number of ice-front oscillations at the end of the Younger Dryas chronozone.

New pollen-analytical investigations and two 14C series indicate that, at the Bedrina on Mount Piottino (Tessin, Switzerland), the post-Allerod NAP phase (Piottino oscillation) represents the well-marked Younger Dryas at least for the most part. The late-glacial part of the profile is re-classified, and the term Piottino oscillation is rejected, as it is largely identical with the Younger Dryas. Individual 14C dates from the transition between the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal should be considered critically. Considerable fluctuations in the 14C level are supposed for this period.

Thirteen lake basins isolated during the Late Weichselian and Holocene are studied. The lakes are situated in two study areas, one on the west coast and one on the south coast of Norway. The diatom, genus Fragilaria shows a predominance in sediments deposited around the isolation independent of when the basins were isolated. The highest percentages may occur before, during or after the actual isolation from the sea based on diatom taxa other than Fragilaria spp. Predominance of Fragilaria spp. seems to develop in accordance with the local environment and more or less independently of the regional differences. The large Fragilaria abundances might be caused by the same effect as in recently deglaciated basins situated above marine limit in Late Weichselian, mainly dependent on the nutrient supply. Summary A diatom analytical study has been made of eight lakes in Hordaland, western Norway and five lakes in Telemark, southern Norway, to investigate their changing environment during isolation from the sea. These lakes have been isolated at different ages, spanning from BOlling in Late Weichselian to Subatlantic in Holocene. The aim of the investigation was to determine whether regional differences or differences in time of isolation would affect the general trend in the development of such basins. The rate of the isolations is more rapid in Late Weichselian and Preboreal than in the remaining Holocene. The pH-values and trophic status indicate a development from nutrient rich (alkaline and eutrophic) to nutrient poor (acid and oligotrophic) conditions, regardless of geographical position. Large abundances of Fragilaria spp. occur around the isolations. Peaks in Fragilaria spp. may occur before, during or after the isolation from the sea. Therefore Fragilaria taxa are not good isolation indicators for detailed stratigraphic investigations. It is evident that a predominance of Fragilaria spp. may occur in any chronozone. In the two areas investigated there is a tendency for F. construens to reach its highest frequency values in basins isolated between 10,000 and 8,000 years B.P. Large abundances of F. pinnata are not restricted to specific chronozones and the species appear to have a wide salinity range. F. virescens var. subsalina is also present from BOlling to the Subatlantic chronozone and indicates a preference for saline water. It seems plausible that the large abundances of Fragilaria spp. around the isolation levels are mainly caused by the same effect as in recently deglaciated basins above the marine limit in Late Weichselian and seems to be dependent on the nutrient supply. The predominance of Fragilaria spp. seems to develop according to the local ecology of the separate basins more or less independently of the regional differences.

Pollen analysis, macrosubfossil determinations and radiocarbon datings from a 0.95 m thick peat deposit resting on sand and buried by a 1.3 m thick beach ridge at Haramsoy (an outer-arc island off the coast of More og Romsdal province), reveal changes in the local vegetation and in the groundwater level of the landward lagoon-like area. These are considered to reflect the relative shore-level changes between late Preboreal and early Atlantic times: an initial section with a high groundwater level reflecting the early Boreal high shore level, an intervening section with a low groundwater level, from the time of the Boreal regression minimum, and a final section, with a rising groundwater level, reflecting the late Boreal eustatic rise in sea level, which led to complete burial of the peat and the formation of an extensive Tapes beach ridge. Radiocarbon dates reveal that the basal sand (approx. 8 m above sea level) rose above sea level at approx. 9500 B. P. and that the top of the peat (approx. 9 m above sea level) was transgressed by the sea at approx. 7300 B. P. The spread of alder (Alnus) within the area may have been delayed by a thousand years compared with other regions in south Norway.

Results from detailed pollen and 18O/16O studies on two sediment profiles from small Swiss lakes are reported. 18O/16O records in lacustrine carbonate contain paleoclimatic information because they reflect mainly the isotope ratio in rain and snow which is correlated to temperature. Several transitions between different climatic periods determined palyno-logically are also indicated by marked changes in the isotope ratios in both profiles, namely the transitions Oldest Dryas - Boiling and Allerod - Younger Dryas - Preboreal. 18o/16O was 2 to 3 %0 lower during Younger Dryas than during the adjacent periods, corresponding to a temperature drop of a few degrees Centigrade according to a tentative estimate.

Feyling-Hanssen, R. W.: The Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in marine deposits from the Oslofjord area. Boreas, Vol. 1, pp. 241–246. Oslo 1st September, 1972. In marine deposits from the southern Oslofjord area in Norway the boundary between Holocene and Pleistocene is found within a formation characterized by Arctic species, the so-called Yoldia Clay or zone A in the foraminiferal stratigraphy. The fossil assemblage on the Holocene side of the boundary is even poorer than that on the Pleistocene side, which is explained by the rapid Preboreal ice recession. The boundary is not conspicuously reflected in the faunas but still discernible and applicable.

In connection with a new deglaciation concept for Iceland, implying an extensive glaciation during the Younger Dryas and the decay of the Icelandic inland ice sheet during the Preboreal, the history of relative sea-level changes on Iceland has been re-evaluated. New field data from the Reykjavik area, in Faxafloi Bay southwestern Iceland, were obtained in order to construct the first stratigraphically controlled curve of relative sea-level displacements for Iceland. The curve is constructed on the basis of radiocarbon-dated shells in raised marine deposits and on tephrostratigraphically controlled and radiocarbon-dated, submerged peat deposits. The curve suggests that a post-glacial relative sea-level change of about 45 m, from + 43 m a.s.1. to — 2 m a.s.l, occurred over a period of 900 14C-years in the Reykjavik area between 10 300 BP and 9400 BP. The sea-level curve shows a shoreline displacement of c. 5 cm 14Cyr-1 for that period. The mean absolute uplift rate is calculated to be 6.9 cm 14C yr-1, which is about double the fastest rate reported from any other coastal North Atlantic site. Although this rapid uplift can probably be partly explained by a 14C plateau around the termination of the Pleistocene, it is more than likely controlled by rapid Preboreal deglaciation, together with low asthenosphere viscosities below Iceland and the release of hydroisostatic stresses in connection with the deglaciation.

A detailed reconstruction of deglacial relative sea-level changes at the northern coast of Iceland, based on the litho- and biostratigraphy of lake basins, indicates an overall fall in relative sea level of about 45 m between 11 300 and 9100 BP, corresponding to an isostatic rebound of 77 m. The overall regression was interrupted by two minor transgressions during the late Younger Dryas and in early Preboreal, and these were probably caused by a combination of expansions of local ice caps and readvances of the Icelandic inland ice-sheet margin. Maximum absolute uplift rates are recorded during the regressional phase between the two transgressions (10 000-9850 BP), with a mean value of c. 15 cm ·14C yr-1 or 11-12 cm ·cal. yr-1. Mean absolute uplift during the regressional phase following the second transgression (9700-9100 BP) was around 6 cm ·14C yr-1, corresponding to c. 3 cm · cal. yr-1, and relative sea level dropped below present-day sea level at 9000 BP. (Less)

Lake-level fluctuations in the Jura mountains (France) during the Younger Dryas and the early Holocene are reconstructed using sedimentological analyses. Major transgressive phases culminated just before the Laacher See tephra deposition, at the beginning of the Younger Dryas, between 9000 and 8000 BP and between 7000 and 6000 BP. The Younger Dryas appears to be characterized by increasing dryness. Other major lowering phases occurred during the middle Allerod and during the Preboreal. A transgressive event developed between c. 9700 and 9500 BP. These palaeohydrological changes can be related to climatic oscillations reconstructed from pollen and isotopic records in Swiss lakes, from glacier movements and timberline variations in the Alps, and from isotopic records in the Greenland ice sheet.

One of the most discussed stages in the history of the Baltic Sea is the Ancylus Lake phase. This paper presents detailed information from the Darss Sill threshold area as well as the adjacent basins, i.e. the Mecklenburg Bay and Arkona Basin located in the southwesternmost Baltic. The threshold area was transgressed at the Baltic Ice Lake maximum phase and during the following regression about 10.3 ka BP a river valley was incised in the Darss Sill to a level of 23–24 m below present sea level (b.s.l.). Preboreal sediments in the study area show lowstand basin deposition in the Arkona Basin and the existence of a local lake in Mecklenburg Bay. The lowstand system is followed by the Ancylus Lake transgression that reached a maximum level of 19 m b.s.l. Thus, at the maximum level the water depth was about 5 m over the threshold, and the shore level fall during the Ancylus Lake regression must be in the same range. The Darss Sill area is the key area for drainage of the Ancylus Lake, and if the previously suggested regression of 8–10 m in southeastern Sweden is to be achieved, isostatic rebound must also play a role. The existence of the so-called Dana River in the Darss Sill area cannot be supported by our investigations. We observed no signs of progressive erosion of the Darss Sill area in the Early Holocene, and there are no prograding systems in Mecklenburg Bay that can be related to the Ancylus Lake regression. On the contrary, local lakes developed in Mecklenburg Bay and in the Darss Sill threshold area. In the Darss Sill area, marl was deposited in a lake in the valley that developed after the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake. Studies of diatoms and macrofossils, combined with seismic interpretation and radiocarbon dating, provide detailed information about the chronology and the relative shore level of these lake phases as well as about environmental conditions in the lakes.

A composite stratigraphical sequence, the Fnjoskadalur Sequence, reveals ten cycles of glacier advances and formation of ice-dammed lakes in Fnjoskadalur in central North Iceland. Chemical analyses of the Skogar Tephra, with its type locality in this valley, have enabled a correlation with Ash zone I in deep sea sediments of the North Atlantic and with the Vedde Ash Bed on land in western Norway, where it is dated to 10,600 BP. The Skogar Tephra is composed of two layers, a basaltic tephra (STP-1) and a rhyolitic tephra (STP-2) erupted almost simultaneously from two different Icelandic volcanoes. The STP-1 tephra originates from the Katla volcano in South Iceland, and the oraefajokull volcano in Southeast Iceland is considered a plausible source of the STP-2 tephra. This new dating of the Skogar Tephra puts the three youngest glacier advances of the Fnjoskadalur Sequence within a 1000 year period between 10,600 and 9650 BP. The redated Late Weichselian glacial history now extracted from the Fnjoskadalur Sequence shows that glaciers in North Iceland were more extended in Younger Dryas and Preboreal times than previously assumed. This fits with the revised deglaciation pattern which has evolved in recent years.

A clay varve chronology has been established for the Late Weichselian ice recession east of Mt. Billingen in Vastergotland, Sweden. In this area the Middle-Swedish end moraine zone was built up as a consequence of cold climate during the Younger Dryas stadial. A change-over from rapid to slow retreat as a result of climatic deterioration at the Allerod/Younger Dryas transition cannot be traced with certainty in the varve sequences, but it seems to have taken place just before 11,600 varve years BP. The following deglaciation was very slow for about 700 years — within the Middle-Swedish end moraine zone the annual ice-front retreat was only c. 10 m on average. A considerable time-lag is to be expected between the Younger Dryas climatic event and this period of slow retreat. The 700 years of slow retreat were succeeded by 200 years of more rapid recession, about 50–75 m annually, and then by a mainly rapid and uncomplicated retreat of the ice-front by 100–200 m/year or more, characterizing the next 1500 years of deglaciation in south and central Sweden. The change from about 50–75 m to 100–200 m of annual ice-front retreat may reflect the Younger Dryas/Preboreal transition. Clay-stratigraph-ically defined, the transition is dated at c. 10,740 varve years BP, with an error of +100 to -250 years. In the countings of ice layers in Greenland ice cores (GRIP and GISP-2) the end of the Younger Dryas climatic event is 800–900 years older. However, a climatic amelioration after the cold part of the Younger Dryas and in early Preboreal should rapidly be reflected by for example chemical components and dust in Greenland ice cores, and by increasing δ13C content in tree rings. On the other hand, the start of a rapid retreat of the inland ice margin can be delayed by several centuries. This can explain at least a part of the discrepancy between the time-scales.

Subfossil finds of the beaver in Finland, both stray finds and bones among refuse at cultural sites, are reviewed. The beaver may have arrived in the Preboreal period together with other elements of the taiga fauna; the earliest finds, however, are from the Late Ancylus or Early Litorina phase of the Baltic. The animal's arrival and occurrence in this country since the end of the last glaciation are tentatively discussed.

Examination of a 10 m piston core from the eastern Kattegat revealed marine sediments spanning a period from the late Middle Weichselian to the Early Holocene. The oldest marine unit in the core is 14C-dated to about 30,000–36,000 years BP. These sediments represent the Middle Weichselian Sandnes/Denekamp-Hengelo Interstadial (upper part of stable isotope stage 3) and can be correlated to marine deposits from several localities in the Kattegat region by means of foraminifera. The Late Weichselian deposits comprise sediments from the Oldest Dryas Stadial and the Allerod Interstadial. The intervening periods are not represented in the sequence (hiatuses). Sediments from the latest part of the Early Holocene Preboreal period succeeding the Allerod sequence indicate a considerable hiatus spanning 2000–3000 years around the Weichselian/Holocene boundary. The late Preboreal faunas document a high freshwater inflow during this period, and stable conditions seem not to have been reached in the area until a few hundred years later, in the Boreal period. Comparison with boxcore material from the same site documents a reduction of the energy level of the bottom currents some time between c. 8000 and 800 years BP.

Four sites in northwestern Dalsland and southwestern VHrmland, southwestern Sweden were investigated. including studies of marine biostratigraphy and AMS datings. A marine foraminifera and mollusc fauna existed in the area between c. 10 400 and 9700 14C years BP. Arctic assemblages dominate the lowermost layers, deposited immediately after the deglaciation. A transition to more diverse faunas affected by a higher meltwater influence and decreasing water depths is recorded higher up in the succession. Northwestern Dalsland was dcglaciated between c. 10 400 and 10 200 BP, and southwestern Viirmland between c. 10 100 and 9800 BP. A stagnation in the retreat of the ice margin is suggested at 10 300 to 10 200 BP. The subsequent rapid ice recession was probably an effect of warmer conditions at the Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition. A similar shift in the early Preboreal (c. 9900 BP) probably represents the dcglaciation which followed after the stagnation at the Ski moraines. Renewed glacial activity is indicated at c. 9700 BP.

Shoreline displacement data from the Trondheimsfjord area have been collected and a synthesis of the Late Weichselian and Holocene relative uplift is presented. The isobase direction is N 30–35°E during the whole period. The gradients of the shorelines are 1.7? m/km at 11,800 years B.P., 1.3 m/km at 10,000 years B.P., gradually decreasing towards the present with a value of 0.2 m/km at 5,000 years B.P. Some irregularities in the shoreline gradient curve in the Late Weichselian and Preboreal chronozones may be ascribed to crustal readjustments by faults. An interpolation of the 9,500 years B.P. shoreline to the Angermanland and Baltic area shows a relative uplift at 11,800 years B.P. of 400–450 m in the central area of glaciation. The island of Hitra was probably deglaciated at about 12,000 years B.P. and Orlandet/Bjugn somewhat later. The Younger Dryas ice marginal deposits at Tautra have been deposited early in this chronozone, and deposits proximal to this at Hoklingen and Levanger were probably deposited in the late part of the same chronozone.

Scattered marginal moraines in the Lyngen-Storfjord area proximally to the Tromso-Lyngen moraine were formed by the Scandinavian ice-sheet during its retreat in the Preboreal. They correspond to ice-front positions in the main fjords and fjord-valleys where between three and four major and, in places, some minor ice-front accumulations occur. These have been correlated using the marine limits related to synchronous shorelines. Dates for the shorelines and moraines have been derived from a shoreline emergence curve based on 14C dated shore levels from North Norway. Two major, and probably at least one minor, climatically induced, glacial events are indicated: the Ornes event c. 9800–9900±150 B.P., the Skibotn event 95–9600±150 B. P., and a younger event c. 9400±250 B. P. The inner fjord-valleys were probably deglaciated by c. 9100 B. P. Final deglaciation of the innerplateau during late Preboreal or early Boreal was characterized by downwasting.

Principles and terminology for classification of the Quaternary are discussed, including lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy. morphostratigraphy, climatostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy. The main conclusion is a proposal for a common chronostratigraphical classification of the Quaternary in Norden (and partly continental NW Europe). The Quaternary is subdivided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene Series. The Pleistocene is further subdivided into several provisional stages (Weichselian, Eemian, etc.), based on the sequence of glacials/interglacials. but with the boundaries preferably defined by stratotypes. The Late Weichselian and the Flandrian (Holocene) are subdivided into chronozoncs (Bolling, Older Dryas, Allerod, Younger Dryas, Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, Subatlantic) with the boundaries dcfined in conventional radiocarbon years.

Three main phases of ice-movement pattern in South Norway during the Weichselian are reconstructed. During Phase II (possibly of Middle Weichselian age) the ice divide was located far to the west. Phase III (assumed Middle/Late Weichselian age) had an easterly situated ice divide. During Phase IV (Preboreal age) the ice divide had moved back to the west and had partly fragmented into separate domes. The migration of the ice divide from west to east may be due to glacier surges, whilst the ice-divide migration from Phase III to IV was probably a result of a general reduction in size of the ice sheet.

The paper describes studies of glacial deposits and raised beaches on the island of Disko. West Greenland. Two stades in the glacial history are defined, the Godhavn stade, which represents the last major glaciation on Disko, and the Disko stade, which defines a Preboreal readvance. During the Godhavn stade, only eastern and southern Disko were affected by the extended Inland Ice, while glaciation on western and northern Disko was local in character. In connection with the deglaciation, the sea transgressed to the marine limit at c. 9,250-9,000 BP. Immediately before, tentatively culminating around 9,300 BP, a significant readvance of glaciers on eastern Disko occurred. The marine limit rises on a transect from northwest to southeast across Disko from 60 m a.s.l. to 90 m. The paper discusses changes in equilibrium line altitude (ELA) during the deglaciation, and explains the Disko stade readvance in terms of variations in upper-air wind conditions.

New palaeoenvironmental data from the Lateglacial in Southwest Iceland add to the record of climatic events during deglaciation of the region. Recently exposed sediments on the north coast of Seltjarnarnes Peninsula in the Reykjavik area, Southwest Iceland, contain evidence of marine deposition during the Bolling Interstadial. The glaciomarine sediments contain both slightly reworked marine macrofossils and microfossils indicating normal marine salinity and subarctic climate conditions. Previous sedimentological studies and radiocarbon dating of the sporadic sediments covering the lava bedrock in Reykjavik have revealed lateglacial marine units from the Allerod, the Allerod—Younger Dryas transition, the Younger Dryas and from the Preboreal. Until now, the only Bolling evidence has consisted of scattered radiocarbon-dated redeposited shell fragments. From the Bollagardar deposits we report the first faunas dated to the Bolling chronozone preserved in marine sediments in the Reykjavik area. Recently published work in Hvalfjordur and Borgarfjordur, West Iceland, has shown that sea level was relatively high during the Bolling and that deglaciation was rapid. Bolling, Allerod and Younger Dryas deposits in the coastal areas of the Reykjavik region accumulated in a relatively open marine environment in oceanographic conditions similar to the present ones. Combined previous and present results indicate that several episodes of glaciomarine deposition occurred.

Hald, M., Husum, K., Vorren, T. O., Grosfjeld, K., Jensen, H. B. & Sharapova, A. 2003 (December): Holocene climate in the subarctic fjord Malangen, northern Norway: a multi-proxy study. Boreas, Vol. 32, pp. 543–559. Oslo. ISSN 0300-9483. A Holocene sedimentary record from the deep-silled Malangen fjord in northern Norway reveals regional changes in sedimentary environment and climate. Down-core analysis of two sediment cores includes multi-core sensor logging, grain size, x-radiography, foraminifera, oxygen isotopes, dinoflagellates, pollen, trace elements and radiocarbon datings. The cores are located just proximal to the submarine Younger Dryas moraine complex, and reveal the deglaciation after Younger Dryas and the postglacial evolution. Five sedimentary units have been identified. The oldest units, V and IV, bracket the Younger Dryas glacial readvance in the fjord between 12 700 cal. years BP and 11 800 cal. years BP. This is followed by deposition of glaciomarine sediments (units IV and III) starting around 12 100 cal. years BP. Glaciomarine sedimentation ceased in the fjord c. 10 300 cal. years BP and was replaced by open marine sedimentation (units II and I). A rapid stepwise warming occurred during the Preboreal. Onset of surface water warming lagged bottom water warming by several hundred years. The 18 O record indicates a significant, gradual bottom water cooling (c .4 °C) between 8000 and 2000 cal. years BP, a trend also supported by the other proxy data. Other records in the region, as well as GCM simulations, also support this long-term climatic evolution. Superimposed on this cooling were brief warmings around 6000 cal. years BP and 2000 cal. years BP. The long-term change may be driven by orbitally forced reduction in insolation, whereas the short-term changes may be linked to for example solar forcing, meltwater and NAO changes all causing regional changes in the North Atlantic heat transport.

In order to evaluate the sensitivity of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems to climatic changes, lithological (sediment structure and color, grain size, physical properties) and biochemical (TOC, TOC/TN, δ13C of TOC and carbonates) investigations were carried out on an 11.12 m-long sediment core from Lama Lake (Central Siberia, Putorana Plateau). According to the pollen data, the sequence represents the termination of the Pleistocene, and the entire Holocene. It is composed of highly terrigenous and stratified clays and silts. Sediment structure, grain-size distribution, carbonate contents and physical properties of the sediment indicate that glaciers were present in the catchment area of Lama Lake during the period Oldest Dryas to AllerOd. For the same time period, δ13C values of TOC give indications of a perennial ice cover. Since the AllerOd, organic matter accumulation has increased, caused by an increasing input of land vegetation and aquatic primary production as revealed by relations TOC contents, TOC/TN ratios and δ13C values of TOC. During the Holocene climatic optimum, in late Preboreal and Boreal times, biogenic primary production in Lama Lake reached its maximum and the vegetation in the catchment area changed from grassy tundra to a dense forest. From the Atlantic period to the present, small variations in δ13C values of TOC and TOC contents are probably related to the location of Lama Lake on the border between grass and wooded steppe, leading to responses of environmental conditions to even small changes in climate.

Six successive zones with distinctive marginal moraines are recognized. Based on radiocarbon dates the ages of the three oldest zones are believed to be: older than 11,100 years B.P. (Vasdal event), about 10,900 B.P. (Glomfjord-Straumoy events), and between 10,400 and 9500 B.P. (Skjerstad event). The three youngest zones are Preboreal. Corresponding marine sediments, shorelines, glaciation limits and other glacial features are described.

Frenzel, P., Keyser, D. & Viehberg, F.A. 2010: An illustrated key and (pala6e6o)ecological primer for Postglacial to Recent Ostracoda (Crustacea) of the Baltic Sea. Boreas, Vol. 39, pp. 567–575. 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00135.x. ISSN 0300-9483 This synopsis of Baltic Sea brackish water Ostracoda gives an overview of all known Recent species for the first time. It also includes Holocene taxa now extinct in the area. There are 131 species, two of which are recorded only from Yoldia stage (Preboreal) sediments. The illustrated key is based exclusively on valve morphology, providing a taxonomical base for geoscience and biological studies using ostracods from the Baltic Sea area. A list of ecological tolerances and preferences as well as the latitudinal distribution of all species is intended as a reference for palaeoenvironmental analyses. Salinity, temperature and oxygen tolerance values as well as preferences for latitudinal distribution, water depth and energy, habitat and substrate are given. The data are based on quantitative sampling in the southern, central and western Baltic Sea and on information gained from literature.

BOREAS Anundsen, K. 1978 03 01: Marine transgression in Younger Dryas in Norway. Boreas, Vol. 7, pp. 49–60. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483. The lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of sediment cores from two basins in southwestern Norway have been studied and radiocarbon dated. The diatom and the Hystrix content indicates a marine Younger Dryas transgression that reached its maximum level at the transition Younger Dryas/Preboreal Chronozone. No Allerod transgression to the same altitude can be demonstrated, and the suggested Allerod transgression at Bomlo (Faegri 1944) is most likely of Younger Dryas age, too.