Chironomid-inferred summer temperatures for the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition from a lake sediment sequence in Muir Park Reservoir, west-central Scotland

Brooks, S.J, Davies, K.L, Mather, K.A, Matthews, I.P and Lowe, J.J (2016) 'Chironomid-inferred summer temperatures for the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition from a lake sediment sequence in Muir Park Reservoir, west-central Scotland.' Journal of Quaternary Science, 31 (3). pp. 214-224. ISSN 0267-8179

Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2860

Abstract

Lake sediments spanning the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (LGIT: ca. 14.7 to 8 ka BP) from Muir Park Reservoir (MPR) in west-central Scotland were analysed for chironomids. The site lies just outside the southern limit of a former glacier that advanced into the Loch Lomond Basin during the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial. Chironomid-inferred mean July temperatures were derived using a modern Norwegian calibration dataset. Three tephra layers constrain the sequence chronologically. Inferred temperatures decline from a high value early in the Interstadial, punctuated by two cold oscillations, probably equivalent to GI-1d and GI-1b in the Greenland ice-core record, and a warm oscillation (equivalent to GI-1a) immediately before the severe cooling at the start of the Loch Lomond Stadial (GS-1), when summer temperatures fell by about 5 °C below the Interstadial average. Summer temperatures fell by about 3 °C below the Interstadial average during GI-1d, which is less severe than inferred from other chironomid records from eastern Scotland, and may reflect the influence of an oceanic–continental gradient. Cooling during GI-1b was particularly strong at MPR when minimum temperatures were about the same as those reached during GI-1d, unlike other sites investigated where GI-1d is usually between 1 and 2 °C cooler than GI-1b.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: calibrated temperature reconstructions, chironomid assemblage data, cryptotephra layers, Loch Lomond Stadial, Younger Dryas
Divisions: School of Sciences
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2860
Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2024 15:25
Last Modified: 03 Apr 2024 15:25
URI / Page ID: https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/16199
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