A reconstruction of Holocene climatic changes from peat bogs in north‐west Scotland

Anderson, David E.

doi:10.1111/j.1502-3885.1998.tb00880.x

Cited by 86 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…However, while some sites in this region are reported as being quite productive (21.3 ± 3.7 g C m −2 yr −1 ; Anderson, 2002), long-term CAR estimates are available for relatively few sites (Charman, 1995;Anderson, 1998), making a comparison difficult. The points that fall in the British Isles showed lower modelled LARCA (12-14 g C m −2 yr −1 ) values than the observed literature range, indicating shortcomings in the simulation of local hydrological conditions or a possible bias in the climate forcing of our model.…”

Section: Scandinavia and Europe (Zones A And B)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling past, present and future peatland carbon accumulation across the pan-Arctic region

2017

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Abstract. Most northern peatlands developed during the Holocene, sequestering large amounts of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. However, recent syntheses have highlighted the gaps in our understanding of peatland carbon accumulation. Assessments of the long-term carbon accumulation rate and possible warming-driven changes in these accumulation rates can therefore benefit from process-based modelling studies. We employed an individual-based dynamic global ecosystem model with dynamic peatland and permafrost functionalities and patch-based vegetation dynamics to quantify long-term carbon accumulation rates and to assess the effects of historical and projected climate change on peatland carbon balances across the pan-Arctic region. Our results are broadly consistent with published regional and global carbon accumulation estimates. A majority of modelled peatland sites in Scandinavia, Europe, Russia and central and eastern Canada change from carbon sinks through the Holocene to potential carbon sources in the coming century. In contrast, the carbon sink capacity of modelled sites in Siberia, far eastern Russia, Alaska and western and northern Canada was predicted to increase in the coming century. The greatest changes were evident in eastern Siberia, north-western Canada and in Alaska, where peat production hampered by permafrost and low productivity due the cold climate in these regions in the past was simulated to increase greatly due to warming, a wetter climate and higher CO 2 levels by the year 2100. In contrast, our model predicts that sites that are expected to experience reduced precipitation rates and are currently permafrost free will lose more carbon in the future.

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Section: Scandinavia and Europe (Zones A And B)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling past, present and future peatland carbon accumulation across the pan-Arctic region

2017

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“…Our knowledge of subsequent climatic change in Scotland is derived from various types of proxy evidence, such as pollen assemblages, plant macrofossils and testate amoebae in peat bogs and lake sediments, tree remains in peat and peat humification data (e.g. Dubois & Ferguson, 1985;Bridge et al, 1990;Huntley & Prentice, 1993;Birks, 1996;Anderson, 1998;Anderson et al, 1998;Huntley, 1999;Tisdall, 2003;Whittington & Edwards, 2003;Ballantyne, 2004), supplemented by historical records and instrumental data for the past few centuries. There is widespread acceptance that apart from a short-lived cooling event that affected NW Europe at around 8.2 kyr (Klitgaard-Kristensen et al, 1998), much of the early Holocene was characterized by relatively warm summers (the 'climatic optimum') punctuated by periods of increased wetness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

After the Ice: Holocene Geomorphic Activity in the Scottish Highlands

Ballantyne

2008

Scottish Geographical Journal

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A rich variety of processes have modified the glacial landscape of the Scottish Highlands since the last glaciers disappeared 11,500 years ago. Many of these processes can be described as paraglacial (glacially-conditioned): retreat of glacier ice has resulted in exposure of metastable sediment sources (rock slopes, drift-mantled slopes and valley-floor glacigenic deposits) that have been reworked over a range of timescales. Much of the reworked sediment has been deposited in paraglacial sediment stores (talus accumulations, debris cones, alluvial fans, valley fills, river terraces and deltas). The trajectory of paraglacial sediment transfer can be approximated by an exhaustion model. A corollary of this model is that all sediment stores eventually undergo a change from net accumulation to net erosion, reflecting the non-renewable nature of sediment sources. This concept helps to explain why most talus accumulations, debris cones and alluvial fans in the Highlands are now relict, and why many floodplains appear to have experienced an initial period of aggradation followed by later river incision and terrace development. Since deglaciation, rock slopes have experienced paraglacial stress release due to differential deglacial unloading. Many rock slopes have remained stable or experienced gradual adjustment through intermittent rockfall. At over 600 sites, however, large-scale rock-slope failure has occurred, either in the form of catastrophic failure with complete or arrested debris runout, or as major slope deformations. Modification of drift-mantled slopes has been dominated by rainstorm-generated debris flows activity, which have stripped sediment from slopes and redeposited it in debris cones. Radiocarbon dating of buried organic horizons shows that debris flows have occurred intermittently throughout the Holocene. Snow avalanches have played only a localized role in paraglacial sediment transfer. The Holocene alluvial history of the Highlands is poorly understood. Some alluvial fans formed during a few exceptional flood events, and there is evidence that postglacial floodplain aggradation peaked in the late Holocene and was succeeded by floodplain incision and terrace development, possibly reflecting upstream reduction in paraglacial sediment supply. Other processes have operated independently of glacial conditioning. The effects of wind action are dominant in the coastal zone, forming dunefields through aeolian reworking of beach sand, and on plateaux in the form of deflation surfaces and sand sheets. Extensive erosion of plateau-top sands and aeolisols occurred in the period AD 1550-1700, a period of exceptional storminess. Small-scale periglacial processes have also been active on high ground throughout the Holocene, including granular weathering of exposed rock surfaces, the development of small-scale frost-sorted patterned ground on unvegetated terrain, and slow downslope movement of solifluction sheets, solifluction lobes and ploughing boulders.

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“…Peat decomposability is a process of vegetation remnant degradation acted by microorganism activities, which are affected mostly by hydrothermal conditions [14] , so the degree of peat humification is also a proxy of paleoclimate [15][16][17] , especially paleohydrology [16,[18][19][20][21] . But there are some distinct differences of interpretation in term of environmental meaning between the overseas scholars and the domestic scholars according to literature in recent years.…”

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confidence: 99%

Climate changes in East China since the Late-glacial inferred from high-resolution mountain peat humification records

Zhu

Zheng

et al. 2009

Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci.

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High-resolution peat humification records were obtained from Dajiuhu of the Shennongjia Mountains and Qianmutian of the Tianmu Mountains to study climate changes in EastChina. The analyses of pollen, organic matters, TOC, and Rb/Sr indicate a high degree of peat humification and thus strong decomposition of organic matter when climate was dry. Conversely, when climate was humid, the degree of humification is low because peat was preserved in a waterlogged condition. Peat humification from Dajiuhu occurred not only during the Younger Dryas (about 11.4-12.6 cal ka BP), the Bøl-ling-Allerød Warm Period (12.6-15.2 cal ka BP), and the Oldest Dryas (about 15.2-16.0 cal ka BP), but also during the early Holocene (about 11.4-9.4 cal ka BP), the 8.2 cal ka BP cold event, and the Holocene Optimum (about 7.0-4.2 cal ka BP). Both peat humification records since nearly 5 ka BP are consistent, showing that mountain peatland has synchronous responses to the East Asia monsoon-induced precipitation. The LOI data confirm the above observation. The monsoon precipitation since nearly 5 ka BP recorded in these two peat profiles can be divided into three phases. During 4.9-3.5 ka BP, precipitation amount was high but fluctuated greatly. During 3.5-0.9 ka BP, precipitation amount was low. During 0.9-0 ka BP, degree of humification reduced gradually, indicating the increase of monsoon precipitation. Contrast to other high-resolution records from East China monsoon region shows that the monsoon precipitation records of the two peat profiles since nearly 16 ka BP are controlled by a common forcing mechanism of summer solar radicalization in the Northern Hemisphere.

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A reconstruction of Holocene climatic changes from peat bogs in north‐west Scotland

Cited by 86 publications

References 61 publications

Modelling past, present and future peatland carbon accumulation across the pan-Arctic region

Modelling past, present and future peatland carbon accumulation across the pan-Arctic region

After the Ice: Holocene Geomorphic Activity in the Scottish Highlands

Climate changes in East China since the Late-glacial inferred from high-resolution mountain peat humification records

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