A terrestrial record of climate variation during MIS 11 through multiproxy palaeotemperature reconstructions from Hoxne, UK

Abstract

A terrestrial (lacustrine and fluvial) palaeoclimate record from Hoxne (Suffolk, UK) shows two temperate phases separated by a cold episode, correlated with MIS 11 subdivisions corresponding to isotopic events 11.3 (Hoxnian interglacial period), 11.24 (Stratum C cold interval), and 11.23 (warm interval with evidence of human presence). A robust, reproducible multiproxy consensus approach validates and combines quantitative palaeotemperature reconstructions from three invertebrate groups (beetles, chironomids, and ostracods) and plant indicator taxa with qualitative implications of molluscs and small vertebrates. Compared with the present, interglacial mean monthly air temperatures were similar or up to 4.0°C higher in summer, but similar or as much as 3.0°C lower in winter; the Stratum C cold interval, following prolonged nondeposition or erosion of the lake bed, experienced summers 2.5°C cooler and winters between 5°C and 10°C cooler than at present. Possible reworking of fossils into Stratum C from underlying interglacial assemblages is taken into account. Oxygen and carbon isotopes from ostracod shells indicate evaporatively enriched lake water during Stratum C deposition. Comparative evaluation shows that proxy-based palaeoclimate reconstruction methods are best tested against each other and, if validated, can be used to generate more refined and robust results through multiproxy consensus.

A Middle Pleistocene Butchery Site at Great Yeldham, Essex, UK: Identifying Butchery Strategies and Implications for Mammalian Faunal History

“…The scheme includes major modifications to previous models with the recognition that an intervening cold stage separates the main faunal horizon at Hoxne from the underlying Hoxnian lake sediments assigned to MIS 11c (Ashton et al, 2008;Wenban-Smith, 2013). Both temperate episodes at Hoxne can be shown to fall within MIS 11 (424-374 thousand years (ka) ago), with the bulk of the vertebrate remains being assigned to the younger temperate episode correlated with MIS 11a (Horne et al, 2022). Further complexity is shown by recent work in the Ebbsfleet Valley, which has identified three distinct temperate episodes that can be assigned to substages of MIS 7 (Wenban-Smith et al, 2020).…”

Pleistocene freshwater ostracods from the Homo erectus site at Bilzingsleben, Germany—Review of historic collection and unpublished manuscript material for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction

“…By applying the MOTR method and comparing fossil plant‐based estimates, we find quite similar average temperatures as today. Horne et al (2022) investigated the MIS 11 site Hoxne, United Kingdom, with a multiproxy consensus approach and found the following temperature values for the deposits from the temperate phases F, E and D (Hoxnian interglacial phase) during January and July: Stratum F, −8°C to −4°C and +16.0°C; Stratum E, 0°C to +3°C and 18.0–20.5°C and Stratum D, 0°C to +1°C and +16.0°C to 19.0°C. The temperature ranges of the Bilzingsleben site with −4°C to +4°C and +16°C to +20°C are similar to those of the Hoxne interglacial deposits.…”

“…The temperature ranges of the Bilzingsleben site with −4°C to +4°C and +16°C to +20°C are similar to those of the Hoxne interglacial deposits. Applying the new multiproxy consensus approach of Horne et al (2022) to the Bilzingsleben MIS 11 tufa deposits could provide further insights in future. It would also be interesting in future studies to see whether temperature changes can be detected in the sections that are reflected in the ostracod communities.…”