The 8.2 ka cooling event in coastal East Asia: High-resolution pollen evidence from southwestern Korea

Abstract

In this study, we present a high-resolution multi-proxy record (pollen, magnetic susceptibility, and mean grain size) from Bigeum Island, South Korea, which mainly showed early Holocene paleoenvironmental change. Bigeum pollen records indicated that early Holocene climate variations in coastal East Asia were principally controlled by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Most importantly, the 8.2 ka cooling event was clearly recognized for the first time in coastal East Asia, where few high-resolution proxy data, such as ice core and stalagmite δ18O records, are available. The insular vegetation in the study site was extremely susceptible to even short-term climate changes, such as the 8.2 ka cooling event, which allowed a detailed climate reconstruction from pollen data. Early Holocene climate teleconnections between coastal East Asia and other regions were identified through regional comparisons of Greenland, China, Brazil, Spain, Madagascar, and Korea. Coastal East Asia is one of world’s most populated regions and will be particularly vulnerable to future climate change. Accurate and detailed paleoclimate proxy data, such as the Bigeum pollen record, will therefore be increasingly important in this region.

Yellow sea mediated segregation between North East Asian Dryophytes species

“…follows the same pattern, although inverted, as a result of the increase of sea level over the last 23,000 years. The three species were likely present on the Yellow sea basin but saw their range decrease from 21,000 y BP until 7,000 y BP, when ranges contracted even further in relation to the 8.2 ka cooling event [139], before stabilising. Similarly to our data, D. suweonensis has a lower genetic diversity than the sympatric D. japonicus [88], a species likely less affected by sea level variation due to its presence at higher altitude [140,141].…”

Investigating the 8.2 ka event in northwestern Madagascar: Insight from data–model comparisons

“…Overall, it was marked by regional cooling in the North Atlantic and surrounding regions (e.g., Johnsen et al, 1992;Alley et al, 1997;Marshall et al, 2007;Bond et al, 2001;Klitgaard-Kristensen et al, 1998;von Grafenstein et al, 1998;Barber et al, 1999;Alley and çgoestsd-ttir, 2005), a 90% increase in forest fires in eastern Canada (e.g. Taylor et al, 1996;Alley et al 1997), a decrease in atmospheric methane (Chappellaz et al, 1993;Blunier et al, 1995;Alley et al, 1997), a change in vegetation (e.g., Park et al, 2018), and significant climate anomalies in several regions such as changes to dry climate (Street-Perrott and Perrott, 1990;Gasse, 2000;Alley et al, 1997;Wang et al, 2005;Liu et al, 2013); changes in winter storm intensity (e.g., Oster et al, 2017), and changes in summer monsoon intensity (e.g. Cheng et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2005;Voarintsoa et al, 2017a).…”

“…Clark et al, 2001;Cheng et al, 2009;Retrum et al, 2013;Clarke et al, 2004;Hillaire-Marcel et al, 2007), and the climatic 4/56 responses at different locations worldwide (e.g. Cheng et al, 2009;Boch et al, 2009;Alley and çgoestsd-ttir, 2005;Rohling and PŠlike, 2005;Morrill and Jacobsen, 2005;Park et al, 2018).…”

Radiocarbon age offsets of Plants and Bioclasts in the Holocene Sediments from the Miyazaki Plain, Southeast Coast of Kyushu, Southwest Japan

“…600 years) in R value was recognized between the Miyazaki Plain and the southwestern coast of the Korean Peninsula for 7800 to 8200 cal BP (Figure 4). This timing corresponds to the 8.2 ka cooling event (Alley et al 1997;Park et al 2018) and the early Holocene sea-level rise (Hori and Saito 2007). These sudden paleoenvironmental changes might have caused regional fluctuations in the marine reservoir effect.…”