Last Interglacial Climate in Northern Sweden—Insights from a Speleothem Record

Finné, Martin; Salonen, Sakari; Frank, Norbert; Helmens, Karin F.; Schröder-Ritzrau, Andrea; Deininger, Michael; Holzkämper, Steffen

doi:10.3390/quat2030029

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Last Interglacial Climate in Northern Sweden—Insights from a Speleothem Record

Martin Finné

^1,2,*

, Sakari Salonen^3,4,

Norbert Frank

⁵,

Karin F. Helmens

^2,6,

Andrea Schröder-Ritzrau

⁵,

Michael Deininger

⁷ and

Steffen Holzkämper

^2,8

Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden

The Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden

Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, PO Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland

⁴

Environnements et Paléoenvironnements, Océaniques et Continentaux, UMR 5805, Université de Bordeaux, 33615 Pessac CEDEX, France

⁵

Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg University, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany

⁶

Värriö Research Station, Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research INAR/Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland

⁷

Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, D-55128 Mainz, Germany

⁸

Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Quaternary 2019, 2(3), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat2030029

Received: 29 June 2019 / Revised: 7 August 2019 / Accepted: 13 August 2019 / Published: 20 August 2019

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Abstract

Continental records with absolute dates of the timing and progression of climatic conditions during the Last Interglacial (LIG) from northern Europe are rare. Speleothems from northern Europe have a large potential as archives for LIG environmental conditions since they were formed in sheltered environments and may be preserved beneath ice sheets. Here, we present δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values from speleothem Kf-21, from Korallgrottan in Jämtland (northwest Sweden). Kf-21 is dated with five MC-ICPMS U-Th dates with errors smaller than ~1 ka. Kf-21 started forming at ~130.2 ka and the main growth phase with relatively constant growth rates lasted from 127.3 ka to 124.4 ka, after which calcite formation ceased. Both δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O show rapid shifts but also trends, with a range of values within their Holocene counterparts from Korallgrottan. Our results indicate an early onset of the LIG in northern Europe with ice-free conditions at ~130 ka. Higher growth rates combined with more negative δ¹⁸O values between ~127.3 and 126.8 ka, interpreted here as warmer and more humid conditions, as well as indications of a millennial-scale cold spell centered at 126.2 ka, resemble findings from speleothem records from other parts of Europe, highlighting that these were regional scale climatic patterns. View Full-Text

Keywords: Last Interglacial (LIG); speleothem; stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions; climate variability; Scandinavia; Sweden

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MDPI and ACS Style

Finné, M.; Salonen, S.; Frank, N.; Helmens, K.F.; Schröder-Ritzrau, A.; Deininger, M.; Holzkämper, S. Last Interglacial Climate in Northern Sweden—Insights from a Speleothem Record. Quaternary 2019, 2, 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat2030029

AMA Style

Finné M, Salonen S, Frank N, Helmens KF, Schröder-Ritzrau A, Deininger M, Holzkämper S. Last Interglacial Climate in Northern Sweden—Insights from a Speleothem Record. Quaternary. 2019; 2(3):29. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat2030029

Chicago/Turabian Style

Finné, Martin, Sakari Salonen, Norbert Frank, Karin F. Helmens, Andrea Schröder-Ritzrau, Michael Deininger, and Steffen Holzkämper. 2019. "Last Interglacial Climate in Northern Sweden—Insights from a Speleothem Record" Quaternary 2, no. 3: 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat2030029

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Last Interglacial Climate in Northern Sweden—Insights from a Speleothem Record

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