Detailed correlation of Ice-core, Marine and Terrestrial records of the Atlantic Region over the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition
by
Wim Z. Hoek
Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, NL-3508 TC UTRECHT, The Netherlands
Coauthors: J. John Lowe (Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK, INTIMATE members (participants to the 2000 Kangerlussuaq workshop)

The remit of the INTIMATE project of the INQUA Palaeoclimate Commission is to synthesise marine, terrestrial and ice-core data for the Atlantic region during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT: ca. 13-10 ¹⁴C kyr BP; ca. 15-11.5 ice-core kyr BP).

During the 4th international workshop of the INTIMATE Project held in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland in August 2000, we compared regional palaeoclimatic reconstructions for the LGIT on a common timescale. This exercise was based on two important principles: (a) that each site record or regional scheme should be based on an independent, site-specific chronology, and (b) that the temporal resolution of each record should be sufficient to form the basis for precise inter-site and inter-regional correlation. We used standardized procedures (recently published in Lowe et al., 2001), particularly for the calibration and use of radiocarbon data sets. Radiocarbon dates were calibrated using the INTCAL98 dataset (Stuiver et al., 1998) while age-depth curves were used for interpolation between dates. For marine records we used marine reservoir corrections based on existing estimates. Furthermore, we tried to use other stratigraphic approaches and time-parallel marker horizons (tephra layers, varve stratigraphy, oxygen isotope stratigraphy, palaeomagnetic stratigraphy, and radiocarbon ’wiggle-matching’) to underpin the geochronology and correlation of events during the LGIT. Eventually, we compared the different records to the Greenland ice-core chronologies for the LGIT using the INTIMATE Event Stratigraphy approach advocated by Björck et al. (1998) and Walker et al. (1999). The main result of this joint exercise was a comprehensive table of events over the LGIT, which shows the major environmental changes for the different regions on a common time-scale. Differences in timing between the regions for what are considered to be equivalent or comparable events may indicate leads and lags in the North Atlantic climate system.

References: Björck et al. 1998 Journal of Quaternary Science 13, 283-292. Lowe et al. 2001 Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 7-19. Stuiver et al. 1998 Radiocarbon 40, 1041-1083. Walker et al. 1999 Quaternary Science Reviews 18, 1143-1150.

INTIMATE: INTegration of Ice-core, MArine and TErrestrial records

Date received: April 27, 2001

Copyright © 2001 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cahi-34.