PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Rapid climate changes, but with a 120 year time lag

2013-12-04
(Press-News.org) Contact information: F.Ossing
ossing@gfz-potsdam.de
49-331-288-1040
GFZ GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Helmholtz Centre
Rapid climate changes, but with a 120 year time lag Regional climate changes can be very rapid. A German-British team of geoscientists now reports that such a rapid climate change occurred in different regions with a time difference of 120 years. Investigation in the west German Eifel region and in southern Norway demonstrated that at the end of the last glaciation about 12,240 years before present climate became warmer, first recognised in the Eifel region and 120 years later in southern Norway. Nonetheless, the warming was equally rapid in both regions. The team around Christine Lane (Oxford University) and Achim Brauer from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences reports in the latest volume of "Geology" (vol 41, no 12, p. 1251) that within the younger Dryas, the last about 1100-year long cold phase at the end of the last ice age, a rapid warming first was measured in the Eifel region. Sediment cores from the Meerfelder Maar lake depict a typical deposition pattern, which was also found in the sediments of Lake Krakenes in southern Norway, but with a time lag of 120 years. But how did the researcher revealed such a accurate time marking? "12 140 years ago a major eruption of the Katla volcano occurred on Iceland" explains Achim Brauer. "The volcanic ash was distributed by strong winds over large parts of northern and central Europe and we can find them with new technologies as tine ash particles in the sediment deposits of lakes. Through counting of annual bands in these sediments we could precisely determine the age of this volcanic ash." Therefore, this ash material reflects a distinct time marker in the sediments of the lakes in the Eifel and in Norway. Furthermore, lake sediments are very accurate climate archives, especially when they contain seasonal bands similar like tree rings. "It is a diligent piece of work to count and analyse thousands of these thin layers under the microscope to reconstruct climate year-by-year far back in time", illustrates Brauer. The ash of the Katla volcanic eruption thus was deposited at the same time in the Eifel and in Norway. The sediments of the Eifel maar lake depict the rapid warming 100 years before the volcanic ash, while it is seen in the southern Norwegian lake sediment 20 years after the volcanic eruption. The same warming, but with a 120 difference in timing between the about 1200 km distant locations? Achim Brauer: "We can explain this difference with the shift of hemispheric wind systems. Climate changed in both regions very rapid, but the polar front, that is the atmospheric boundary layer between cold polar air and the warmer air of the mid-latitudes, required more than 100 years to retreat from its glacial position at about the location of the Eifel at 50° N to its southern Norwegian position at 62° N." Hence, the study provides evidence for a rapid change that slowly moved northwards. The result of this study has some implications on the understanding of both past and future climate change. The assumption of an everywhere and always synchronously changing climate must be questioned and climate models have to better consider such regional aspects. ### C.S. Lane, A. Brauer, S.P.E. Blockley, P. Dulski: "Volcanic ash reveals a time-transgressive abrupt climate change during the Younger Dryas", Geology v. 41, no. 12, p. 1251 December 2013; doi:10.1130/G34867.1

Photos of the Meerfelder Maar and of lake drilling can be found here: http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/medien-kommunikation/bildarchiv/klimaforschung/warvenchronologie/


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Swallowing a diagnostic pill

2013-12-04
Swallowing a diagnostic pill A tiny capsule that can carry out a chemical analysis of the contents of one's stomach could identify the presence of so-called "occult" blood at very low levels. The data is automatically broadcast to an external monitoring device for detection ...

CNIO team turns tumor suppressor into anti-cancer target

2013-12-04
CNIO team turns tumor suppressor into anti-cancer target Blocking the Cdh1 protein, previously proposed as a tumour suppressor, prevents cell growth and could be used therapeutically to treat cancer The laboratory of Marcos Malumbres, who is head ...

Harlequin ladybirds escape enemies while native species succumb

2013-12-04
Harlequin ladybirds escape enemies while native species succumb The astonishing success of the alien invasive harlequin ladybird in Britain has given a team of scientists a unique opportunity to investigate a key ecological theory – the Enemy Release Hypothesis. The ...

Working odd shifts can hurt parent-child relationships

2013-12-04
Working odd shifts can hurt parent-child relationships Research from North Carolina State University shows that working a job that doesn't keep 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours can hurt the relationships between parents and adolescents, increasing the likelihood ...

Looks are all important for girls on tween TV

2013-12-04
Looks are all important for girls on tween TV Researchers believe that television programs for 8- to 12-year-olds may skew their concepts about gender roles "Girls can participate in everything that boys can, but while doing so they should be attractive." This, according ...

Ocean crust could store many centuries of industrial CO2

2013-12-04
Ocean crust could store many centuries of industrial CO2 Researchers from the University of Southampton have identified regions beneath the oceans where the igneous rocks of the upper ocean crust could safely store very large volumes of carbon dioxide. The ...

Education -- not fertility -- key for economic development

2013-12-04
Education -- not fertility -- key for economic development Laxenburg, Austria - A new study published in the journal Demography shows that improvements in education levels around the world have been key drivers of economic growth ...

Fossils clarify the origins of wasps and their kin: alderfly ancestors, snakefly cousins

2013-12-04
Fossils clarify the origins of wasps and their kin: alderfly ancestors, snakefly cousins Wasps, bees, ants and relatives comprise the megadiverse insect order Hymenoptera, the third most speciose animal group on Earth, far surpassing the number of known vertebrate species. All ...

An important discovery related to anxiety disorders and trauma

2013-12-04
An important discovery related to anxiety disorders and trauma IRCM researchers discover a protein's critical role in the brain Montréal, December 4, 2013 – A team of Montréal researchers at the IRCM led by Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, in collaboration ...

Silkworms spin colored silks while on a 'green' dyed-leaf diet

2013-12-04
Silkworms spin colored silks while on a 'green' dyed-leaf diet For some 5,000 years, cultivated silkworms have been spinning luxurious white silk fibers destined for use in the finest clothing. But current dyeing practices produce wastewater that contains ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Fentanyl detection through packaging

Prof. Eran Meshorer elected to EMBO for pioneering work in epigenetics

New 3D glacier visualizations provide insights into a hotter Earth

Creativity across disciplines

Consequences of low Antarctic sea ice

Hear here: How loudness and acoustic cues help us judge where a speaker is facing

A unique method of rare-earth recycling can strengthen the raw material independence of Europe and America

Epilepsy self-management program shows promise to control seizures, improve mood and quality of life

Fat may play an important role in brain metabolism

New study finds no lasting impact of pandemic pet ownership on human well-being

New insights on genetic damage of some chemotherapies could guide future treatments with less harmful side effects

Gut microbes could protect us from toxic ‘forever chemicals’

Novel modelling links sea ice loss to Antarctic ice shelf calving events

Scientists can tell how fast you're aging from a single brain scan

U.S. uterine cancer incidence and mortality rates expected to significantly increase by 2050

Public take the lead in discovery of new exploding star

What are they vaping? Study reveals alarming surge in adolescent vaping of THC, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids

ECMWF - delivering forecasts over 10 times faster and cutting energy usage by 1000

Brazilian neuroscientist reveals how viral infections transform the brain through microscopic detective work

Turning social fragmentation into action through discovering relatedness

Cheese may really be giving you nightmares, scientists find

Study reveals most common medical emergencies in schools

Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks

Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems

Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions

Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

[Press-News.org] Rapid climate changes, but with a 120 year time lag