Northern Europe climate variations during late Holocene: Evidence from marine Skagerrak

Granulometric and stable oxygen isotope analyses of four sediment cores from two high accumulation areas in the Skagerrak (NE North Sea) were carried out in order to reconstruct climate fluctuations and to evaluate Climate impact during the upper Holocene. Extremely high sedimentation rates, especially in the eastern Skagerrak, are explained by increased current activity which is responsible for the transport and deposition of high quantities of suspension load during periods of stormy zonal atmospheric circulation patterns. These were most frequent during colder periods, while warmer phases are characterized by calmer meridional to zonal atmospheric circulation patterns. While the Subatlantic climate deterioration and the Subboreal climate optimum left only indistinct traces in the sediments, the Roman climate optimum and a colder period between ca. 400 and 700 AD are well documented. The following Medieval Warm period is characterized by a clear temperature increase of the waterbody in connection with less frequent advances of Atlantic water masses into the Skagerak deep and a decrease in bottom current strength. A mode of sedimentation prevails, similar to that of recent summer conditions, suggesting short and mild winters during that period. The onset of the Little Ice Age (around 1350 AD), however, shows an intensified bottom current circulation most probably due to amplifying westerly winds and a decrease in water temperatures in connection with more frequent advances of higher saline Atlantic waters. The Little Ice Age can be divided into 3 phases: a stormy ''zonal'' onset, a calm ''meridional'' maximum and a stormy ''zonal'' end. The stormy phases are characterized by a sedimentation mode similar to that of recent winter conditions while the Little Ice Age Maximum shows conditions comparable to exceptional cold modern winters. From 1900 AD, at the onset of the Modern Climate Optimum, the winter type sedimentation decreases and conditions change again to a level comparable to the Medieval Warm Period.