Authors:
Johannes Edvardsson, Dan Hammarlund, Hans Linderson, and Mats Rundgren
Book:
Proceedings of the 14th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Stockholm
Keywords:
dendrochronology, holocene-thermal-maximum, raised-bogs, scots-pine
Documentfile:
Edvarddson et al 2012: Subfossil Swedish bog-pines as indicators of mid-Holocene palaeohydrology and climate
Summary:
I Inventory, stratigraphy and conservation of mires and peatlands
Extended abstract
SUMMARY
Dendrochronological analysis of subfossil bog trees in combination with peat stratigraphic data enables high temporal reconstructions of humidity variations during specific periods of the Holocene. Major bog-tree establishment phases in southern Sweden occurred during the relatively warm and dry Holocene Thermal Maximum (c. 8000-4400 cal. years before present). Increased peat density at stratigraphic levels equivalent to the location of subfossil trees indicate relatively dry surface conditions during these tree establishment phases. Within this project, ring-width chronologies covering c. 3500 years have been developed, and absolute ages have been obtained by dendrochronological cross-dating with bog-tree chronologies from Lower Saxony, Germany. The absolutely dated chronologies cover the periods of 5284-3728 BC and 2667-1108 BC, providing detailed regional palaeoclimate and hydrology records for southern Sweden.