Ice Age Temperatures and Precipitation Reconstructed From Earthworm Particles – Is It Accelerating With That?
New method for determining past climate data on land for the first time in a relative manner / Summer Ice Ages in Central Europe were at times warmer than in the past.
JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITY MAINZ
CREDIT: PHOTO/©: CHARLOTTE PRUD’HOMME
New method for determining past climate data on land is applied in a relative manner for the first time / Ice Age summers in Central Europe have been warmer than before
Scientists from an international research project led by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have applied a new method to reconstruct past climates. As they report in the current issue of Earth & Environment Communication, they determined the temperature and precipitation during the last Ice Age, which peaked about 25,000 years ago, by analyzing earthworm particles. “The new method was discovered at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and further developed at the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry,” said Dr Peter Fischer of the JGU Institute of Geography, who led the research on the TerraClime project led by the Institute. German-funded research said. Foundation (DFG) in which the research is embedded. “In collaboration with other scientists, including researchers from the University of Lausanne and the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, we used this approach to reconstruct the climate at Schwalbenberg near Remagen and Nußloch near Heidelberg. ” The last two well-developed glacial dust deposits formed. The so-called loess contains strings dating from 45,000 to 22,000 years before the present, in which particles of earthworms measuring only about 2.5 millimeters in size can be found transparent. These calcite particles, technically known as Earthworm Calcite Granules (ECGs), are secreted daily by earthworms. Using the so-called radiocarbon method, which is based on the decay of naturally occurring radiocarbon isotopes (14C), the researchers were able to pinpoint their age. In addition, by analyzing the ratio of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in the electrocardiogram, it is then possible to reconstruct its warmth or humidity at the time of their formation.
Summer temperatures are higher than previously thought and humidity is significantly reduced
Dr Charlotte Prud’homme from the University said: “Analysis of the data obtained from the ECG shows that between 45,000 and 22,000 years ago, the weather in Central Europe was much drier than it is today, with high humidity. up to 70% lower. Lausanne, lead author of the study. “This allows us to quantify earlier findings about this period for the first time.” What was novel about these electrocardiographic investigations was that summer temperatures at the time were significantly higher than previously thought. “Although the summers during the coldest period of the last ice age were about 4 to 11 degrees Celsius colder than they are today, they were only 1 to 4 degrees lower than the values of the last ice age,” Fischer explains. Shorter periods of milder climate occurred during the last glaciation. Dr Olaf Jöris added: “Given this summer’s temperatures, we cannot rule out the possibility that the Ice Age human population may have made a seasonal living in Central Europe during the maximum cold period, at the time point where it is generally assumed that humans cannot exist here.” of Römisch-Germanisches-Zentralmuseum, who was also involved in the study.
“Until now, reconstruction of the Ice Age climate has been mainly based on microbial analyzes in deep-sea sediments,” said Fischer. For the continents, which have so far lacked corresponding comprehensive data, this data can be altered by a new method: “Since the ECG can be found in a variety of loess sequences, temperatures and quantities Past rainfall can now be identified on land over a large area. One main aim is to build a database that can be used to accurately quantify past climate changes on land and identify force-feedback mechanisms. Incorporating land-based climate data will strengthen the database and contribute to the improvement of existing climate models and thus provide valuable insights into future climate change.”
The German Research Foundation funded the TerraClime project including electrocardiograms dating back to around 400,000 EUR.
Related Links:
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/337232800?language=en – Project “TerraClime” of DFG ;
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/439443769?language=en – DFG project for electrocardiogram dating
DOI
ARTICLE TITLE
Quantitative millennia-scale estimates of climate dynamics in central Europe from earthworm calcite grains in loess sediments
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
Nov 21, 2022
Related
