Late Quaternary climate and environmental reconstruction based on leaf wax analyses in the loess sequence of Möhlin, Switzerland

oleh: L. Wüthrich, L. Wüthrich, M. Bliedtner, M. Bliedtner, I. K. Schäfer, I. K. Schäfer, J. Zech, F. Shajari, D. Gaar, D. Gaar, F. Preusser, G. Salazar, G. Salazar, S. Szidat, S. Szidat, R. Zech, R. Zech

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Copernicus Publications 2017-12-01

Deskripsi

We present the results of leaf wax analyses (long-chain <i>n</i>-alkanes) from the 6.8 m deep loess sequence of Möhlin, Switzerland, spanning the last  ∼  70 kyr. Leaf waxes are well preserved and occur in sufficient amounts only down to 0.4 m and below 1.8 m depth, so no paleoenvironmental reconstructions can be done for marine isotope stage (MIS) 2. <br><br> Compound-specific <i>δ</i><sup>2</sup>H<sub>wax</sub> analyses yielded similar values for late MIS 3 compared to the uppermost samples, indicating that various effects (e.g., more negative values due to lower temperatures, more positive values due to an enriched moisture source) cancel each other out. A pronounced  ∼  30 ‰ shift towards more negative values probably reflects more humid conditions before  ∼  32 ka. Radiocarbon dating of the <i>n</i>-alkanes corroborates the stratigraphic integrity of leaf waxes and their potential for dating loess–paleosol sequences (LPS) back to  ∼  30 ka.