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Precise dating of Dansgaard–Oeschger climate oscillations in western Europe from stalagmite data

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  • D. Genty

    (IPSL/Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572 Bat. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers CEA Saclay)

  • D. Blamart

    (IPSL/Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572 Bat. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers CEA Saclay)

  • R. Ouahdi

    (IPSL/Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572 Bat. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers CEA Saclay)

  • M. Gilmour

    (The Open University, Department of Earth Sciences, Uranium Series Facility)

  • A. Baker

    (University of Newcastle upon Tyne)

  • J. Jouzel

    (IPSL/Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572 Bat. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers CEA Saclay)

  • Sandra Van-Exter

    (Maison des sciences de l'eau)

Abstract

The signature of Dansgaard–Oeschger events—millennial-scale abrupt climate oscillations during the last glacial period—is well established in ice cores and marine records1,2,3. But the effects of such events in continental settings are not as clear, and their absolute chronology is uncertain beyond the limit of 14C dating and annual layer counting for marine records and ice cores, respectively. Here we present carbon and oxygen isotope records from a stalagmite collected in southwest France which have been precisely dated using 234U/230Th ratios. We find rapid climate oscillations coincident with the established Dansgaard–Oeschger events between 83,000 and 32,000 years ago in both isotope records. The oxygen isotope signature is similar to a record from Soreq cave, Israel4, and deep-sea records5,6, indicating the large spatial scale of the climate oscillations. The signal in the carbon isotopes gives evidence of drastic and rapid vegetation changes in western Europe, an important site in human cultural evolution. We also find evidence for a long phase of extremely cold climate in southwest France between 61.2 ± 0.6 and 67.4 ± 0.9 kyr ago.

Suggested Citation

  • D. Genty & D. Blamart & R. Ouahdi & M. Gilmour & A. Baker & J. Jouzel & Sandra Van-Exter, 2003. "Precise dating of Dansgaard–Oeschger climate oscillations in western Europe from stalagmite data," Nature, Nature, vol. 421(6925), pages 833-837, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:421:y:2003:i:6925:d:10.1038_nature01391
    DOI: 10.1038/nature01391
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    Cited by:

    1. Jon Camuera & Francisco J. Jiménez-Espejo & José Soto-Chica & Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno & Antonio García-Alix & María J. Ramos-Román & Leena Ruha & Manuel Castro-Priego, 2023. "Drought as a possible contributor to the Visigothic Kingdom crisis and Islamic expansion in the Iberian Peninsula," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Heather M. Stoll & Isabel Cacho & Edward Gasson & Jakub Sliwinski & Oliver Kost & Ana Moreno & Miguel Iglesias & Judit Torner & Carlos Perez-Mejias & Negar Haghipour & Hai Cheng & R. Lawrence Edwards, 2022. "Rapid northern hemisphere ice sheet melting during the penultimate deglaciation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. F. Held & H. Cheng & R. L. Edwards & O. Tüysüz & K. Koç & D. Fleitmann, 2024. "Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles of the penultimate and last glacial period recorded in stalagmites from Türkiye," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

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