Stalagmite evidence for the precise timing of North Atlantic cold events during the early last glacial

Abstract

Evidence of millennial-scale cold events following the last interglacial\n\nare well preserved in North Atlantic marine cores, Greenland\n\nice, and pollen records from Europe. However, their timing was previously\n\nundetermined by radiometric dating. We report the fi rst precise\n\nradiometric ages for two such events, C23 (105.1 ± 0.9 ka to 102.6 ±\n\n0.8 ka) and C24 (112.0 ± 0.8 ka and 108.8 ± 1.0 ka), based on stable\n\ncarbon and oxygen isotope measurements on a stalagmite from Italy\n\n(CC28). In addition to providing new information on the duration of\n\nthese events in southern Europe, the age data provide invaluable tuning\n\npoints for the Mélisey I (C24) and Montaigu (C23) pollen zones\n\nidentifi ed in western Europe. The former event is of particular signifi -\n\ncance because it represents the end of the Eemian interglacial forest\n\nphase in western Europe. The new age data will also allow fi ne tuning\n\nof the timing and duration of Greenland stadial 24 (equivalent to\n\nC23) in the North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core and, via a common\n\ngas-age chronology, tuning of the Vostok and EPICA (European\n\nProject for Ice Coring in Antarctica) ice cores.