Climatic changes in areas adjacent to the North Atlantic during the last glacial‐interglacial transition (14‐9 ka BP): A contribution to IGCP‐253

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a summary of the evidence for climatic changes during the last glacial‐interglacial transition (14‐9 ka BP) in land areas adjacent to the North Atlantic. It is a synthesis of the results of the 12 regional summaries compiled by contributors to the North Atlantic Seaboard Programme of IGCP‐253 that are published separately in this issue of Journal of Quaternary Science . Eighteen palaeotemperature curves are compared and arranged in three transects, one from southern Europe to Spitsbergen, a second from Ireland to Poland, and the third from southern New England to the Labrador‐Baffin Shelf area. Ten maps are presented that summarise the synoptic climatic conditions of the region in 500‐year time periods. The purpose of the exercise is to examine the extent to which any emerging patterns support the Ruddiman and Mclntyre model of large‐scale shifts in the position of the oceanice Polar Front during the last glacial‐interglacial transition. Some broad agreement emerges, although the influence of oceanic changes is diminished in areas that lay in close proximity to the Laurentide and Fennoscandian ice sheets. Attention is drawn to limitations in the compilations and to the potential for improved models in the future.