SUCCESSIVE OCEANIC AND SOLAR FORCING INDICATED BY YOUNGER DRYAS AND EARLY HOLOCENE CLIMATIC OSCILLATIONS IN THE JURA

The recent extension of (1) the residual Delta(14)C curve back to 11,400 cal yr B.P. and (2) the lake-level reconstruction in the Jura back to ca. 13,500 cal yr B.P. offers the opportunity of testing by proxy data the relationships between climate, atmospheric C-14, the sun, and the ocean recently suggested from the atmospheric C-14 record. The climatic significance of the Jura record is supported by correlations with climatic oscillations reconstructed in the Alps from glaciers and timberline movements. Correspondence between the C-14 and paleoclimatic record from the Jura suggests a working hypothesis: two intervals within the Holocene can be distinguished in the middle latitudes of western and central Europe. An early Holocene period shows abrupt climatic oscillations linked to ocean forcing. Major colder climate phases developed between ca. 9000 and 8800, and between ca. 8000 and 7000 cal yr B.C. that coincide with higher Delta(14)C values. After 6000 cal yr B.C., a second period is characterized by smoother multicentury climatic oscillations linked to solar forcing. (C) 1995 University of Washington.