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Journal Article

Western Caucasus regional hydroclimate controlled by cold-season temperature variability since the Last Glacial Maximum

Authors

Wolf,  Annabel
External Organizations;

Baker,  Jonathan Lloyd
External Organizations;

Tjallingii,  Rik
External Organizations;

Cai,  Yanjun
External Organizations;

Osinzev,  Alexander
External Organizations;

Antonosyan,  Mariya
External Organizations;

Amano,  Noel
External Organizations;

Johnson,  Kathleen Rose
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/vanessa.skiba

Skiba,  Vanessa
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

McCormack,  Jeremy
External Organizations;

Kwiecien,  Ola
External Organizations;

Chervyatsova,  Olga Yakovlevna
External Organizations;

Dublyansky,  Yuri Viktorovich
External Organizations;

Dbar,  Roman Saidovich
External Organizations;

Cheng,  Hai
External Organizations;

Breitenbach,  Sebastian Franz Martin
External Organizations;

External Ressource

https://zenodo.org/records/10152032
(Supplementary material)

Fulltext (public)

wolf_2024_s43247-023-01151-3.pdf
(Publisher version), 3MB

Supplementary Material (public)
There is no public supplementary material available
Citation

Wolf, A., Baker, J. L., Tjallingii, R., Cai, Y., Osinzev, A., Antonosyan, M., Amano, N., Johnson, K. R., Skiba, V., McCormack, J., Kwiecien, O., Chervyatsova, O. Y., Dublyansky, Y. V., Dbar, R. S., Cheng, H., Breitenbach, S. F. M. (2024): Western Caucasus regional hydroclimate controlled by cold-season temperature variability since the Last Glacial Maximum. - Communications Earth and Environment, 5, 66.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01151-3


Cite as: https://publications.pik-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_31390
Abstract
The Caucasus region is key for understanding early human dispersal and evolution in Eurasia, and characterizing the environmental contrast between Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene is crucial for investigating human adaptation strategies to large climatic shifts. However, a paucity of high-resolution paleoclimate records leave this context largely unknown for early human populations in the Caucasus region. Based on our model-proxy comparison of high- and low-resolution records of 24 stalagmites from three caves, we find spatially distinct changes in vegetation and seasonality of precipitation, especially under glacial conditions. Supported by modern oxygen-isotope data and climate modeling, we identify a supraregional cold-season temperature control for oxygen isotopes in Black Sea speleothems, which previously had been interpreted as a local moisture-source signal. Carbon-isotope and trace-element data further suggest disproportionate changes in vegetation cover and soil dynamics at high altitudes, which would have resulted in a reduction but not a disappearance of human refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum, relative to the current interglacial. Our findings imply that abrupt climatic pressures from harsh conditions were overcome by adaptive strategies in the past.