Changes in solar activity and Holocene climatic shifts derived from 14C wiggle-match dated peat deposits

Abstract

Closely spaced sequences of accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) ¹⁴C dates of peat deposits display century-scale wiggles which can be fitted to the radiocarbon calibration curve. By wiggle-matching such sequences, high-precision calendar age chronologies can be generated which show that changes in mire surface wetness during the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition (c. 850 cal. BC) and the ‘Little Ice Age’ (Wolf, Spörer, Maunder and Dalton Minima) occurred during periods of suddenly increasing atmospheric concentration of ¹⁴C. Replicate evidence from peat-based proxy climate indicators in northwest Europe suggest these changes in climate may have been driven by temporary declines of solar activity. Carbon-accumulation rates of two raised peat bogs in the UK and Denmark record low values during the ‘Little Ice Age’ which reflects reduced primary productivity of the peat-forming vegetation during these periods of climatic deterioration.

Keywords

Solar forcing Δ14C 14C wiggle-match dating palaeoclimate Sphagnum carbon accumulation late Holocene ‘Little Ice Age’

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