Cold event at 8200 yr BP recorded in annually laminated lake sediments in eastern Europe

A quantitative annual mean temperature reconstruction from an annually laminated lake-sediment sequence in Estonia, eastern Europe, shows a distinct cold period at 84008080 yr B.P. (= before A.D. 2000); the timing is consistent with that seen in the Greenland ice-core data and various high-resolution records from western Europe. During maximal cooling at 8250-8150 yr B.P., the annual mean temperature in Estonia was similar to2.0 degreesC colder than prior to and similar to3.0 degreesC colder than after the cooling. The pollen-stratigraphic and sedimentological data suggest especially cold and snowy winter conditions. The duration and amplitude of the cold event agree with the modeled impact of a sudden freshening of the North Atlantic surface water and subsequent perturbation of the thermohaline circulation. Provided that the cold event was caused by a pulse of freshwater-from the melting Laurentide Ice Sheet-to the North Atlantic, the results indicate a strong teleconnection between the North Atlantic oceanic forcing and the east European climate at least up to long 26degreesE, mediated probably by the changing intensity of the zonal atmospheric circulation.