Abrupt millennial climatic changes from Nussloch (Germany) Upper Weichselian eolian records during the Last Glaciation

Increasing attention has been focussed on the massive iceberg discharges in the North Atlantic, Heinrich events, during the Last Glaciation, and their worldwide terrestrial counterparts. However, these events are particular episodes among more regular cyclic 3 events named Dansgaard-Oeschger events in ice cores or Bond cycles in marine cores. Here we examine grain size, delta(13)C, and magnetic susceptibility data from Nussloch, one of the most complete west European eolian sequence examined so far. These indices indicate that, during the 31-19 kyr interval (using chronology provided by radiocarbon, OSL and TL dates), millennial scale variations occurred affecting both precipitation and vegetation. Furthermore, these are associated with oscillations in the wind strength matching the dust deposition rate in Greenland, as recorded in the GRIP ice core. Our study shows that the abrupt climatic changes, the Dansgaard-Oeschger events, are also recorded in the west European loess sequences. This implies an atmospheric mechanism linking dust deposition over Greenland and Europe, which is probably connected to global climatic events during the Last Glaciation. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.