Evidence for warm wet Heinrich events in Florida

Analyses of pollen and plant macrofossils from a new core spanning the past 60,000 years from Lake Tulane, Florida show a strong antiphase relationship in temperature between Florida and the North Atlantic region. During the Pleistocene, oak-scrub and prairie phases were coeval with long, intense Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials (warm periods) that initiated Bond cycles. Pine phases were coeval with the North Atlantic long stadials (cold periods) that ended Bond cycles and were terminated by Heinrich events. Lake levels were higher during pine phases, and climate was wetter. However, climate in Florida was also warmer during these phases, which were cold periods in the North Atlantic. Perhaps diminution of thermohaline circulation before and during Heinrich events reduced northward heat transport and retained warmth in the subtropical Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.