Climate changes in the south part of East Siberia for the last 5.5 ka inferred from multi-proxy sediment records of Lake Frolikha (Northern Baikal area, Russia)

East Siberia is a large region extending from Mongolia to the Arctic seas. The main atmospheric circulations of the Northern Hemisphere (the North Atlantic, Arctic and East Asia Oscillations) appear in this region. In addition, Lake Frolikha is situated at 55 degrees N, and the high latitude area is sensitive to variation in insolation and solar activity. We analysed pollen, diatoms and mineralogical records of two sediment cores from Lake Frolikha, situated near Lake Baikal. According to AMS dating, the age of obtained paleo-records was ca. 5.5 ka BP. We interpreted these records in terms of changing regional precipitation, vegetation and lake bio-productivity. The Lake Frolikha records were compared with temperature records from Greenland ice cores (activity of North Atlantic Oscillation), the West Tropical Pacific (East Asian monsoon), the bio-productivity of lakes from China and Mongolia, oxygen isotope records from Chinese caves, and insolation at 60 degrees N. We found that the records from Lake Frolikha related to four climate episodes that have occurred in the south part of East Siberia since the middle Holocene (5.5-4, 4-1.7, 1.7-0.8, 0.8-0 cal ka BP).

Automated summary

Researchers analysed records from Lake Frolikha and found four climate episodes in East Siberia since the middle Holocene.