RT Journal Article
T1 Climate changes and human activities recorded in the sediments of Lake Estanya (NE Spain) during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age
A1 Morellón Marteles, Mario
A1 Valero-Garcés, Blas
A1 González-Sampériz, Penélope
A1 Vegas-Vilarrubia, Teresa
A1 Rubio, Esther
A1 Rieradevall, María
A1 Delgado-Huertas, Antonio
A1 Mata, Pilar
A1 Romero, Óscar
A1 Engstrom, Daniel R.
A1 López-Vicente, Manuel
A1 Navas, Ana
A1 Soto, Jesús
AB A multi-proxy study of short sediment cores recovered in small, karstic Lake Estanya (42º02’ N, 0º32’ E, 670 m.a.s.l.) in the Pre-Pyrenean Ranges (NE Spain) provides a detailed record of the complex environmental, hydrological and anthropogenic interactions occurring in the area since medieval times. The integration of sedimentary facies, elemental and isotopic geochemistry, and biological proxies (diatoms, chironomids and pollen), together with a robust chronological control, provided by AMS radiocarbon dating and 210Pb and 137Cs radiometric techniques, enabled precise reconstruction of the main phases of environmental change, associated with the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the industrial era. Shallow lake levels and saline conditions with poor development of littoral environments prevailed during medieval times (1150–1300 AD). Generally higher water levels and more dilute waters occurred during the LIA (1300–1850 AD), although this period shows a complex internal paleohydrological structure and is contemporaneous with a gradual increase of farming activity. Maximum lake levels and flooding of the current littoral shelf occurred during the nineteenth century, coinciding with the maximum expansion of agriculture in the area and prior to the last cold phase of the LIA. Finally, declining lake levels during the twentieth century, coinciding with a decrease in human pressure, are associated with warmer climate conditions. A strong link with solar irradiance is suggested by the coherence between periods of more positive water balance and phases of reduced solar activity. Changes in winter precipitation and dominance of NAO negative phases would be responsible for wet LIA conditions in western Mediterranean regions. The main environmental stages recorded in Lake Estanya are consistent with Western Mediterranean continental records, and show similarities with both Central and NE Iberian reconstructions, reflecting a strong climatic control of the hydrological and anthropogenic changes during the last 800 years.
PB Springer
SN ISSN: 0921-2728, online ISSN: 1573-0417
YR 2009
FD 2009-06-04
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/43564
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/43564
LA eng
NO Received: 5 January 2009 / Accepted: 11 May 2009 / Published online: 4 June 2009.© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.
NO Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) (España)
NO Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) (España)
NO Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) (España)
NO Diputación General de Aragón
DS Docta Complutense
RD 3 abr 2025