Abstract
New investigations performed with a multi-proxy approach provide a robust climate reconstruction for the Late-Glacial in the Massif Central, France. The temperature reconstruction from Coleoptera is obtained from the Mutual Climatic Range Method, or “MCR” method, based on the range of climates corresponding to the area occupied today by the species identified in fossil assemblages. The Weighthed Averaging Partial Least Squared (WA-PLS) method is used to produce mean July temperature estimates from Chironomid assemblages. Climate reconstruction from pollen data is performed using an assemblage approach, the Modern Analogue Technique. During the Late-Glacial the July temperature (Tmax) reconstructed from beetles (Coleoptera) was lower than the current Tmax of 18.9 ◦C. Summer conditions were close to the present at the beginning of the Oldest Dryas (17400–14600 cal. BP), and during most of the Allerød (13900–12800 cal. BP). During the Younger Dryas(12800–11700 cal. BP) Tmax estimates ranged from 12 to 13 ◦C, much lower than today. The Tmax increased at the onset of the Holocene (11700 cal. BP), reaching values close to the modern conditions from the beginning of the period. Tmax reconstructed from chironomids shows an initial warming around 15000 cal. BP, with a Tmax rise from 7 ◦C to 11 ◦C. A maximum (13.5 ◦C) was reached around 13800 cal. BP. A second optimum of 16 ◦C occurred after 10800 cal. BP. The Late-Glacial Interstadial (LGI) is marked by temperature decreases (from 13 to 12 to 10–9 ◦C) around 13200–12900 cal. BP. A second climate minimum was reached around 12600 cal. BP, during the Younger Dryas (Tmax about 10 ◦C). The end of the Younger Dryas seems to have been warmer, with a Tmax of about 13 ◦C, just before the early Holocene climate improvement. Pollen-inferred results showed that the Late-Glacial climate at Rousti`eres was characterized by colder and drier winter and summer seasons than today, and by conditions close to the modern ones around 11700 cal. BP, at the onset of the Holocene. Climate conditions comparable to the modern ones were also evidenced at the end of the Allerød, with colder than today conditions evidenced from both Tmax and Tmin (January temperature). During the Oldest and Younger Dryas the coldest month showed a temperature of - 13 ◦C, while summers appeared more moderate (warmest month around 16 ◦C). Cold conditions were also reconstructed during the Bølling, while temperatures comparable to present-day values were reached during the Allerød. A cold oscillation occurred around 13400 cal. BP. Particularly dry conditions were reconstructed during the Oldest Dryas (17000–15800 cal. BP). From 15800 to the end of the Younger Dryas, the precipitation oscillated around 750 mm, but increased during the Allerød and the Holocene periods. These climatic trends reconstructed by the three proxies allowed identifying the temperateperiods (LGI and the Holocene) and the cold events (Younger Dryas) of the Late-Glacial period. However, difficulties due to different sampling resolutions emerged, and several discrepancies linked to the proxy or the methods used are discussed