Pliocene Arctic vegetation and its feedbacks with climate: combining Lake El´gygytgyn pollen data and vegetation modelling

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The investigations proposed contribute to the ICDP funded „El'gygytgyn Drilling Project“ in northeastern Siberia. They mainly comprise palynological analysis of the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene part of core D1 from central Lake El´gygytgyn, thus complementing respective investigations in the Middle and Late Pleistocene core part by collaborating palynologists in Russia and the USA. The warm Pliocene epoch is considered to be a close analogue to future global change. We aim (A) to quantify past climate change using inverse vegetation modelling based on fossil pollen data to conclude about potential further warming of the future Arctic; (B) to quantify tree taxa coverages using pollen-based landscape modelling that we will interpret in terms of vegetation-climate feedback mechanisms; (C) to infer past pollen inventory and diversity and its changes with climate cyclicity to understand the origin and source of modern Arctic vegetation. We deliberately intertwined modern and fossil pollen studies as well as proxy-based and modelling approaches in our study design. With our project we will contribute a palaeoclimatic perspective to controversially discussed questions concerning present-day and future Arctic warming and its feedbacks with vegetation.