The reconstruction of easterly wind directions for the Eifel region (Central Europe) during the period 40.3-12.9 ka BP

Abstract

A high resolution continuous reconstruction of last glacial wind directions is based on provenance analysis of eolian sediments in a sediment core from the Dehner dry Maar in the Eifel region (Germany). This Maar is suitable to archive easterly wind directions due to its location west of the Devonian carbonate basins of the Eifel-North-South-Zone. Thus, eolian sediments with high clastic carbonate content can be interpreted as an east wind signal. The detection of such east wind sediments is applied by a new module of the RADIUS grain size analyze technique. The investigated time period from 40.3-12.9 ka BP can be subclassified in three units: The first unit covers the periods of the ending GIS-9, H4, and GIS-8. With the exception of H4 (40-38kaBP) the content of organics in our record is relatively high. With the end of GIS-8 (38-36.5 ka) the content of organics decrease and the content of dust increases rapidly. The second time slice (36-24 ka BP) has an increased content of dust accumulation and a high amount of east winds layers (up to 19% of the dust storms per century came from the east). In comparison, the subsequent period (24-12.9 ka BP) is characterized by lower east wind sediments again. Increased frequencies of east wind occur during the time intervals corresponding with the Heinrich events H1 and H2. The unusual H3 show no higher east wind frequency but so do its former and subsequent Greenland stadials. The late LGM (21-18 ka BP) is characterized by a slightly elevated east wind frequency again.