Using annual resolution pollen analysis to synchronize varve and tree-ring records

Abstract

Fossil wood and varved lake sediments allow proxy analysis with exceptionally high, (sub-)annual resolution. Both archives provide dating through ring and layer counting, yet with different accuracy. In wood, counting errors are small and can be eliminated through cross-dating because tree-rings show regionally synchronous patterns. In varved sediments, counting errors are larger and cross-dating is hampered by missing regional patterns in varve parameters. Here, we test whether annual pollen analysis is suited to synchronize varve records. To that end, annual pollen deposition was estimated in three short cores from two lakes in north-eastern Germany for the period 1980–2017 CE. Analysis has focused on Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies, which show the strongest annual variations in flowering (mast). For both tree taxa, annual flowering variations recorded by forest and pollen monitoring are well represented in varved lake sediments, hence indeed allow us to synchronize the records. Some pollen mast events were not recognized, which may relate to sampling uncertainties, redeposition or regional variations in flowering. In Fagus sylvatica, intense flowering limits wood growth in the same year. Peaks in pollen deposition hence correlate with minima in tree-ring width, which provides a link between varved lake sediments and fossil wood.