A chironomid-based reconstruction of late glacial summer temperatures in the Pareng Mountains (Romania)

Late Glacial and Early Holocene summer temperatures were reconstructed based on fossil chironomid assemblages at Lake Latorica (Lacul Iezerul Latoritei; Pareng Mountains, 1530 m a.s.l.) with a joint Norwegian – Swiss transfer function, providing an important addition to the late glacial quantitative climate reconstructions from eastern-central Europe. The reconstructed pattern of the Late Glacial faunal and chironomid-inferred temperature changes in Lake Latorica shows some differences from the NGRIP δ¹⁸O record and other European chironomid-based reconstructions; however, it is consistent with the chironomid results of Lake Brazi from the neighbouring Retyezat Mountains (1740 m a.s.l.). Our reconstruction shows that the summer air temperature at Lake Latorica increased by ~ 3°C at the Oldest Dryas/Bølling transition (GS-2/GI-1) and reached 8.1-10.8°C during the Late Glacial interstadial. The Younger Dryas (GS-1) climate reversal in the chironomid-based temperature reconstruction is shown by only a weak decrease (~1°C), while slow temperature increase (9.7–11°C) is observed in the second half of the period. At the Holocene transition temperature increase of nearly 2°C was observed in the reconstruction. Before the Preboreal Oscillation (PO) the mean summer air temperature in the Early Holocene was 12.5°C. During PO the temperature reconstruction shows a decrease of 1.8°C. This cold event coincides with cooling in the Greenland ice core records and other European temperature reconstructions. After the Preboral oscillation the summer air temperatures increase to ~12.8°C in the Early Holocene.