Description: Recently exposed loess-palaeosol sequences in the northern Alpine foreland close to Bobingen (southern Germany) were investigated with a multi-proxy approach combining isotopic, geochemical, lithological, and micropalaeontological methods. Luminescence ages date the sections into the Middle and Upper Würmian periods corresponding to Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2. A gleyic soil horizon at the base was dated to 45 ka and provided a palynoflora dominated by Poaceae, Cyperaceae, and Pinus, as well as frequent aquatic taxa. Lacustrine conditions prevailed after the gley formation until 30 ka, providing a comparatively diverse lacustrine fauna dominated by aquatic gastropods and the ostracod Candona candida. At the transition to the Upper Würm, climatic conditions became harsh, indicated by accelerated deposition of more coarse-grained loess, organic geochemical indicators, and scarceness of biotic remains. Two tundra gley horizons in the Upper Würm point to short phases of climatic amelioration with higher humidity also evidenced by reoccurrence of ostracod and aquatic gastropod remains. We propose that these climatic ameliorations were coincident with the Greenland interstadials 4 and 2.

Description: Lacustrine environmental archives with annually laminated (varved) sediments permit a calendar-year chronology and allow calculation of precise sediment accumulation rates. We present multiproxy analyses of a varved sediment record from Holzmaar (West-Eifel Volcanic Field, Germany) for the last 16,000 years providing a continuous diatom stratigraphy supported by physical and chemical parameters with a centennial resolution. Patterns of diatom assemblages infer the trophic history of Holzmaar. There is a distinct variation at the Pleistocene/Lateglacial transition characterized by a replacement of Staurosira construens with Stephanodiscus minutulus, increases of Ca/Ti, TOC/TN ratios and biogenic silica, together suggesting an increase in lacustrine productivity and a shift of the lake's trophic status from oligotrophic to mesotrophic. These conditions remain during the Bölling/Alleröd interstadial. During the Younger Dryas stadial, there is a decrease on organic productivity as reflected by TOC, a subtle increase on benthic and epiphytic diatoms, indicating colder and dry conditions, and S. minutulus remains dominant suggesting increased winds. The Postglacial is dominated by Lindavia radiosa, S. minutulus and Nitzschia paleacea. The latter occurs between 9000-6000 cal yr BP together with an increase of TOC/TN and TS suggesting eutrophication with periodic anoxia during the Holocene Thermal Maximum. After 2200 cal yr BP, L. radiosa and Pantocsekiella comensis are dominant suggesting warmer conditions (especially during the Medieval Climate Anomaly) and thermal stability. Increased surface runoff is reflected in higher values of Ti and MS, suggesting more humidity and enhanced by anthropogenic disturbance. Moreover, the appearance of Aulacoseira subarctica is related to a cold and wet period coinciding with the Little Ice Age. In addition to environmental changes, our multiproxy analyses track human impact since the Middle Neolithic.

Description: The timing of the Monte Peron Landslide is revised to 2890 cal. BP based on a radiocarbon-dated sediment stratigraphy of Lago di Vedana. This age fosters the importance of hydroclimatic triggers in the light of accelerating global warming with a predicted increase of precipitation enhancing the regional predisposition to large landslides. Moreover, a layer enriched in allochthonous organic and minerogenic detritus dating to the same wet period is interpreted as response to a younger and yet unidentified mass wasting event in the catchment of Lago di Vedana. Rock debris of the Monte Peron Landslide impounded the Cordevole River valley and created a landslide-dammed lake. Around AD 1150, eutrophication of this lacustrine ecosystem started with intensified human occupation – a process that ended 150 years later, when the river was diverted back into its original bed. Most likely, this occurred due to artificial opening of the river dam. In consequence, Lago di Vedana was isolated from an open and minerogenic to an endorheic and carbonaceous lacustrine system. After a monastery was established nearby in AD 1457, a second eutrophication process was initiated due to intensified land use linked with deforestation. Only in the 18th and 19th century, deposition of organic matter decreased coinciding with climatic (Little Ice Age) and cultural changes. Conversational measures are the likely reasons for a trend towards less eutrophic conditions since AD 1950.

Description: The dataset contains ten sections of sediment cores retrieved by Wadden Sea Archive (WASA) project. Four non-destructive down-core scanning techniques (magnetic susceptibility, X-ray computed tomography, X-ray fluorescence, and digital photography) were applied, and the results were analyzed to have 1-dimensional profiles. The X-ray fluorescence profiles (in elements) were transformed by principal component analysis. Meanwhile, the sedimentary facies labels are accompanied.