Solar forcing of climate during the last millennium recorded in lake sediments from northern Sweden

Ulla Kokfelt, Raimund Muscheler

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report on a sediment record from a small lake within the subarctic wetland complex Stordalen in northernmost Sweden covering the last 1000 years. Variations in the content of minerogenic material are found to follow reconstructed variations in the activity of the Sun between the 13th and 18th centuries. Periods of low solar activity are associated with minima in minerogenic material and vice versa. A comparison between the sunspot cycle and a long instrumental series of summer precipitation further reveals a link between the 11 yr solar cycle and summer precipitation variability since around 1960. Solar minima are in this period associated with minima in summer precipitation, whereas the amount of summer precipitation increases during periods with higher solar activity. Our results suggest that the climate responds to both the 11 yr solar cycle and to long-term changes in solar activity and in particular solar minima, causing dry conditions with resulting decreased runoff.

Original languageEnglish
JournalHolocene
Volume23
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)447-452
Number of pages6
ISSN0959-6836
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013

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