Sub-Milankovitch climatic cycles in Holocene stalagmites from Sauerland, Germany

Calcitic stalagmites from caves in the Sauerland, Germany, prove the existence of sub-Milankovitch cycles in precipitation during the last 6000 yr. The δ18O record dated with Th/U is interpreted as an indicator of paleohumidity. Spectral analysis of δ18O from 6000 a BP up to the recent top of a stalagmite from the Atta cave yields statistically significant peaks at 1450, 117, 64 and 57 a. Additionally we find a good correlation of the stalagmite’s δ18O and Δ14C from European tree rings. The 1450 a cycle in the stalagmite probably is analogous to the pervasive millennial scale climate cycle described by Bond et al. [Science 278 (1997) 1257–1266; 294 (2001) 2130–2136] derived from the amount of ice rafted debris in deep sediments from the North Atlantic. Our results suggest that the centennial to millennial shifts observed in the North Atlantic are accompanied by synchronous shifts of the climate in Northern and Central Europe, which most probably can be attributed to solar irradiation variations.