Combined marine proxy and pollen analyses reveal rapid Iberian vegetation response to North Atlantic

A deep-sea sediment core from the western Portuguese margin has provided a continuous, high-resolution record of millennial-scale climatic oscillation s during the interval 9000-65,000 yr B.P. Pollen analysis of the same seque nce allows direct, in situ assessment of the phase relationship between the North Atlantic climate system and vegetation changes on the adjacent landm ass. This demonstrates for the first time that variability in NW Iberian tr ee population size closely tracked millennial-scale climate variability. (C ) 2001 University of Washington.