Oxygen-isotope wiggle matching as a tool for synchronising ice-core and terrestrial records over Termination 1

In NW Europe, the large number of terrestrial records that are now availabl e from Termination 1 (15-10 kcal yr BP) form the basis for a highly detaile d picture of Lateglacial environmental change. Nevertheless, the Greenland oxygen-isotope records (GRIP/GISP2) are still regarded as the best high-res olution climate proxy for the North Atlantic region. In order to evaluate s patial contrasts and leads and lags in the climate system, integration of i ce-core, marine and terrestrial records is becoming increasingly important (INTIMATE objectives). However, comparisons between different environments require a common time-scale for the proxy climate records. Stable isotope a nalyses performed on Lateglacial lacustrine calcareous deposits in The Neth erlands provide a terrestrial oxygen-isotope record, comparable to that fro m the Greenland ice core. These atmospherically controlled lacustrine oxyge n-isotope signals not only constitute an independent palaeoclimatic proxy, but provide the basis for synchronising records from these environments as well. More over, this synchronisation reveals some remarkable aspects conce rning the timing of the oxygen isotope and palynological events as recorded in The Netherlands. Above all, oxygen-isotope wiggle matching offers a mea ns of correlating terrestrial and ice-core records, (C) 2001 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.