Reconstruction of summer temperatures in East Siberia (Russia) for the last 850 years, inferred from records in lake sediments of non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae)

Abstract

We analysed a 42-cm-long sediment record from Lake Mountain located in East Siberia (Russia) for the reconstruction of summer temperature for the last 850 years. The high latitude of East Siberia at 52°N is probably sensitive to variation in insolation and solar activity. According to our reconstruction, clear decrease in summer temperatures occurred in East Siberia after ca. 1400 and we linked this temperature drop with the beginning of the Little Ice Age. The coldest summer occurred about ca. 1570–1700 and 1830–1900.

Keywords:

• Little Ice Age
• Siberia
• Chironomid
• Sediments

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Professor E.A. Makarchenko, Laboratory of Freshwater Hydrobiology, Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far East Branches, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, for advice and comments in identification of chironomid and help in search of necessary literature. We record with thanks also the work of K.E. Vershinin and A.A. Fedotov, who took part in the coring campaign at Lake Mountain in 2010. This study was supported by a Program of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations No. VIII.76.1.6, RFBR-13-05-00022.