Oldest Dryas

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Abrupt climatic cooling event during the last glacial retreat

title: "Oldest Dryas" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chronology", "holocene", "ice-ages", "last-glacial-period", "climate-history", "pleistocene", "paleoclimatology", "palynology", "blytt–sernander-system", "historical-eras", "dryas-octopetala"] description: "Abrupt climatic cooling event during the last glacial retreat" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_Dryas" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Abrupt climatic cooling event during the last glacial retreat ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Weiße_Silberwurz_(Dryas_octopetala)_2.jpg" caption="''Dryas octopetala'' is the [[indicator species]] for the period"] ::

The Oldest Dryas is a biostratigraphic subdivision layer corresponding to a relatively abrupt climatic cooling event, or stadial, which occurred during the last glacial retreat. The time period to which the layer corresponds is poorly defined and varies between regions, As with the Younger and Older Dryas events, the stratigraphic layer is marked by abundance of the pollen and other remains of Dryas octopetala, an indicator species that colonizes arctic-alpine regions. The termination of the Oldest Dryas is marked by an abrupt oxygen isotope excursion, which has been observed at many sites in the Alps that correspond to this interval of time.

In the Alps, the Oldest Dryas corresponds to the Gschnitz stadial of the Würm glaciation. The term was originally defined specifically for terrestrial records in the region of Scandinavia, but has come to be used both for ice core stratigraphy in areas across the world, and to refer to the time period itself and its associated temporary reversal of the glacial retreat.

In the Iberian Peninsula, the glaciers of the Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada, Central Range, and Northwestern Mountains, which had almost entirely disappeared by 17,500 BP, began to advance once again. Between 16,800 and 16,500 BP, these glaciers abruptly advanced into montane valleys and deposited moraines near the moraines formed during the Last Glacial Maximum. These glaciers then began to oscillate between advance and retreat until a final glacial advance at 15,500 BP. A thousand years later, following a general glacial retreat, these alpine glaciers were relegated to cirques.{{cite journal |last1=Palacios |first1=David |last2=De Andrés |first2=Nuria |last3=Gómez-Ortiz |first3=Antonio |last4=García-Ruiz |first4=José M. |date=18 January 2016 |title=Evidence of glacial activity during the Oldest Dryas in the mountains of Spain |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1144/sp433.10 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |volume=433 |pages=87–110 |doi=10.1144/sp433.10 |s2cid=131340591 |access-date=15 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Greenland_Kangerlussuaq_icesheet.jpg" caption="The edge of the ice in Greenland"] ::

Flora

During the Oldest Dryas, Europe was treeless and similar to the Arctic tundra, but much drier and grassier than the modern tundra. It contained shrubs and herbaceous plants such as the following: :Poaceae, grasses :**Artemisia :Betula nana*, dwarf birch :Salix retusa, dwarf willow :**Dryas octopetala Image:Grasslands-menggu.jpg|Grassland (Inner Mongolia) Image:Artemisia_vulgaris_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-016.jpg|Artemisia vulgaris Image:Betula nana0.jpg|Betula nana Image:Mountainavens2.jpg|Dryas octopetala

Fauna

Species were mainly Arctic but during the Glacial Maximum, the warmer weather species had withdrawn into refugia and began to repopulate Europe in the Oldest Dryas.

The brown bear, Ursus arctos, was among the first to arrive in the north. Genetic studies indicate North European brown bears came from a refugium in the Carpathians of Moldavia. Other refugia were in Italy, Spain and Greece.

The bears would not have returned north except in pursuit of food. The tundra must already have been well populated. It is likely that the species hunted by humans at Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland by the end of the period were present during it. Here are other animals present:

Aves :Gavia arctica*, black-throated diver :Podiceps nigricollis, black-necked grebe :**Cygnus cygnus, whooper swan :**Aquila chrysaetos*, golden eagle Image:Gavia arctica1.jpg|Gavia arctica Image:Podiceps nigricollis naumann.jpg|Podiceps nigricollis Image:Cygnus cygnus from zh.JPG|Cygnus cygnus Image:Aquila chrysaetos large drawing.jpg|Aquila chrysaetos The above birds are primarily maritime. They must have fed in the copious glacial waters of the north that were just beginning to be released.

Fish :Lota lota*, burbot :Thymallus thymallus, grayling :**Rutilus rutilus, roach :Salmo trutta*, trout :Salvelinus alpinus*, char Image:Tarfala.jpg|Glacial stream Image:Trüsche Walchensee.jpg|Lota lota Image:Bachforelle Zeichnung.jpg|Salmo trutta Image:Röding, Iduns kokbok.jpg|Salvelinus

The smaller mammals of the food chain inhabited the herbaceous blanket of the tundra:

Cricetidae :Discrotonyx torquatus*, collared lemming :Microtus oeconomus, root vole :**Microtus arvalis, common vole :**Chionmys nivalis*, snowy vole

Leporidae :**Lepus timidus*, Arctic hare

Sciuridae :**Marmota marmota*, marmot

Image:TundraVole23.jpg|Microtus oeconomus Image:Feldmaus Microtus arvalis.jpg|Microtus arvalis Image:Arctic Hare.jpg|Lepus timidus Image:Marmota marmota Alpes1.jpg|Marmota marmota

In addition to bears and birds were other predators of the preceding small animals:

Carnivora :Felis lynx*, lynx :Alopex lagopus, Arctic fox :**Canis lupus, wolf

Image:Lynx lynx poing.jpg|Lynx (or Felis) lynx Image:Alopex lagopus standing on Nizke Island.jpg|Alopex lagopus Image:Canis lupus portrait.jpg|Canis lupus Humans were interested in the large mammals, which included: :Rangifer tarandus*, reindeer :Equus ferus, wild horse :**Capra ibex, ibex

At some point, the larger mammals arrived: hyena, woolly rhinoceros, cave bear and mammoth. Image:Albino raindeer.jpg|Rangifer tarandus Image:CapraIbex-1.jpg|Capra ibex Image:Wooly rhinoceros.jpg|Woolly rhinoceros Image:Mammouth.png|Mammoth

Notes

References

References

  1. (December 2014). "A{{nbsp}}Stratigraphic Framework for Abrupt Climatic Changes during the Last Glacial Period Based on Three Synchronized Greenland Ice-core Records: Refining and Extending the INTIMATE Event Stratigraphy". [[Elsevier]].
  2. (2009). "Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments". [[Springer Science+Business Media.
  3. (26 August 2012). "Northern Hemisphere Ice-sheet Responses to Past Climate Warming". [[Nature Portfolio]].
  4. (13 February 2012). "Global Climate Evolution during the Last Deglaciation". [[National Academy of Sciences]].
  5. (2014). "The Holocene: An Environmental History". [[Wiley (publisher).
  6. (July 2010). "A Global Perspective on Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene Climate Change". [[Elsevier]].
  7. (2 October 2017). "Atmospheric Connections with the North Atlantic Enhanced the Deglacial Warming in Northeast China". [[Geological Society of America]].
  8. (20 January 2017). "Pollen and Oxygen Isotope Analyses on Late- and Post-Glacial Sediments of the Tourbière de Chirens (Dauphiné, France)". [[Quaternary Research]].

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chronologyholoceneice-ageslast-glacial-periodclimate-historypleistocenepaleoclimatologypalynologyblytt–sernander-systemhistorical-erasdryas-octopetala