@phdthesis{Neugebauer2015,
  author    = {Neugebauer, Ina},
  title     = {Reconstructing climate from the Dead Sea sediment record using high-resolution micro-facies analyses},
  series = {Dissertation},
  journal   = {Dissertation},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-85266},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xiv, 97, XXIII},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The sedimentary record of the Dead Sea is a key archive for reconstructing climate in the eastern Mediterranean region, as it stores the environmental and tectonic history of the Levant for the entire Quaternary. Moreover, the lake is located at the boundary between Mediterranean sub-humid to semi-arid and Saharo-Arabian hyper-arid climates, so that even small shifts in atmospheric circulation are sensitively recorded in the sediments. This DFG-funded doctoral project was carried out within the ICDP Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project (DSDDP) that intended to gain the first long, continuous and high-resolution sediment core from the deep Dead Sea basin. The drilling campaign was performed in winter 2010-11 and more than 700 m of sediments were recovered. The main aim of this thesis was (1) to establish the lithostratigraphic framework for the ~455 m long sediment core from the deep Dead Sea basin and (2) to apply high-resolution micro-facies analyses for reconstructing and better understanding climate variability from the Dead Sea sediments. Addressing the first aim, the sedimentary facies of the ~455 m long deep-basin core 5017-1 were described in great detail and characterised through continuous overview-XRF element scanning and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Three facies groups were classified: (1) the marl facies group, (2) the halite facies group and (3) a group involving different expressions of massive, graded and slumped deposits including coarse clastic detritus. Core 5017-1 encompasses a succession of four main lithological units. Based on first radiocarbon and U-Th ages and correlation of these units to on-shore stratigraphic sections, the record comprises the last ca 220 ka, i.e. the upper part of the Amora Formation (parts of or entire penultimate interglacial and glacial), the last interglacial Samra Fm. (~135-75 ka), the last glacial Lisan Fm. (~75-14 ka) and the Holocene Ze'elim Formation. A major advancement of this record is that, for the first time, also transitional intervals were recovered that are missing in the exposed formations and that can now be studied in great detail. Micro-facies analyses involve a combination of high-resolution microscopic thin section analysis and µXRF element scanning supported by magnetic susceptibility measurements. This approach allows identifying and characterising micro-facies types, detecting event layers and reconstructing past climate variability with up to seasonal resolution, given that the analysed sediments are annually laminated. Within this thesis, micro-facies analyses, supported by further sedimentological and geochemical analyses (grain size, X-ray diffraction, total organic carbon and calcium carbonate contents) and palynology, were applied for two time intervals: (1) The early last glacial period ~117-75 ka was investigated focusing on millennial-scale hydroclimatic variations and lake level changes recorded in the sediments. Thereby, distinguishing six different micro-facies types with distinct geochemical and sedimentological characteristics allowed estimating relative lake level and water balance changes of the lake. Comparison of the results to other records in the Mediterranean region suggests a close link of the hydroclimate in the Levant to North Atlantic and Mediterranean climates during the time of the build-up of Northern hemisphere ice sheets during the early last glacial period. (2) A mostly annually laminated late Holocene section (~3700-1700 cal yr BP) was analysed in unprecedented detail through a multi-proxy, inter-site correlation approach of a shallow-water core (DSEn) and its deep-basin counterpart (5017-1). Within this study, a ca 1500 years comprising time series of erosion and dust deposition events was established and anchored to the absolute time-scale through 14C dating and age modelling. A particular focus of this study was the characterisation of two dry periods, from ~3500 to 3300 and from ~3000 to 2400 cal yr BP, respectively. Thereby, a major outcome was the coincidence of the latter dry period with a period of moist and cold climate in Europe related to a Grand Solar Minimum around 2800 cal yr BP and an increase in flood events despite overall dry conditions in the Dead Sea region during that time. These contrasting climate signatures in Europe and at the Dead Sea were likely linked through complex teleconnections of atmospheric circulation, causing a change in synoptic weather patterns in the eastern Mediterranean. In summary, within this doctorate the lithostratigraphic framework of a unique long sediment core from the deep Dead Sea basin is established, which serves as a base for any further high-resolution investigations on this core. It is demonstrated in two case studies that micro-facies analyses are an invaluable tool to understand the depositional processes in the Dead Sea and to decipher past climate variability in the Levant on millennial to seasonal time-scales. Hence, this work adds important knowledge helping to establish the deep Dead Sea record as a key climate archive of supra-regional significance.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{MuellerTjallingiiPlocienniketal.2021,
  author    = {M{\"u}ller, Daniela and Tjallingii, Rik and Plociennik, Mateusz and Luoto, Tomi P. and Kotrys, Bartosz and Plessen, Birgit and Ramisch, Arne and Schwab, Markus Julius and Blaszkiewicz, Miroslaw and Slowinski, Michal and Brauer, Achim},
  title     = {New insights into lake responses to rapid climate change},
  series = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  journal   = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  number    = {2},
  issn      = {0300-9483},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-56338},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-563386},
  pages     = {23},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {The sediment profile from Lake Goscia(z) over dot in central Poland comprises a continuous, seasonally resolved and exceptionally well-preserved archive of the Younger Dryas (YD) climate variation. This provides a unique opportunity for detailed investigation of lake system responses during periods of rapid climate cooling (YD onset) and warming (YD termination). The new varve record of Lake Goscia(z) over dot presented here spans 1662 years from the late Allerod (AL) to the early Preboreal (PB). Microscopic varve counting provides an independent chronology with a YD duration of 1149+14/-22 years, which confirms previous results of 1140 +/- 40 years. We link stable oxygen isotopes and chironomid-based air temperature reconstructions with the response of various geochemical and varve microfacies proxies especially focusing on the onset and termination of the YD. Cooling at the YD onset lasted similar to 180 years, which is about a century longer than the terminal warming that was completed in similar to 70 years. During the AL/YD transition, environmental proxy data lagged the onset of cooling by similar to 90 years and revealed an increase of lake productivity and internal lake re-suspension as well as slightly higher detrital sediment input. In contrast, rapid warming and environmental changes during the YD/PB transition occurred simultaneously. However, initial changes such as declining diatom deposition and detrital input occurred already a few centuries before the rapid warming at the YD/PB transition. These environmental changes likely reflect a gradual increase in summer air temperatures already during the YD. Our data indicate complex and differing environmental responses to the major climate changes related to the YD, which involve different proxy sensitivities and threshold processes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{LauterbachWittPlessenetal.2017,
  author    = {Lauterbach, Stefan and Witt, Roman and Plessen, Birgit and Dulski, Peter and Prasad, Sushma and Mingram, Jens and Gleixner, Gerd and Hettler-Riedel, Sabine and Stebich, Martina and Schnetger, Bernhard and Schwalb, Antje and Schwarz, Anja},
  title     = {Climatic imprint of the mid-latitude Westerlies in the Central Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan and teleconnections to North Atlantic climate variability during the last 6000 years},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-404085},
  pages     = {15},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {In general, a moderate drying trend is observed in mid-latitude arid Central Asia since the Mid-Holocene, attributed to the progressively weakening influence of the mid-latitude Westerlies on regional climate. However, as the spatio-temporal pattern of this development and the underlying climatic mechanisms are yet not fully understood, new high-resolution paleoclimate records from this region are needed. Within this study, a sediment core from Lake Son Kol (Central Kyrgyzstan) was investigated using sedimentological, (bio) geochemical, isotopic, and palynological analyses, aiming at reconstructing regional climate development during the last 6000 years. Biogeochemical data, mainly reflecting summer moisture conditions, indicate predominantly wet conditions until 4950 cal. yr BP, succeeded by a pronounced dry interval between 4950 and 3900 cal. yr BP. In the following, a return to wet conditions and a subsequent moderate drying trend until present times are observed. This is consistent with other regional paleoclimate records and likely reflects the gradual Late Holocene diminishment of the amount of summer moisture provided by the mid-latitude Westerlies. However, climate impact of the Westerlies was apparently not only restricted to the summer season but also significant during winter as indicated by recurrent episodes of enhanced allochthonous input through snowmelt, occurring before 6000 cal. yr BP and at 5100-4350, 3450-2850, and 1900-1500 cal. yr BP. The distinct similar to 1500year periodicity of these episodes of increased winter precipitation in Central Kyrgyzstan resembles similar cyclicities observed in paleoclimate records around the North Atlantic, likely indicating a hemispheric-scale climatic teleconnection and an impact of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) variability in Central Asia.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Lauterbach2011,
  author    = {Lauterbach, Stefan},
  title     = {Lateglacial to Holocene climatic and environmental changes in Europe : multi-proxy studies on lake sediments along a transect from northern Italy to northeastern Poland},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-58157},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {Sediment records of three European lakes were investigated in order to reconstruct the regional climate development during the Lateglacial and Holocene, to investigate the response of local ecosystems to climatic fluctuations and human impact and to relate regional peculiarities of past climate development to climatic changes on a larger spatial scale. The Lake Hańcza (NE Poland) sediment record was studied with a focus on reconstructing the early Holocene climate development and identifying possible differences to Western Europe. Following the initial Holocene climatic improvement, a further climatic improvement occurred between 10 000 and 9000 cal. a BP. Apparently, relatively cold and dry climate conditions persisted in NE Poland during the first ca. 1500 years of the Holocene, most likely due to a specific regional atmospheric circulation pattern. Prevailing anticyclonic circulation linked to a high-pressure cell above the remaining Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) might have blocked the eastward propagation of warm and moist Westerlies and thus attenuated the early Holocene climatic amelioration in this region until the final decay of the SIS, a pattern different from climate development in Western Europe. The Lateglacial sediment record of Lake Mondsee (Upper Austria) was investigated in order to study the regional climate development and the environmental response to rapid climatic fluctuations. While the temperature rise and environmental response at the onset of the Holocene took place quasi-synchronously, major leads and lags in proxy responses characterize the onset of the Lateglacial Interstadial. In particular, the spread of coniferous woodlands and the reduction of detrital flux lagged the initial Lateglacial warming by ca. 500-750 years. Major cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas took place synchronously with a change in vegetation, while the increase of detrital matter flux was delayed by about 150-300 years. Complex proxy responses are also detected for short-term Lateglacial climatic fluctuations. In summary, periods of abrupt climatic changes are characterized by complex and temporally variable proxy responses, mainly controlled by ecosystem inertia and the environmental preconditions. A second study on the Lake Mondsee sediment record focused on two small-scale climate deteriorations around 8200 and 9100 cal. a BP, which have been triggered by freshwater discharges to the North Atlantic, causing a shutdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC). Combining microscopic varve counting and AMS 14C dating yielded a precise duration estimate (ca. 150 years) and absolute dating of the 8.2 ka cold event, both being in good agreement with results from other palaeoclimate records. Moreover, a sudden temperature overshoot after the 8.2 ka cold event was identified, also seen in other proxy records around the North Atlantic. This was most likely caused by enhanced resumption of the MOC, which also initiated substantial shifts of oceanic and atmospheric front systems. Although there is also evidence from other proxy records for pronounced recovery of the MOC and atmospheric circulation changes after the 9.1 ka cold event, no temperature overshoot is seen in the Lake Mondsee record, indicating the complex behaviour of the global climate system. The Holocene sediment record of Lake Iseo (northern Italy) was studied to shed light on regional earthquake activity and the influence of climate variability and anthropogenic impact on catchment erosion and detrital flux into the lake. Frequent small-scale detrital layers within the sediments reflect allochthonous sediment supply by extreme surface runoff events. During the early to mid-Holocene, increased detrital flux coincides with periods of cold and wet climate conditions, thus apparently being mainly controlled by climate variability. In contrast, intervals of high detrital flux during the late Holocene partly also correlate with phases of increased human impact, reflecting the complex influences on catchment erosion processes. Five large-scale event layers within the sediments, which are composed of mass-wasting deposits and turbidites, are supposed to have been triggered by strong local earthquakes. While the uppermost of these event layers is assigned to a documented adjacent earthquake in AD 1222, the four other layers are supposed to be related to previously undocumented prehistorical earthquakes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kaempf2015,
  author    = {K{\"a}mpf, Lucas},
  title     = {Extreme events in geoarchives},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-85961},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xii, 94},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {A main limitation in the field of flood hydrology is the short time period covered by instrumental flood time series, rarely exceeding more than 50 to 100 years. However, climate variability acts on short to millennial time scales and identifying causal linkages to extreme hydrological events requires longer datasets. To extend instrumental flood time series back in time, natural geoarchives are increasingly explored as flood recorders. Therefore, annually laminated (varved) lake sediments seem to be the most suitable archives since (i) lake basins act as natural sediment traps in the landscape continuously recording land surface processes including floods and (ii) individual flood events are preserved as detrital layers intercalated in the varved sediment sequence and can be dated with seasonal precision by varve counting. The main goal of this thesis is to improve the understanding about hydrological and sedimentological processes leading to the formation of detrital flood layers and therewith to contribute to an improved interpretation of lake sediments as natural flood archives. This goal was achieved in two ways: first, by comparing detrital layers in sediments of two dissimilar peri-Alpine lakes, Lago Maggiore in Northern Italy and Mondsee in Upper Austria, with local instrumental flood data and, second, by tracking detrital layer formation during floods by a combined hydro-sedimentary monitoring network at Lake Mondsee spanning from the rain fall to the deposition of detrital sediment at the lake floor. Successions of sub-millimetre to 17 mm thick detrital layers were detected in sub-recent lake sediments of the Pallanza Basin in the western part of Lago Maggiore (23 detrital layers) and Lake Mondsee (23 detrital layers) by combining microfacies and high-resolution micro X-ray fluorescence scanning techniques (µ-XRF). The detrital layer records were dated by detailed intra-basin correlation to a previously dated core sequence in Lago Maggiore and varve counting in Mondsee. The intra-basin correlation of detrital layers between five sediment cores in Lago Maggiore and 13 sediment cores in Mondsee allowed distinguishing river runoff events from local erosion. Moreover, characteristic spatial distribution patterns of detrital flood layers revealed different depositional processes in the two dissimilar lakes, underflows in Lago Maggiore as well as under- and interflows in Mondsee. Comparisons with runoff data of the main tributary streams, the Toce River at Lago Maggiore and the Griesler Ache at Mondsee, revealed empirical runoff thresholds above which the deposition of a detrital layer becomes likely. Whereas this threshold is the same for the whole Pallanza Basin in Lago Maggiore (600 m3s-1 daily runoff), it varies within Lake Mondsee. At proximal locations close to the river inflow detrital layer deposition requires floods exceeding a daily runoff of 40 m3s-1, whereas at a location 2 km more distal an hourly runoff of 80 m3s-1 and at least 2 days with runoff above 40 m3s-1 are necessary. A relation between the thickness of individual deposits and runoff amplitude of the triggering events is apparent for both lakes but is obviously further influenced by variable influx and lake internal distribution of detrital sediment. To investigate processes of flood layer formation in lake sediments, hydro-sedimentary dynamics in Lake Mondsee and its main tributary stream, Griesler Ache, were monitored from January 2011 to December 2013. Precipitation, discharge and turbidity were recorded continuously at the rivers outlet to the lake and compared to sediment fluxes trapped close to the lake bottom on a basis of three to twelve days and on a monthly basis in three different water depths at two locations in the lake basin, in a distance of 0.9 (proximal) and 2.8 km (distal) to the Griesler Ache inflow. Within the three-year observation period, 26 river floods of different amplitude (10-110 m3s-1) were recorded resulting in variable sediment fluxes to the lake (4-760 g m-2d-1). Vertical and lateral variations in flood-related sedimentation during the largest floods indicate that interflows are the main processes of lake internal sediment transport in Lake Mondsee. The comparison of hydrological and sedimentological data revealed (i) a rapid sedimentation within three days after the peak runoff in the proximal and within six to ten days in the distal lake basin, (ii) empirical runoff thresholds for triggering sediment flux at the lake floor increasing from the proximal (20 m3s-1) to the distal lake basin (30 m3s-1) and (iii) factors controlling the amount of detrital sediment deposition at a certain location in the lake basin. The total influx of detrital sediment is mainly driven by runoff amplitude, catchment sediment availability and episodic sediment input by local sediment sources. A further role plays the lake internal sediment distribution which is not the same for each event but is favoured by flood duration and the existence of a thermocline and, therewith, the season in which a flood occurred. In summary, the studies reveal a high sensitivity of lake sediments to flood events of different intensity. Certain runoff amplitudes are required to supply enough detrital material to form a visible detrital layer at the lake floor. Reasonable are positive feedback mechanisms between rainfall, runoff, erosion, fluvial sediment transport capacity and lake internal sediment distribution. Therefore, runoff thresholds for detrital layer formation are site-specific due to different lake-catchment characteristics. However, the studies also reveal that flood amplitude is not the only control for the amount of deposited sediment at a certain location in the lake basin even for the strongest flood events. The sediment deposition is rather influenced by a complex interaction of catchment and in-lake processes. This means that the coring location within a lake basin strongly determines the significance of a flood layer record. Moreover, the results show that while lake sediments provide ideal archives for reconstructing flood frequencies, the reconstruction of flood amplitudes is a more complex issue and requires detailed knowledge about relevant catchment and in-lake sediment transport and depositional processes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kristen2009,
  author    = {Kristen, Iris},
  title     = {Investigations on rainfall variability during the late Quaternary based on geochemical analyses of lake sediments from tropical and subtropical southern Africa},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-32547},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2009},
  abstract  = {This thesis presents investigations on sediments from two African lakes which have been recording changes in their surrounding environmental and climate conditions since more than 200,000 years. Focus of this work is the time of the last Glacial and the Holocene (the last ~100,000 years before present [in the following 100 kyr BP]). One important precondition for this kind of research is a good understanding of the present ecosystems in and around the lakes and of the sediment formation under modern climate conditions. Both studies therefore include investigations on the modern environment (including organisms, soils, rocks, lake water and sediments). A 90 m long sediment sequence was investigated from Lake Tswaing (north-eastern South Africa) using geochemical analyses. These investigations document alternating periods of high detrital input and low (especially autochthonous) organic matter content and periods of low detrital input, carbonatic or evaporitic sedimentation and high autochthonous organic matter content. These alternations are interpreted as changes between relatively humid and arid conditions, respectively. Before c. 75 kyr BP, they seem to follow changes in local insolation whereas afterwards they appear to be acyclic and are probably caused by changes in ocean circulation and/or in the mean position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Today, these factors have main influence on precipitation in this area where rainfall occurs almost exclusively during austral summer. All modern organisms were analysed for their biomarker and bulk organic and compound-specific stable carbon isotope composition. The same investigations on sediments from the modern lake floor document the mixed input of the investigated individual organisms and reveal additional influences by methanotrophic bacteria. A comparison of modern sediment characteristics with those of sediments covering the time 14 to 2 kyr BP shows changes in the productivity of the lake and the surrounding vegetation which are best explained by changes in hydrology. More humid conditions are indicated for times older than 10 kyr BP and younger than 7.5 kyr BP, whereas arid conditions prevailed in between. These observations agree with the results from sediment composition and indications from other climate archives nearby. The second lake study deals with Lake Challa, a small, deep crater lake on the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. In this lake form mm-scale laminated sediments which were analyses with micro-XRF scanning for changes in the element composition. By comparing these results with investigations on thin sections, results from ongoing sediment trap studies, meteorological data, and investigations on the surrounding rocks and soils, I develop a model for seasonal variability in the limnology and sedimentation of Lake Challa. The lake appears to be stratified during the warm rain seasons (October - December and March - May) during which detrital material is delivered to the lake and carbonates precipitate. On the lake floor forms a dark lamina with high contents of Fe and Ti and high Ca/Al and low Mn/Fe ratios. Diatoms bloom during the cool and windy season (June - September) when mixing down to c. 60 m depth provides easily bio-available nutrients. Contemporaneously, Fe and Mn-oxides are precipitating which cause high Mn/Fe ratios in the light diatom-rich laminae of the sediments. Trends in the Mn/Fe ratio of the sediments are interpreted to reflect changes in the intensity or duration of seasonal mixing in Lake Challa. This interpretation is supported by parallel changes in the organic matter and biogenic silica content observed in the 22 m long profile recovered from Lake Challa. This covers the time of the last 25 kyr BP. It documents a transition around 16 kyr BP from relatively well-mixed conditions with high detrital input during glacial times to stronger stratified conditions which are probably related to increasing lake levels in Challa and generally more humid conditions in East Africa. Intensified mixing is recorded for the time of the Younger Dryas and the period between 11.4 and 10.7 kyr BP. For these periods, reduced intensity of the SW monsoon and intensified NE monsoon are reported from archives of the Indian-Asian Monsoon region, arguing for the latter as a probable source for wind mixing in Lake Challa. This connection is probably also responsible for contemporaneous events in the Mn/Fe ratios of the Lake Challa sediments and in other records of northern hemisphere monsoon intensity during the Holocene and underlines the close interaction of global low latitude atmospheric circulation.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Czymzik2012,
  author    = {Czymzik, Markus},
  title     = {Mid- to Late Holocene flood reconstruction from two varved sediment profiles of pre-alpine Lake Ammersee (Southern Germany)},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-65098},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Climate is the principal driving force of hydrological extremes like floods and attributing generating mechanisms is an essential prerequisite for understanding past, present, and future flood variability. Successively enhanced radiative forcing under global warming enhances atmospheric water-holding capacity and is expected to increase the likelihood of strong floods. In addition, natural climate variability affects the frequency and magnitude of these events on annual to millennial time-scales. Particularly in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, correlations between meteorological variables and hydrological indices suggest significant effects of changing climate boundary conditions on floods. To date, however, understanding of flood responses to changing climate boundary conditions is limited due to the scarcity of hydrological data in space and time. Exploring paleoclimate archives like annually laminated (varved) lake sediments allows to fill this gap in knowledge offering precise dated time-series of flood variability for millennia. During river floods, detrital catchment material is eroded and transported in suspension by fluid turbulence into downstream lakes. In the water body the transport capacity of the inflowing turbidity current successively diminishes leading to the deposition of detrital layers on the lake floor. Intercalated into annual laminations these detrital layers can be dated down to seasonal resolution. Microfacies analyses and X-ray fluorescence scanning (µ-XRF) at 200 µm resolution were conducted on the varved Mid- to Late Holocene interval of two sediment profiles from pre-alpine Lake Ammersee (southern Germany) located in a proximal (AS10prox) and distal (AS10dist) position towards the main tributary River Ammer. To shed light on sediment distribution within the lake, particular emphasis was (1) the detection of intercalated detrital layers and their micro-sedimentological features, and (2) intra-basin correlation of these deposits. Detrital layers were dated down to the season by microscopic varve counting and determination of the microstratigraphic position within a varve. The resulting chronology is verified by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of 14 terrestrial plant macrofossils. Since ~5500 varve years before present (vyr BP), in total 1573 detrital layers were detected in either one or both of the investigated sediment profiles. Based on their microfacies, geochemistry, and proximal-distal deposition pattern, detrital layers were interpreted as River Ammer flood deposits. Calibration of the flood layer record using instrumental daily River Ammer runoff data from AD 1926 to 1999 proves the flood layer succession to represent a significant time-series of major River Ammer floods in spring and summer, the flood season in the Ammersee region. Flood layer frequency trends are in agreement with decadal variations of the East Atlantic-Western Russia (EA-WR) atmospheric pattern back to 200 yr BP (end of the used atmospheric data) and solar activity back to 5500 vyr BP. Enhanced flood frequency corresponds to the negative EA-WR phase and reduced solar activity. These common links point to a central role of varying large-scale atmospheric circulation over Europe for flood frequency in the Ammersee region and suggest that these atmospheric variations, in turn, are likely modified by solar variability during the past 5500 years. Furthermore, the flood layer record indicates three shifts in mean layer thickness and frequency of different manifestation in both sediment profiles at ~5500, ~2800, and ~500 vyr BP. Combining information from both sediment profiles enabled to interpret these shifts in terms of stepwise increases in mean flood intensity. Likely triggers of these shifts are gradual reduction of Northern Hemisphere orbital summer forcing and long-term solar activity minima. Hypothesized atmospheric response to this forcing is hemispheric cooling that enhances equator-to-pole temperature gradients and potential energy in the troposphere. This energy is transferred into stronger westerly cyclones, more extreme precipitation, and intensified floods at Lake Ammersee. Interpretation of flood layer frequency and thickness data in combination with reanalysis models and time-series analysis allowed to reconstruct the flood history and to decipher flood triggering climate mechanisms in the Ammersee region throughout the past 5500 years. Flood frequency and intensity are not stationary, but influenced by multi-causal climate forcing of large-scale atmospheric modes on time-scales from years to millennia. These results challenge future projections that propose an increase in floods when Earth warms based only on the assumption of an enhanced hydrological cycle.},
  language  = {en}
}