New data on the Lateglacial period of SW Europe: a high resolution multiproxy record from Laguna de la Roya (NW Iberia)

•We performed high-resolution multiproxy analyses on a 128 cm section of sediments.•Pollen stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates provided the basis for a chronology.•July air temperatures were inferred from the chironomid record.•Local conditions and productivity of the lake were inferred from biological data.•Vegetation changes and oscillations for the vegetation belts were reconstructed.

High-resolution multiproxy analyses were performed on a 128 cm section of organic sediments accumulated in a small mountain lake in NW Iberia (Laguna de la Roya, 1608 m asl). The pollen stratigraphy together with radiocarbon dating provided the basis for a chronology ranging from 15,600 to 10,500 cal yr BP. Chironomid-inferred July air temperatures suggest a temperature range from 7 to 13 °C, also evidencing two well-established cold periods which may be equivalent to the INTIMATE stages GS-2a and GS-1. Furthermore, a number of short cold events (with summer temperatures dropping about 0.5–1 °C) appear intercalated within the Lateglacial Interstadial (possibly equivalent to the INTIMATE cold events GI-1d, GI-1c2 and GI-1b) and the early Holocene (possibly equivalent to the 11.2 k event). The temperature variations predicted by our reconstruction allow explaining the changes in local conditions and productivity of the lake inferred from the biological record of the same sediment core. Furthermore, they also agree with the local and regional vegetation dynamics, and the main oscillations deduced for the vegetation belts. Based on its chronology our multiproxy record indicates a similar temperature development in NW Iberia as inferred by the Greenland δ18O record, the marine deep-sea records off the Atlantic Iberian Margin, and other chironomid-based Lateglacial temperature reconstructions from Europe. Nevertheless, the impact of most of the less intense Lateglacial/early Holocene cold events in NW Iberia was most probably limited to very sensitive sites that were very close to ecotonal situations. Particularly, our new pollen record indicates that they were represented as three minor environmental crises occurring during the Lateglacial Interestadial in this area. The Older Dryas event (in our usage corresponding to the Aegelsee Oscillation in Central Europe and event GI-1d in central Greenland) has previously been described in this region, but its age and duration (ca 14,250–14050 cal yr BP) is now better constrained. The two subsequent stages, La Roya I (ca 13,600–13,400 cal yr BP) and La Roya II (ca 13,300–12,900 cal yr BP) have been described for first time in NW Iberia.