The European glacial landscapes from the Early Holocene

The Early Holocene saw a major climate transition, the largest amplitude change in air temperatures of the last 11,700 years. As a consequence, glaciers rapidly retreated from their Pleistocene positions. This retreat coincided with peak mid-summer insolation in the Early Holocene, the highest of the last 11,000 years. However, summers were short due to peak eccentricity and large amplitude in orbital precession. Furthermore, changes in the oceanic circulation in the North Atlantic, in particular changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation caused in part by deglaciation of the large ice northern continental sheets, resulted in cold reversals and glacier advances, albeit relatively brief. By 9 ka however, the climate had warmed significantly, in some places to the warmest of the Holocene, although the Holocene Thermal Maximum was diachronous across Europe pushing well into the Middle Holocene in some areas. In any case, glaciers largely disappeared in many areas or reduced to their smallest extents of the entire Holocene.