Abstract
This study tries to reconstruct past climatic conditions by means of alpine-subalpine meadow soil stratigraphy, which records past snow disappearance time in nivation hollows. Buried peat found on Mt. Zarumori indicates that the date of snow cover disappearance in approximately 1000 y.B.P., was earlier than in recent times. Calculations of the past snowmelt rate by the degree-day method, indicate that warming in summer and lower winter snowfall accumulation, hastened snowmelt and enabled the peat to deposit. This warmer climatic condition in north Japan corresponds to the so-called “Medieval Warm Period” of Europe and North America.
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Daimaru, H., Ikeda, S. (1996). Climatic Change and Snowpatches, Revealed by Soil Stratigraphy Around the Nivation Hollows. In: Climate Change and Plants in East Asia. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-66899-2_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-66899-2_10
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