Description
Matul et al. studied the distributions of different species of siliceous microflora (diatoms), calcareous microfauna (foraminifers) and spore-pollen assemblages found in sediment cores retrieved from 21 sites on the inner shelf of the southern and eastern Laptev Sea, starting from the Lena River delta and moving seaward between about 130 and 134°E and stretching from approximately 71 to 78°N, which cores were acquired by a Russian-French Expedition during the cruise of R/V Yakov Smirnitsky in 1991. This endeavor indicated the existence of "the Medieval Warm Period, ~600-1100 years BP; the Little Ice Age, ~100-600 years BP, with the cooling maximum, ~150-450 years BP; and the 'industrial' warming during the last 100 years." In addition, "judging from the increased diversity and abundance of the benthic foraminifers, the appearance of moderately thermophilic diatom species, and the presence of forest tundra (instead of tundra) pollen," they write that "the Medieval warming exceeded the recent 'industrial' one."