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Glacial geological evidence for the medieval warm period

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Abstract

It is hypothesised that the Medieval Warm Period was preceded and followed by periods of moraine deposition associated with glacier expansion. Improvements in the methodology of radiocarbon calibration make it possible to convert radiocarbon ages to calendar dates with greater precision than was previously possible. Dating of organic material closely associated with moraines in many montane regions has reached the point where it is possible to survey available information concerning the timing of the medieval warm period. The results suggest that it was a global event occurring between about 900 and 1250 A.D., possibly interrupted by a minor readvance of ice between about 1050 and 1150 A.D.

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  1. Girton College, Cambridge, U.K.

    Jean M. Grove

  2. Wolfson College, Cambridge, U.K.

    Roy Switsur

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Grove, J.M., Switsur, R. Glacial geological evidence for the medieval warm period. Climatic Change 26, 143–169 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01092411

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