Pollen evidence for the transition of the Eastern Australian climate system from the post-glacial to the present-day ENSO mode

A review of Holocene climate patterns in eastern Australia is presented on the basis of a series of high-resolution pollen records across a north-to-south transect. Previously published radiocarbon data are calibrated into calendar years and fitted with an age-depth model. The resulting chronologies are used to compare past environmental changes and describe patterns of climate change on a calendar-age scale. Based on the present-day Australian climate patterns and impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the palynological data are interpreted and the prevalent climate mode throughout the Holocene reconstructed. Results show that early Holocene changes are strongly divergent and asynchronous between sites, while middle to late Holocene conditions are characterized by more arid and variable conditions and greater coupling between northern and southern sites, which is in agreement with increasing influence of ENSO.