Plant Macrofossil and Peat Geochemical Data from 33 Sub-Arctic Peat Cores

33 peat cores from 16 high-latitude peatlands in Sweden, Finland, and European Russia provide raw data on vegetation and carbon dynamics. The dataset includes plant macrofossil records, peat bulk density, carbon, nitrogen, and C/N ratios, with chronological control from 210Pb and radiocarbon dating. Sanna Piilo and colleagues at the University of Helsinki analyzed the data between 2016 and 2020 to study peatland responses to climate change over the past two millennia.

Use Cases

• Modeling historical carbon accumulation rates based on dated peat layers and bulk density measurements.
• Analyzing shifts in peatland vegetation communities over time using plant macrofossil records.
• Investigating relationships between peat geochemical properties (C, N, C/N) and climate conditions.
• Calibrating or validating age-depth models for peat core studies using the provided chronological data.

Strengths

• Includes data from 33 peat cores across 16 distinct peatland sites, providing spatial breadth.
• Chronological control is established using both 210Pb and radiocarbon (14C) dating methods.
• Data covers the past two millennia, offering a long-term perspective on peatland change.
• Records differentiate between currently intermediate (25 cores) and dry (8 cores) peatland surfaces.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific analytical methods.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

University of Helsinki, associated with research by Sanna Piilo et al.

Collection Method

Peat cores collected with a box corer or Russian corer from the active layer; lab analysis of macrofossils, bulk density, C, N, and radiometric dating.

Time Range

Covers the past two millennia, with data analyzed between 2016 and 2020.

Geography

High-latitude peatlands in Sweden, Finland, and European Russia.