Eemian Interglacial deposits at Haćki near Bielsk Podlaski : implications for the limit of the last glaciation in northeastern Poland

Pollen analysis was conducted on organic deposits on a kame ridge at Haćki in north eastern Poland. The deposits are referred to the Eemian Interglacial. Slope sediments only covered these biogenic deposits. The glacigenic landforms therefore relate to the Wartanian Glaciation, and so this area has not been occupied by an ice sheet of the Vistulian Glaciation

Eemian and Early Yi stu lian vegetation at Michałowo (NE Poland)

This paper presents the results of palaeobotanical studies (pollen and plant macrofossil analyses) of the sediments from sq the profile Michałowo P-3 (Gródek-Michałowo Depression, NE Poland). At this profile the second bed of peat under Holocene peat and the layer of silts and sands was discovered. The pollen succession indicates that they were deposited, with some gaps, from the beginning of Eernian Interglacial to Early Vistulian. The local pollen zones, distinguished in the pollen diagram, correlate with the regional pollen stratigraphy of the Eemian Interglacial, but the pollen record of hornbeam (ES R PAZ) and spruce (E6 R PAZ) regional zones is absent in Michałowo. In the middle part of the Michałowo pine zone (Mi-5 Pinus L PAZ), a cool oscillation of climate is marked by an opening of forests and development of herb plant communities

Non-Pollen Palynomorphs Characteristic for the Dystrophic Stage of Humic Lakes in the Wigry National Park, Ne Poland

The numerous dystrophic (humic) lakes are a very important feature of Wigry National Park, NE Poland. As the most recent palaeoecological data indicate, at the beginning of its development (in the Late Glacial and Early and Middle Holocene) these water bodies functioned as harmonious lakes, and their transformation into dystrophic lakes and the stabilization of the trophic state took place at the beginning of the Subboreal. Palynological analysis of sediments from two such lakes (Lake Ślepe and Lake Suchar II), with special emphasis on non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), was aimed at a detailed biological characterization of dystrophic lakes during their long-lasting existence. The obtained results allowed for the designation of organisms characteristic for dystrophic lakes, of which representatives appeared with the decreasing pH of the water and the formation of Sphagnum peat around lakes. These organisms were divided into four groups: algae, fungi, testate amoebas, and animals. Their representatives appear invarious developmental stages of dystrophic lakes

Anthropogenic transformation of the vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the settlement complex in Poganowo (Mrągowo Lakeland, NE Poland)

The re sults of pol len, non-pol len palynomorph and microcharcoal par ti cle anal y ses of de pos its from a small pond in north east ern Po land are pre sented. The study fo cused on hu man-in duced veg e ta tion changes that oc curred in a close vi cin ity of the set tle ment com plex at Poganowo dur ing the Mid dle Ages (ca 10th–16th cen tu ries). We dis tin guished three phases of hu man im pact. First and third phases cor re spond to in ten si fied set tle ment ac tiv ity. The sec ond phase was a pe riod when hu man ac tiv ity de creased and wood land re gen er a tion took place. The high in ci dence of the par a - sitic fun gus Kretzschmaria deusta in a lo cal for est stand dur ing the third phase was si mul ta neous with nu mer ous spores of coprophilous fungi (Sordaria-type and Cercophora-type). We con sider that Kretzschmaria deusta in hab ited the roots and bases of tree trunks dam aged by dig ging and graz ing an i mals

Late Holocene changes in vegetation of the Mrągowo Lakeland (NE Poland) as registered in the pollen record from Lake Salęt

Pol len anal y sis of sed i ments from the up per part of bot tom de pos its from Lake Salêt al lowed re con struc tion of main stages of the Late Ho lo cene veg e ta tion trans for ma tion in the Mr¹gowo Lake Dis trict (from ca. 3600 cal. years BC) and to cor re late some of these changes with im mi gra tion and eco nomic ac tiv ity of lo cal hu man groups. Sig nif i cant spread - ing of sec ond ary semi-nat u ral birch for est, de vel op ment of horn beam for est and in creas ing im por tance of anthropogenic open com mu ni ties were the most char ac ter is tic fea tures of veg e ta tion evo lu tion. A def i nite break down of elm took place be tween 2900 and 2500 cal. years BC, slightly af ter in creased con tri bu tion of birch in wood lands. Dis appear ance of ha zel around 1200 cal. years BC, ac com pa nied by ex pan sion of horn beam has been ob served and should be linked with ac tiv ity of the Z¹bie-Szestno type cul ture and the Lusatian cul ture tribes dur ing the Bronze Age, but not with a cli mate change. Con sid er able in ten si fi ca tion of set tle ment pro cesses re corded in the youn ger part of the Subatlantic chronozone was one of the im por tant rea sons that were re spon si ble for quick changes in for est struc ture. Strong and con tin ued de for es ta tion started as early as the end of the 10th cen tury AD and was sub stan tially in ten si fied in the first half of the 13th cen tury

Late Glacial and Holocene Vegetation Changes in the Wigry National Park, NE Poland – New Pollen Data from Three Small Dystrophic Lakes

The main phases of the Late Glacial and Holocene development of vegetation in the Wigry National Park were reconstructed based on the pollen analysis of sediments from three small dystrophic lakes (Lake Suchar Wielki, Lake Suchar II and Lake Ślepe). At the current stage of research, the age of the studied deposits was determined by AMS radiocarbon dating of few samples only. This meant that the chronology of the investigated sections had to be estimated also indirectly using their palynological correlation with the radiometrically well-dated section from Lake Wigry. The obtained pollen data confirmed the picture of the postglacial vegetation changes of the Wigry National Park, which was based on earlier studies of Lake Wigry. Furthermore, it documented the existence, mainly in the Preboreal and Atlantic chronozones, of temporary changes in vegetation, which might be a reaction to a short-lived cold fluctuations of climate

Osady zamkniętych basenów sedymentacyjnych północnego Podlasia jako zapis zmian klimatycznych w okresie MIS 6 – MIS 2

Wzgórza Sokólskie (NE Polska) charakteryzuje wyjątkowo zróżnicowana rzeźba i duża ilość zagłębień bezodpływowych, jak na obszary, których rzeźba określana jest mianem staroglacjalnej. Osady wypełniające te zagłębienia stanowią zapis zmian klimatu, jakie miały miejsce od końca zlodowacenia Odry stadiału Warty (MIS 6) do chwili obecnej. Dwa z takich zagłębień poddano szczegółowym badaniom strukturalnym i teksturalnym: Sadowo i Drahle. W każdym z nich wykonano wkop do głębokości odpowiednio 2,3 i 2,2 m. W przypadku Drahli pogłębiono go do głębokości 9,6 m sondą mechaniczną. W każdym z nich, do głębokości ok. 2 m wypełniające je osady to materiał piaszczysty, piaszczystożwirowy i diamikton. Charakteryzuje je brak, bądź niewielka zawartość materii organicznej i całkowite odwapnienie. Ponadto w strukturze osadów zaznacza się wpływ warunków peryglacjalnych, tj. obecność struktur typu ball and pillow, żył i niewielkich rozmiarów klinów z pierwotnym wypełnieniem piaszczystym. W profilu Sadowo na głębokości 2,30 m występują osady biogeniczne wykształcone w formie silnie sprasowanego torfu, który poddano analizie palinologicznej. Na tej postawie określono wiek torfu na eemski. W stanowisku Drahle, osady wypełniające zagłębienie, to mułki o masywnej strukturze do spągu rdzenia, tj. od około 2 do 9,6 m. Nie udało się jednoznacznie określić ich pozycji stratygraficznej

Compositional turnover and variation in Eemian pollen sequences in Europe

The Eemian interglacial represents a natural experiment on how past vegetation with negligible human impact responded to amplified temperature changes compared to the Holocene. Here, we assemble 47 carefully selected Eemian pollen sequences from Europe to explore geographical patterns of (1) total compositional turnover and total variation for each sequence and (2) stratigraphical turnover between samples within each sequence using detrended canonical correspondence analysis, multivariate regression trees, and principal curves. Our synthesis shows that turnover and variation are highest in central Europe (47–55°N), low in southern Europe (south of 45°N), and lowest in the north (above 60°N). These results provide a basis for developing hypotheses about causes of vegetation change during the Eemian and their possible drivers