Deposits of the Pleistocene near Nowy Tomyśl (western Poland)

W rejonie Nowego Tomyśla, na terenie zachodniej Wielkopolski, w otworach wiertniczych z Woli Jabłońskiej, Cichej Góry i Lasek stwierdzono osady rzeczne, określone jako formacja z Lasek. Wypełniają one doliny kopalne do głębokości 40−50 m, leżą na glinach zlodowacenia odry (typ Dopiewiec) i są przykryte trzema glinami zlodowacenia warty (typy: Karolewo, Kopaszewko i Ujście). Utwory rzeczne powstawały w środowisku peryglacjalnym (ekstraglacjalnym), o silnych procesach eolicznych. Osady formacji z Lasek, z okolic Nowego Tomyśla reprezentują prawdopodobnie fragment wypełnienia doliny kopalnej Prawarty/ Praprosny. W jej obrębie (profil Wola Jabłońska) stwierdzono osady organiczne pochodzenia jeziornego. Wyniki analizy palinologicznej wskazują na niepełną interglacjalną sukcesję pyłkową, obejmującą początkowy okres chłodny oraz optimum charakteryzujące się klimatem umiarkowanym i wilgotnym. Spektra pyłkowe z najcieplejszego odcinka profilu odzwierciedlają panowanie lasu sosnowo-świerkowego i zarośli olszynowych z domieszką roślin o większych wymaganiach termicznych, wśród których na szczególną uwagę zasługują ziarna pyłku i owoce należące do rośliny wodnej Trapa natans dotychczas stwierdzonej jedynie w osadach interglacjalnych. Podobny obraz zbiorowisk leśnych wykazuje profil na terenie Bełchatowa, który był datowany na interstadiał pilicy, a obecnie jest określany jako interglacjał lubelski. Odniesienie profilu z Woli Jabłońskiej do tego interglacjału nie ma pewnego uzasadnienia, ponieważ pozycja palinostratygraficzna i geologiczna uzyskanej sukcesji roślinności jest trudna do ustalenia.Fluvial sediments has been recorded in three boreholes near Nowy Tomyśl, western Poland (Wola Jabłońska, Cicha Góra, Laski). Wola Jabłońska profile contains organic and fluvial deposits. This series has been formally named the Laski Formation. The fluvial sediments fill deep palaeovalley (40–50 m). They overlie the Dopiewiec till (Early Saalian, Odranian) and are overlain by three late Saalian (Wartanian) tills: Karolewo, Kopaszewko and Ujście. The fluvial suite was deposited mainly in periglacial environment, with strongly developed aeolian processes in the valley. However, during the optimal part of the period the aeolian processe almost completely ceased. The uppermost part of the suite exhibit suggests that deposition took place at the front of an advancing ice-sheet (high aggradation rate, admixtures of glacial derived material). The Laski Formation deposits may represent a fragment of pre-Warta/ Prosna palaeovalley. The organic sediments from Wola Jabłońska represent the climatic optimum of the interglacial and the early stages of the succeeding cold period. The picture of vegetation is characterized by spruce-pine forest with common alder and small admixtures of deciduous trees at the climatic optimum. Among local aquatic vegetation, the most characteristic is the occurrence of pollen and seeds of Trapa natans; a species hither noticed only in the interglacial successions. Climatic conditions that time were temperate and humid. The flora of Wola Jabłońska have features that resemble the forest communities at Bełchatów profiles in central Poland which was determined as the Pilica Interstadial, currently named as the Lublinian Interglacial. However, the profile from Wola Jabłońska cannot be unequivocally ascribed to this interglacial period, since the palynostratigraphic and geologic position of its vegetation succession is difficult to determine

Geology and palynology of Vistulian Glaciation deposits in closed basins near Jutrosin (southern Wielkopolska), Poland

Several closed, infilled basins dating from the last glaciation were found near Jutrosin in southern Wielkopolska. The Nadstawem is site located 1.5 km south-east from the centre of Jutrosin. The basins are located within end morainic hills which date back to the Wartanian Glaciation. The deposits comprise clay and sand with frost structures interbedded with till, overlain by sand and silt with three organic beds. Palynological studies have enabled reconstruction of the plant communities. radiocarbon dating indicated about 38 700 BP for the lower organic bed without sporomorphs and ca. 29 000 BP for the upper two ones with a rich pollen spectrum. Hence, organic sedimentation ranged from the Hengelo Interstadial to the Denekamp Interstadial

New investigations into Early Vistulian site at Białowice (Zielona Góra area, SW Poland)

The Białowice site is situated in the north-west of the Nowa Sól Depression which is part of the Central Poland Lowlands. Palynological analysis shows that lake and swamp accumulations took place in the Early Vistulian. Two warm interstadial-rank oscillations (Brörup and Odderade) and a stadial (Rederstall) have been distinguished during the Early Vistulian. The sequence of changes at Białowice is similar to the sequences in profiles from other parts of Poland and Western Europe. Until now, in that region of Poland the vegetation succession of the Brörup and Odderade had remained unknown. The lithology of the profile at Białowice shows rapid changes of sedimentation which have been observed in the younger part of the Brörup and at the Brörup/Rederstall transition. Geological and palynological data suggests that the maximum limit of the Vistulian Glaciation to the south of the Żary Hills

Fazy sedymentacyjne i erozyjne środkowego i górnego plenivistulianu oraz ich związek z transgresją i regresją lądolodu skandynawskiego w południowo-zachodniej Polsce

The sequence of Weichselian sediments and processes in SW Poland is almost identical to that of central Poland. Generally, three fluvial units occur, comprising silts and sands coarsening upwards to silts, sands and gravels, with aeolian deposits on top. This suggests very uniform processes throughout the palaeogeographic zone. To the south of this zone, there was extensive loess deposition and glacial deposition to the north. Climatic conditions during the Middle and Upper Weichselian Pleniglacial in SW Poland were similar to those in central Poland and northwestern Europe, though the period of 47-43 kyrs BP was slightly milder in SW Poland (shrub tundra, forest-tundra). Climatic conditions during the periods 38-27 kyrs BP and 23-18 kyrs BP were very uniform throughout central Europe, including SW Poland, though there may have been a strong north-south climatic gradient during the former period, as data from the loessic zone indicate at least patches of boreal forest or forest-tundra conditions in SW Poland at that time. It is also possible that there was a Middle Weichselian Pleniglacial interstadial with a lower age boundary at 25,900 ą 700 years BP, characterised by Pinus-Picea forest with no heliophytes. This interstadial represents the last mild period before the advance of the late Weichselian ice sheet into SW Poland. The Weichselian fluvial deposition of SW and central Poland may have been punctuated by at least three major erosional phases, characterised by similar incision depths during the cold stages. Erosion took place, with certainty, at around 75-60 kyrs BP (Lower Pleniglacial) and 27 kyrs BP, very probably at around 23/22 kyrs and possibly at around 40 kyrs BP, and valley aggradation occurred during the milder stages. The Upper Pleniglacial was characterised by valley aggradation, associated with southward ice sheet advance and restricted fluvial outflow. However, the frequent Middle Pleniglacial Weichselian climatic oscillations did not initiate sedimentation and erosion, they controlled only river discharge and type of fluvial sedimentation and aeolian activity. The occurrence of the erosional and aggradational phases were controlled by the changes in ice volume in Scandinavia, ice sheet build-up and retreat, respectively

Early Vistulian climate oscillations in the light of pollen analysis of deposits from Dziadowa Kłoda (Silesian Lowland, Poland)

The stratigraphy and palaeogeography of Quaternary deposits under lying the Oleoenica Plain were investigated during mapping of the Syców sheet of the De tailed Geo logical Map of Poland on the scale of 1:50 000. The Oleoenica Plain is part of the southern foreland of the Trzebnica Ridge, the latter representing a frontal moraine of the South and Middle Polish Glaciations. Neopleistocene deposits found at the Dziadowa Kłoda site were analyzed for their pollen content. These lacus trine to swamp deposits represent a continuous and undisturbed sequence spanning the Eemian Interglacial to Brörup Interstadial interval. The Early Vistulian deposits have been the subject of detailed palynological investigations. The reconstructed pattern of vegetation changes has allowed a precise determination of the upper boundary of the last interglacial as well as the recognition of stadial-interstadial horizons. Three climatic oscillations have been noted, corresponding to the Herning and Rederstallstadials and the Brörup Interstadial. In the climatic optimum of the interstadial, dense boreal pine-birch forests accompanied by a minor admixture of alder and spruce were predominant. Cold stadials were dominated by open vegetation with tundra and steppe elements.The pollen sequence from Dziadowa Kłoda is the first site on the Silesian Lowland that shows the first fully developed Early Vistulian warm oscillation that correlates with the Brörup Interstadial. A distinctive feature of this site is a long, continuous pollen sequence of the Eemian passing into deposits of the Vistulian Glaciation in the same profile

Geology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis

The sedimentary succession exposed in the Gorzów Wielkopolski area includes Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) or Early Weichselian (MIS 5d–e) deposits. The sedimentary sequence has been the object of intense interdisciplinary study, which has resulted in the identification of at least two palaeolake horizons. Both yielded fossil remains of large mammals, alongside pollen and plant macrofossils. All these proxies have been used to reconstruct the environmental conditions prevailing at the time of deposition, as well as to define the geological context and the biochronological position of the fauna. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the glaciofluvial layers of the GS3 succession to 123.6 ± 10.1 (below the lower palaeolake) and 72.0 ± 5.2 ka (above the upper palaeolake) indicate that the site formed during the Middle–Late Pleistocene (MIS 6 – MIS 5). Radiocarbon-dating of the lacustrine organic matter revealed a tight cluster of Middle Pleniglacial Period (MIS 3) ages in the range of ~41–32 ka cal bp (Hengelo – Denekamp Interstadials). Holocene organic layers have also been found, with C ages within a range of 4330–4280 cal bp (Neolithic). Pollen and plant macrofossil records, together with sedimentological and geochemical data, confirm the dating to the Eemian Interglacial.This research was supported by grant 0201/2048/18 ‘Life and death of extinctrhino (Stephanorhinus sp.) from Western Poland: a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental approach’ financed by the National Science Centre, Poland. LiDAR DTM data presented in this study were used under academic licences DIO.DFT.DSI.7211.1619.2015_PL_N and DIO.DFT.7211.9874. 2015_PL_N awarded to the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Environmental Management University of Wrocław, in accordance with the Polish legal regulations of the administration of the Head Office of Land Surveying and Cartography