Reconstruction of climate and environment in the Augustovian Interglacial on the basis of select plant macrofossil taxa

Organiczne osady jeziorne i jeziorno-rzeczne z profili Czarnucha i Żarnowo (NE Polska) zostały zbadane metodą analizy makroskopowych szczątków roślin. Łącznie z obu profili przeanalizowano 264 prób, a szczegółowa analiza wyselekcjonowanych szczątków wykazała, że wśród licznie oznaczonych taksonów znajduje się kilkanaście gatunków wymarłych oraz takie, które mają wyraźną wymowę klimatyczną i ekologiczną. Analiza palinologiczna obu profili (H. Winter) wskazuje, że badane serie jeziorne powstały w interglacjale augustowskim. W profilach Czarnucha i Żarnowo udokumentowane są ciepłe i zimne okresy tego interglacjału. Obecność gatunków wskaźnikowych w wydzielonych lokalnych zespołach makroszczątków roślinnych obu profili pozwala na wydzielenie ciepłych i zimnych jednostek interglacjału augustowskiego. Oznaczone z drugiego okresu ciepłego megaspory Azolla filiculoides, Salvinia natans oraz szczątki Euryale cf. ferox, Lemna trisulca, Trapa natans wskazują, że temperatury letnich miesięcy musiały być wyższe niż obecnie, a temperatury miesięcy zimowych mogły być niższe. W zimnych okresach interglacjału stwierdzone szczątki Betula nana, Selaginella selaginoides, Potamogeton pectinatus, P. vaginatus, P. filiformis wskazują na klimat borealny. Osady badanych stanowisk obfitują w gatunki tolerujące zwiększoną zawartość NaCl w środowisku

Stratigraphy of macroscopic plant remains from Czarnucha section (Augustów Plaine, northeastern Poland)

W profilu Czarnucha metodą analizy makroskopowych szczątków roślin została zbadana seria osadów jeziornych i jeziorno-rzecznych z głębokości 100,25-130,25 m. Przeanalizowano 58 próbek, w których zidentyfikowano 97 taksonów różnej rangi. Stwierdzono gatunki niewystępujące obecnie na terenie Polski i gatunki wymarłe, spośród których kilka oznaczono po raz pierwszy dla plejstocenu Polski. W diagramie makroszczątków roślin wydzielono 8 lokalnych poziomów oznaczonych Cza MAZ, charakteryzujących się obecnością lub wzrostem liczebności taksonów znaczących pod względem ilościowym oraz taksonów wskaźnikowych. Na podstawie składu taksonomicznego wydzielonych poziomów, podjęto próbę rekonstrukcji rozwoju roślinności w zbiorniku i jego najbliższym otoczeniu oraz zmian klimatu, a także wahań poziomu wody i trofii. Sukcesja makroszczątków roślin nawiązuje do wyników badań palinologicznych profilu wskazujących, że analizowana seria jeziorna powstała w interglacjale augustowskim (= Bavelian Complex lub Cromerian I), w którym udokumentowane są ciepłe i zimne okresy tego interglacjału oraz jednostki związane z glacjałami narwi i nidy.A series of lacustrine and lacustrine-fluvial deposits from a depth of 100.25-130.25 m was examined in the Czarnucha section by means of macroscopic plant remains analysis. The analysis covered 58 samples in which 97 taxa of various ranks were identified. These included species currently absent in the area of Poland, as well as extinct species. Some of them were determined for the first time in the Pleistocene of Poland. Eight local zones, denoted as Cza MAZ, were distinguished in the diagram of plant macroremains. They were all characterized by either the presence or increase in the number of indicator taxa and quantitatively significant taxa. On the basis of taxonomic composition of the zones, an attempt was made to reconstruct the development of vegetation in the basin and its closest surrounding, climate changes, and the fluctuations in water level and trophy. The succession of macroscopic plant remains corresponds with the results of palynological study of the section, indicating that the examined lake series was accumulated in the Augustovian Interglacial (= Bavelian Complex or Cromerian I), for which warm and cold periods, as well as units associated with the Narevian and Nidanian Glaciation, are documented

Chronostratigraphy and changes of environment of Late Pleistocene and Holocene at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

This paper presents the results of absolute dating and biostratigraphical analysis carried out for alluvial sediments of an abandoned Starunia ozokerite mine located in the Velyky Lukavets River valley, in which large mammal remains were discovered in the first half of the 20th century. The sediments build up three terrace levels. The highest one, up to 8 m high (terrace II), is likely to be associated with a stage of aggradation, as well as with a short episode of valley broadening, which occurred in the Weichselian Late Pleniglacial. The lower one, 4 m high (terrace I), is most likely to be linked with the Holocene, despite a considerable transformation of its top due to mining activity. The lower part of this terrace cover bears coarse-grained channel sediments dated to 120.6-58.9 ka BP (Eemian Interglacial?-Early Pleniglacial - OIS 5e, 4 and 3), and overbank (distal floodplain) mud with intercalations of biogenic deposits (peat, peat mud and biogenic mud). The overbank deposits are dated to 48.2-11.11 ka BP (Glinde Interstadial?-Younger Dryas, OIS 3-2) and are overlain by Holocene (OIS 1) mud and biogenic deposits. In boreholes drilled in the vicinity of the present-day river channel, younger sediments occur more frequently. These include sediments originating from the Late Weichselian overlain by Holocene sediments. However, sediments originating exclusively from the Holocene are infrequent. The deposition of sediments took place in specific conditions of a permanent saturation of the environment with brine, petroleum and thickened bitumen. In the longest period of deposition (48.2-1.27 ka BP), ephemeral swamps, ponds and lakes were developed in different parts of the floodplain. They were marked by the presence of: Juncus glaucus/effusus, J. articulatus, Typha sp., Batrachium sp., Potamogeton filliformis, Bidens tripartita, Ranunculus sceleratus and Phragmites communis, as well as by halophytic species, like: Zannichellia palustris, Triglochin maritimum, Schoenoplectus tabernemontani, Puccinelia distans and Eleocharis palustris. Rhythmic oscillations between cold and warm climatic conditions, typical of the Weichselian age and well identified in Western Europe, are here marked by the changes of plant communities (woody assemblages passing into steppe and tundra), but are not noticeably recorded in the sediments of the Velyky Lukavets River. This shows that the greatest part of the discussed period involved the formation of poorly differentiated silty overbank sediments with intercalations of biogenic sediments. However, the variability of sediments provides evidence for extreme events which occurred in the Holocene

Krewasowanie śródlądowej wydmy w dolinie górnej Wisły podczas powodzi w 1998 roku

A relatively small flood in April 1998 inundated stream valleys draining the Tarnów Plateau. The flood water of one of these streams crevassed a dune. An elongated crevasse, an irregular-shaped transport zone and a crevasse splay were formed as a result. The crevasse splay consisted of several lobes, which were separated by crevasse channels. Minor fans formed at the channel outlets. All this forms were the result of rapid processes of erosion and accumulation. The dominant lithofacies in the crevasse splay sediments were fine and medium sand with horizontal (bottomset) and low-angle (topset) stratification. Trough and planar cross-stratified medium- and coarse-grained sands appear in the middle part of the vertical sequence. Most of these sediments were laid down in a high-energy environment of a sheet flow. The phase of vanishing flow left ripple marks, encountered in the highest part of the distal splay

Radiocarbon dating of plant remnants in Quaternary sediments at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Radiocarbon dating applied on several occasions in the past to date animal bones and animal soft tissue originating from the area of the Starunia palaeontological site turned out to be very controversial. Although investigations of Pleistocene flora in the Starunia area go back to the beginning of the 20th century, no published 14C dates of such material are available to date. Sixteen boreholes drilled in the area of the Pleistocene mammals discoveries, in the framework of a multidisciplinary research project (2006-2009), have been selected for radiocarbon dating of plant macrofossils. Moreover, five samples of plant remnants extracted from two outcrops in the area were 14C-dated. The nature of the dated plant material, in some cases soaked with oil, posed specific methodological problems. Although applied chemical treatment of macrofossil samples led to complete removal of contaminating hydrocarbons in the case of small pieces, some ageing effects in terms of radiocarbon dating cannot be completely ruled out. Radiocarbon ages of macrofossil samples originating from the close neighbourhood of the location, where the "second" woolly rhinoceros was found at a depth of 12.5 m, suggest that the minimum age of sediments in which the Pleistocene mammals were found is in the range of ca. 35-40 ka BP. A broad consistency between palynological reconstruction of Younger Dryas/Preboreal boundary and the corresponding radiocarbon ages of macrofossils is observed for locations, where the natural sedimentary sequence for late Glacial and early Holocene was not disturbed by extensive mining activity in the area

Upper Pleistocene and Holocene deposits at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

An abandoned ozokerite mine (= Ropyshche), where large mammal remains were discovered in the first half of the 20th century, is located in the Velyky Lukavets River valley covered with Quaternary sediments. The catchment area includes a flysch sequence unconformably overlain by salt-bearing Lower Miocene molasses of the Vorotyshcha beds. Both the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene are represented by: channel (gravel, sandy gravel) and overbank alluvium (mud, peat, biogenic mud) and colluvium (mud, sandy mud) as well as by mine wastes. The channel sediments are usually found in the lowest fragments of the borehole logs and represent mainly material deposited in the straight segments of meandering river-beds. The most common, fine-grained (Mz = 61.33 to 7.11 ?m), distal floodplain sediments are locally up to 10 m thick and are dominated by massive mud lithofacies, which contain frequent burrows, root hairs or slightly larger root traces and reed rods. These sediments are characterized by rather stable grain size distribution, quite monotonous mineral composition, presence of resistant heavy minerals and quartz grains with traces of chemical weathering. Angular grains with conchoidal fractures and sharp edges also occur. Therefore, textural features show that the main sources of material were, most probably, weathering crusts of various ages developed on relatively poorly lithologically diversified Carpathian flysch strata and on Miocene deposits of the Carpathian Foredeep. With time, an increase of the content of material originating from mechanical weathering (frost action) occurred in the floodplain deposits, which can be linked to an increase of climate severity and reduction of vegetation. However, these changes are not recorded in the deposits, which developed mostly in closed hollows and accumulated mainly from suspension or from low-energy flows. This calm sedimentation was periodically interrupted by supply of more coarse-grained material (sand, gravel). A distinct predominance of overbank deposits in the sections documented by their thickness suggests that the northward flow of the Velyky Lukavets River was blocked as a result of either neotectonic movements or damming of the valley by landslide tongues. From the lithological point of view, the most favourable conditions for preservation of large, extinct mammals still exist in the two selected areas, where the total thickness of Pleistocene muds exceeds 2 metres. The first area is located in the vicinity of boreholes Nos 2, 3, 21, 22, 23, 28, 30 33 and 36N, and the other, smaller one, is placed around borehole No. 42

Quaternary environmental changes at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine) based on palaeobotanical studies

The unique nature of the Starunia palaeontological site, where nearly perfectly preserved large mammals were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and also the incompletely researched history of the Pleistocene vegetation of the region, provided the necessary stimulus to undertake further complex palaeobotanical investigations. The Pleistocene and Holocene sediments filling the Velyky Lukavets River valley are the object of this type of investigation. Both the succession of vegetation and radiocarbon dating indicate that the formation of biogenic sediments began in the Weichselian Middle Pleniglacial, in the Moershoofd interstadial, and lasted through the Hengelo/Denekamp Interstadial Complex and the Late Glacial and Holocene. Palaeobotanical investigations show the Middle Pleniglacial to have been characterized by an open, forestless landscape. Grassland steppe communities dominated with extremely high proportions of Poaceae, as well as Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae, and a number of herbaceous plant taxa. More moist places were occupied by dwarf shrub tundra with Betula nana, Alnus viridis, and Cyperaceae. Small changes in the character of the vegetation resulting from climatic oscillations made their mark through a slight increase in the proportion of tree-birches, fir and pine. The record of Late Weichselian plant succession in the Velyky Lukavets River valley also documents the dominance of open habitats with a preponderance of steppe and steppe-tundra communities and a dry, continental climate. Only with the beginning of the Holocene did an improvement in climate conditions lead to the rapid expansion of forest communities with a dominance of pine accompanied by fir, larch, and trees, which are more demanding in terms of temperature, e.g. elm, oak, lime, hornbeam and hazel

New palaeoclimate reconstructions based on multidisciplinary investigation in the Ferdynandów 2011 stratotype site (eastern Poland)

Drilling carried out in 2011 at Ferdynandów (E Poland), serving as a stratotype for the Ferdynandovian Interglacial, enabled its re-examination with high-resolution palynological, plant macroremains, and sedimentological analyses. Lacustrine sediments included a record of the Late Sanian 1 (= Elsterian 1) Glaciation, a complete Ferdynandovian succession, and the Early Sanian 2 (= Elsterian 2) Glaciation. Particular similarities in the succession observed between the Ferdynandów 2011 profile and the adjacent sites of the same age in Łuków-3A and Zdany provide a basis for detailed palaeoclimate interpretation. The Ferdynandovian succession of all the three pollen profiles can be clearly divided into two distinct interglacials separated by a sequence of pollen spectra typical of a glacial succession with pollen zones of stadial-interstadial fluctuations. Warm units in the Ferdynandów 2011 succession correspond to climatostratigraphic units of Ferdynandovian 1 and 2, while the cold unit – to Ferdynandovian 1/2. This division can be applied to all Ferdynandovian successions in Poland and allows their correlation with the early Middle Pleistocene Cromerian Complex of Western Europe (Cromerian II Westerhoven and Cromerian III Rosmalen) as well as with Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 13–15. For each biostratigraphic unit, mean temperatures of the warmest and coldest months, and mean annual temperature and precipitation were reconstructed. For the comparison with the Ferdynandów 2011 pollen diagram the data based on modern pollen analogues for the Łuków-3A pollen diagram were used

Plant macrofossils and malacocoenoses of Quaternary mineral-organic sediments at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

The unique nature of the Starunia palaeontological site, where near-perfectly preserved large mammals were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and incomplete knowledge on the development of palaeoenvironment in the Velyky Lukavets River valley in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene were the reasons for undertaking new comprehensive palaeobotanical and malacological studies. Starunia is also one of the sites bearing Pleistocene fossil flora, rare in this part of Europe. The results of plant macrofossil analysis show that in the Weichselian Middle Pleniglacial the landscape was dominated by steppe and tundra plant communities, being represented mostly by various grass and sedge species. Areas of higher humidity were covered with shrub tundra with Betula nana. The temperature requirements of taxa which are cool climate indicators show that the minimum July temperature amounted to at least 10°C. The record of Late Weichselian malacofauna confirms the dominance of an open landscape, mostly with steppe and steppe-tundra communities, as well as the presence of a dry, continental climate. At the beginning of the Holocene, an improvement of climatic and humidity conditions led to a fast local expansion of plant communities of the low and transition peat bog type, in the surroundings of shallow, periodically drying-up water pools. From the Middle Pleniglacial up to the present day, the area has been characterized by the presence of species tolerating an increased amount of salt in the environment. Their presence should be associated with natural brine effluences derived from Miocene strata in the bedrock

A new stratigraphic position of some Early Pleistocene deposits in central Poland

A new borehole in Rożce (SW Mazovian Lowland) drilled in 2012, combined with a wide variety of research methods (palaeomagnetism, palynological analysis, studies of plant macroremains and textural features of deposits) shed new light on the age and stratigraphic position of the Early Pleistocene deposits, formerly assigned as the Lower Pleistocene. The study focuses on the deposits from 50.7-104.0 m depth, between glacial till of the Nidanian Glaciation (ca. 0.9 Ma) and the Poznań Clays (ca. 5.322 Ma). The deposits situated directly underneath the till (50.7-60.2 m) are related to the Nidanian Glaciation and show a reversed polarity and correlate with the end of the Matuyama Epoch. The deposits from 60.2-104.0 m depth were accumulated during the Early Pliocene, i.e. approximately 5.332-4.6 million years ago. They appear to correlate with the middle part of the Gilbert Palaeomagnetic Epoch and thus they are considerably older than previously thought. The cored section indicates a stratigraphic gap of about 3.5 Ma from the Lower Pliocene to the first advance of the Scandinavian ice sheets into Poland, which are thought to have occurred in the early Middle Pleistocene. The analysed deposits accumulated under variable climatic conditions showing two periods with significant aridity alternated with two periods of increased humidity. Deposits of the arid periods contain no pollen, butaeolian sand quartz grains are found. During periods of more humid climate the area was covered by various types of mixed forest