The valley-fill deposits of the Kłodnica River (southern Poland) : Environmental drivers of facies changes from the Late Vistulian through the holocene

Lithological analyses and radiocarbon dating were used to elucidate the patterns and controls of Late Quaternary valley floor development of the Kłodnica River, the Upper Odra Basin. The research results were discussed with data obtained from valleys of rivers draining piedmont basins and highlands of southern Poland. In consequence, five stages of morpho-sedimentary evolution of the Kłodnica valley were distinguished. In the Late Vistulian a large-scale deposition of channel alluvium took place in the conditions of high river discharges. This sedimentary style probably still existed in the Early Pre-Boreal as long as open grass communities survived in the Kłodnica catchment. The next phase, in the Late Pre-Boreal and Boreal, is characterized by a significant increase in accumulation rate of biochemical facies.. The considerable restriction of minerogenic deposition was connected with widespread of forest and gradual limitation of the river discharges. The third stage began at the decline of the Boreal and was defined by decrease of accumulation rate or even biogenic accumulation break. Synchronously, periodic increases of fluvial activity were noticed in the form of cutoffs of meander loops and overbank deposition in oxbows. The beginning of the fourth period took place not earlier than in the Early Sub-Boreal. This stage was distinguished by renewed peat growth/increase in biochemical accumulation rate and periodic increase in alluviation, generally taking place in the conditions of low channel-forming flows. The latest phase (from the Middle Sub- Atlantic till now) is characterized by common initiation of slope deposition and a rapid increase in fluvial sedimentation, especially overbank and tributary fan facies. An increase in minerogenic deposition occurred in response to human impact, which became more significant from the Roman Period and occurred on a large scale from the early Middle Ages. Older settlement phases, including intense settlement from the Hallstatt Period, were not clearly recorded in the Kłodnica valley fill

Authigenic and allogenic organic remains as an indicator of geomorphological process activity within the floodplain environment: two case studies from Racibórz Basin, southern Poland

Distinction between organic components accumulated in situ and those deposited by sedimentation is essential for the assessment of the intensity and extent of impact of geomorphological processes. Authigenic components include moss remains, fragments of the root systems of herbaceous plants and trees, the epidermis of rhizomes, and leaf sheaths, as well as a fungal mycelium. Among the allogenic components are aboveground parts of plants, including leaves of vascular plants, wood, epidermis and periderm, sporomorphs, sporangia, fruits and seeds, as well as zooclasts and protist remains. Microscopic grid analysis allows the share of individual morphological forms of organic matter to be determined in order to reconstruct the deposition conditions on the floodplain. This method makes it possible to detect episodes of activity of fluvial, aeolian and slope processes even when not accompanied by sedimentation of mineralogenic components

Mid-Holocene horizons of strongly decomposed peat and problems of dating paleohydrological changes in mires in the Racibórz basin, Southern Poland

During litho-stratigraphic studies of deposits in small mires in the upper basin of the Oder River, mid-Holocene hiatuses identified by the presence of horizons of strongly decomposed peat (HSDP), were identified at four sites. Radiocarbon dating results indicate long (103 years) breaks in peat accumulation and the dates obtained from the underlying layers of deposit are inconsistent with the pollen record. In order to explain these discrepancies, an attempt was made to recreate the condi-tions of HSDP formation under the influence of endo- and exogenous factors determining peatland productivity. In the light of macrofossil analysis, the development of HSDP during the Atlantic and Subboreal periods, when the humidity of habitats decreased, occurred at an advanced stage of devel-opment of swamps with Alnetea glutinosae forest communities. The gradual rise in water levels in the mires that started in the Subboreal period and intensified during the Subatlantic period was recorded as a slow shift in vegetation towards non-forest, sedge-moss communities belonging to the Mag-nocaricion alliance or the Scheuchzerio-Caricetea nigrae class. One consequence of the mechanism of HSDP formation is the existence of limitations on the dating of the duration of the dry phase owing to the presence of organic matter of different ages in the degraded peat layer. The determination of the age of wet phases offers better prospects. In the light of radiocarbon dating, which is essentially in line with the pollen analysis results, the transition towards positive peatland productivity occurred be-tween ca. 9th century BC and 7th century CE

Torfowisko Żabieniec: warunki naturalne, rozwój i zapis zmian paleoekologicznych w jego osadach - recenzja

Recenzja monografii Torfowisko Żabieniec: warunki naturalne, rozwój i zapis zmian paleoekologicznych w jego osadach

Organic-carbon content as an indicator of Holocene denudation in the Upper Odra River basin

W artykule rozpatrzono uwarunkowania akumulacji organicznej i mineralnej w późnym vistulianie i holocenie w niewielkich zbiornikach sedymentacyjnych położonych w dolnych odcinkach dolin Kłodnicy i Osobłogi. Jako wskaźnik zmian natężenia denudacji zastosowano wahania zawartości całkowitego węgla organicznego w osadach oznaczone metodą wysokotemperaturowego spalania próbek i pomiaru koncentracji dwutlenku węgla przez absorpcję w podczerwieni. Zapis sedymentacyjny zestawiono z ewolucją szaty roślinnej i historią osadnictwa w rozpatrywanych dorzeczach oraz fazami aktywności fluwialnej i nasilenia procesów stokowych w południowej Polsce

Anthropogenic causes of wetland loss and degradation in the lower Kłodnica valley (southern Poland)

Loss and degradation of wetlands is now one of the most important environmental issues on a global scale. Previous research based on analyses of cartographic materials allow for quantification of changes in wetland area in recent centuries. The results of lithological research of peat cores, reported in this publication, have established that the processes of anthropogenic loss of wetlands can be much older and in the Kłodnica valley were initiated in the first millennium BC. As a result of increased mineral sedimentation accompanying soil erosion some peatlands have been fossilized whilst the area of others has been reduced. In total, the surface area of peat-forming wetlands in the bottom of the Kłodnica valley decreased by over 60% between the time of the Lusatian Culture settlement and the Middle Ages. Post-peatland habitats are recently used for agricultural or colonized by non-peat forming vegetation. These processes have played a more important role in the degradation of peatland ecosystems than the direct human impact in historic times. Changes in hydrographic networks, land drainage and regulation of water levels in rivers and canals in the last century have contributed to further reducing the wetland areas by almost 50% compared to the 1880s. These processes, however, have mainly affected ephemeral non-peat forming wetlands

Geneza i zasięg vistuliańskiego zespołu terasowego Odry-Osobłogi pod Krapkowicami

The system of morphological levels occurs on the slopes of the Odra and Osobłoga valleys in the vicinity of Krapkowice, southern Poland. Their genesis, range and age have been the subject of lively scientific discussion since the 1930s. Geomorphological analysis confirmed the fluvial origin of these flats. The use of LIDAR data allowed for precise height determination and revision of the range of indivi-dual river terraces, which rise above the valley bottom to a height of about 166 m a.s.l. (more or less 6 m above the Osobłoga/Odra channel), 168 m a.s.l. (8 m), 172 m a.s.l. (12 m), 174 m a.s.l. (14 m) and 181 m a.s.l. (21 m) res-pectively. The dating of sediments building the terrace elevated to 172 m a.s.l. using the OSL-SAR method gave a result of 87.7 ± 5.7 ka (GdTL-2820) indicating that it originated from the last cold stage of the Pleistocene. The ter-race surface was shaped by a sand-gravel braided river, which has developed on the substratum of the alluvium do-cumenting the period of intense valley-floor aggradation

The origin and anthropologenically induced tranformations of peatland landscapes in the Kłodnica river valley

Niewielkie torfowiska występujące w dolinach południowej Polski są słabo poznane, a ich rola w kształtowaniu krajobrazów jest niedoceniana. W dolinie Kłodnicy torfowiska rozwinęły się w obrębie: starorzeczy, basenów powodziowych, najmłodszych teras aluwialnych oraz zbiorników antropogenicznych. W późnym vistulianie i starszej części holocenu, rozwój torfowisk nawiązywał do stadiów sukcesyjnych charakterystycznych dla procesu zlądowienia zbiorników wodnych (od zbiorowisk z klas Potametea lub Phragmitetea do zbiorowisk z klasy Alnetea glutinosae). W neoholocenie, pod wpływem działalności człowieka zachodziły procesy: zastępowania zbiorowisk lasu bagiennego przez zbiorowiska otwarte z klasy Phragmitetea, zaniku torfowisk w wyniku sedymentacji osadów mineralnych, degradacji torfowisk i złóż torfu na skutek melioracji. Z drugiej strony, obniżenia opuszczonych piaskowni i dawne koryto Kanału Kłodnickiego są obecnie kolonizowane przez roślinność torfotwórczą.Small peatlands in valleys of southern Poland are poorly known and their role in landscape forming is underestimated. In the Kłodnica valley, fens have developed within: oxbows, flood basins, the youngest alluvial terraces, and anthropogenic reservoirs. In the Late Vistulian and older part of the Holocene, the development of fens was controlled by hydroseral succession characteristic for the processes of terrestrialisation of water bodies (a transition from the communities with the classes Potametea or Phragmitetea to communities with the class Alnetea glutinosae). Under human impact the following processes occurred in the Late Holocene: the replacing of swampy forests by open associations from the class Phragmitetea, the extinction of peatlands as a result of deposition of mineral matter and degradation of peatlands and peat deposits due to land melioration. On the other hand, depressions of the former Kłodnica Canal and sandpits are colonized by peat-forming vegetation recently

Stratigraphy of organic-rich deposits in floodplain environments: examples from the upper Odra River basin

Macrofossil analysis and radiocarbon dating were used to determine the age, composition and succession pattern of organic-rich deposits infilling oxbows and flood basins in the Rivers Kłodnica, Odra and Osobłoga valleys (southern Poland). Both detrital sediments representing the aquatic or terrestrial environments as well as five types of peat accumulated in amphibious or peatland conditions have been identified in cores analyzed. Studies have shown that an accumulation of organic-rich deposits was commonly initiated by terrestrialisation and was typically occurred under eutrophic conditions. In such circumstances, deposit sequences usually begin with aquatic detrital sediment (gyttja), or possibly brown-moss or reed peat. These deposits normally pass into sedge-reed peat and then alder peat. If the accumulation of organic-rich deposits was initiated by paludification, alder peat appears in the lowest sections of the fens. In the upper parts of the sequences, apart from wood peat, organic deposits dominated by sedge remains are also present. The latter were accumulated, probably, as an indirect effect of human activities in the floodplains

Holocene inset fills of the Odra river in the Racibórz basin

Geomorphic and lithological research conducted in the Odra River valley between Koźle and Krapkowice led to recognition of the postglacial development of the upper Odra River valley floor, for the first time, on the basis of a larger number of absolute datings. The formation of the inset alluvial fills by a meandering river started during the Early Holocene at the latest; however, the absence of a clearly developed system of large Late Vistulian palaeomeanders is notable within the analysed reach of the valley. Mid- and Late Holocene alluvial series were deposited by a river that exhibited a tendency to decrease in channel sizes. Nevertheless, large meanders were formed again in historical times. Oxbow fills in the Odra River valley are dominated by mineralogenic deposits. Their sedimentation can be correlated with the accretion of overbank and colluvial sheets in the valley floor. In the light of radiocarbon chronology, a relationship between Neolithic and subsequent phases of settlement in the catchment and the intensive deposition of these sediments cannot be ruled out