2026

Quaternary International

Rocznik: 2026 | Numer: 751

artykuł naukowy

angielski

EN Eemian pollen profiles from the area of Poland were reviewed for the presence of a record of the Late Saalian (within the decline of the Warta stadial of the Odranian Glaciation) at their base. Such a record was found to occur in as many as 49 profiles, which creates enormous opportunities for palaeoecological reconstructions relating to the end of the penultimate glaciation and its transition to the last interglacial, including a detailed reconstruction of the vegetation history and climatic changes that occurred during this time. On the example of a selection of revised pollen profiles, Late Saalian climate oscillations were found to be expressed by the presence of two stadials: the older Stadial 1 and the younger of which was correlated with the Kattegat stadial in Western Europe, separated by an interstadial corresponding to the Zeifen interstadial. For each of these oscillations, quite large differences were shown between individual profiles, in terms of both pollen records and lithology. The differences probably have several reasons: (1) the meridional differentiation of the analysed site locations, (2) the diversity in stratigraphic and taxonomic resolution of the conducted pollen analyses and (3) the non-normative description of the sediments not being supported by lithological and geochemical analyses. The location of the Late Saalian/Eemian boundary in the analysed profiles was also investigated, and new criteria for its determination were formulated that reference both pollen and lithological records. On this basis, in the case of two profiles, the location of this boundary as determined in previous studies was changed. It was indicated that the same mineral sediments could have been deposited in different climatic conditions, probably depending on the structure of the catchment area. Additional proxies (e.g. geochemical, lithological, isotopic, morphoscopic) can highlight catchment specificity and verify the one-dimensional (and thus sometimes erroneous) view that lithology is evidence of climate characteristics, which poses a challenge for future revisions of stratotype sites.

1 - 15

10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110034

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618225003775?via%3Dihub

100