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Lake Paravani, located on the volcanic Javakheti Plateau in the central part of the Lesser Caucasus at 2073 m a.s.l., forms a unique geo‐bio‐archive for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in this remote region. Based on sediment cores from the southwestern part of the lake we expand the existing palynological and sedimentological records beyond the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). For the first time, it is possible to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment in this part of the Lesser Caucasus back toc.28 cal. ka BP. Our study shows that until 16 cal. ka BP glacial conditions dominated (Phase I) in the region; there is, however, proof that the lake already existed during the LGM. In the following transitional Phase II from 16 until 6 cal. ka BP, cold and arid conditions with sparse steppe vegetation and a lowered lake level prevailed. Around 10 cal. ka BP, tree pollen started to expand while herbaceous pollen, especially Chenopodiaceae, declined. In Phase III, since 6 cal. ka BP, mixed forest probably represented the Holocene climatic optimum. Fluctuating lake levels indicate shifting climatic conditions. The minor changes of arboreal pollen hin the uppermost part of Phase II may be an indication of human activity. The more humid, vegetation‐rich environment and mild climate around 4.5–2 cal. ka BP correlate with the expansion of the Late Bronze Age settlements in this area (from ~3.5 cal. ka BP/~1.5 ka BC). The proliferation of sites on the plateau, along with even higher‐altitude sites possibly dating to the same period, may indicate that this climate amelioration played an important role in enabling more sustained human occupation. The results extend the record on Lake Paravani by several millennia beyond the LGM and complement the palaeo‐lake reconstructions of the wider region, e.g. at Lake Van (Türkiye) or Lake Sevan (Armenia).
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Interpreting Basal Sediments and Plant Fossils in Kettle Lakes: Insights from Silver Lake, Michigan, USA
We report on pollen, plant macrofossils, and associated lithostratigraphy of a sediment core extracted from the base of Silver Lake, a kettle lake in northern Lower Michigan, USA, which reveal a complex deglacial scenario for ice block melting and lake formation, and subsequent plant colonization. Complementary multivariate statistical and squared chord distance analyses of the pollen data support these interpretations. The basal radiocarbon age from the core (17 540 cal years BP) is rejected as being anomalously old, based on biostratigraphic anomalies in the core and the date’s incongruity with respect to the accepted regional deglaciation chronology. We reason that this erroneous age estimate resulted from the redeposition of middleWisconsin-age fossils by the ice sheet, mixed with the remains of plants that existed as the kettle lake formed at ca. 10 940 cal years BP by ice block ablation. Thereafter, the kettle lake became a reliable repository of Holocene-age fossils, documenting a mature boreal forest that existed until 10 640 cal years BP, followed by a pine-dominated mixed forest, an early variant of the mixed conifer–hardwood forest that persists to the present day. Our study demonstrates that researchers investigating kettle lakes, a common depositional archive for plant fossils in deglaciated landscapes, should exercise caution in interpreting the basal (Late Pleistocene/early Holocene-age) part of lake sediment cores.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1759528
- PAR ID:
- 10137259
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Canadian journal of earth sciences
- Volume:
- 57
- ISSN:
- 1480-3313
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 292-305
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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