Authors: SATKUNAS, JONAS¹; GRIGIENE, ALMA¹; VELICHKEVICH, FELIX²; ROBERTSSON, ANN-MARIE³; SANDGREN, PER⁴

Source: Boreas, Volume 32, Number 4, December 2003 , pp. 627-641(15)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

Eemian—Weichselian sequences, located outside the maximum limit of the Late Weichselian ice sheet, provide excellent opportunities for the discovery of continuous sedimentary records encompassing the whole Last Interglacial/Glacial cycle. Such a sequence is recorded in a borehole (117P) through the succession in a small kettlehole lake located at Medininkai, eastern Lithuania. The succession consists of peat, gyttja and silt deposited on top of a Saalian till. Pollen and plant macrofossil analysis, lithological analysis, U/Th dating and mineral magnetic measurements on the sediments have allowed 19 lithostratigraphic units and 16 local pollen assemblage zones (LPAZ) to be identified. The palaeocarpological record reveals a clear transition from the Saalian Glacial to the Weichselian stadial and interstadial phases. The mineral magnetic parameters suggest a good correlation between the concentration of magnetic minerals and stadial and interstadial periods. The Merkine (Eemian) Interglacial and two Early Weichselian Interstadials, Jonionys 1 (Brörup) and Jonionys 2 (Odderade), separated by cryomers, are identified. Intervals interpreted as analogous to the Middle Weichselian Denekamp and Hengelo interstadials are also recognized on the basis of pollen assemblages. The results show alternating periglacial and interstadial palaeoenvironments in Lithuania during the Early and Middle Weichselian and are of importance for Late Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Baltic area as a whole.

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03009480310004198

Affiliations: 1: Geological Survey of Lithuania, S. Konarskio 35, LT-2600 Vilnius, Lithuania 2: Institute of Geological Sciences, Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Zhodinskaya 7, 220141 Minsk, Belarus 3: Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden 4: Department of Quaternary Geology, Lund University, Tornavagen 13, SE-223 63 Lund Sweden

Publication date: 2003-12-01

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