Holocene history of the lake and forest island ecosystem at and around Lake Seliger, Valdai Hills (East European Plain, Russia)

• Published in: International journal of earth sciences : Geologische Rundschau 2022-09, Vol.111 (6), p.1947-1960
• Main Authors: Sapelko, Tatyana, Kalińska, Edyta, Kuznetsov, Denis, Naumenko, Mikhail, Gałka, Mariusz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic plants; Carbon 14; Coniferous trees; Deciduous trees; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecosystems; Eutrophic environments; Eutrophic waters; Eutrophication; Flora; Forest ecosystems; Forests; Freshwater plants; Geochemistry; Geology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Hills; Holocene; Lakes; Melting; Mineral Resources; Original Paper; Pine trees; Pinus; Pollen; Quercus; Radiocarbon dating; Radiometric dating; Sediment; Sedimentology; Shallow water; Structural Geology; Submerged plants; Terrestrial ecosystems; Vegetation; Vegetation patterns; Water levels
• ISSN: 1437-3254; 1437-3262
• DOI: 10.1007/s00531-022-02210-4

Here, we present a palaeoecological study from the Valdai Hills to examine the Holocene dynamics of forest and lake ecosystems as apparent from the isolated Lake Chernoye, which developed on an island within the greater Lake Seliger middle of the East European Plain, Russia. Palaeobotanical (plant macrofossils and pollen), geochemical and quartz grains analyses, complemented with radiocarbon dating, were carried out on a 370-cm-long sediment core. Our study involves a period between ca. 11,000 and 2100 cal. yr BP, with four main results: (1) The development of Lake Chernoye began in ca. 11,000 cal. yr BP, after the melting of buried dead-ice blocks intensified by the Early Holocene warming. As pioneer plants, Chara sp., Isöetes and C. demersum , appeared in the water with a high Ca and Mg content. High values of Pinus , Artemisia, Betula nana and Chenopodiaceae pollen may indicate the remains of cold flora that have occurred in the Younger Drays in this region. (2) Between 8000 and 6500 cal. yr BP, water level decreased as apparent from a sediment hiatus. This may be connected with the Holocene thermal maximum and final melting of the buried dead-ice block. Lower water level at that time is documented by the spreading of Najas marina, N. flexilis and Potamogeton pusillus , which are all submerged plants growing in eutrophic shallow water. Significant changes in the forest ecosystem also took place in this time frame: an increase of Quercus , Corylus and Alnus was accompanied by a decrease of Pinus . (3) A decrease in deciduous tree pollen ( Ulmus, Quercus, Tilia ) and an increase in coniferous tree pollen ( Picea and Pinus ) at ca. 4200 cal. yr BP and ca. 2700 cal. yr BP are associated with the climate cooling documented by multiproxy records in many sites in Europe. (4) Location of the lake on the isolated island did not lead to different vegetation pattern development, since this latter is similar to the other sites in the East European Plain.