Palynological evidence for climatic change, anthropogenic activity and outflow of Black Sea water during the late Pleistocene and Holocene: Centennial- to decadal-scale records from the Black and Marmara Seas

• Published in: Quaternary international 2007-06, Vol.167-168, p.73-90
• Main Authors: Mudie, P.J., Marret, F., Aksu, A.E., Hiscott, R.N., Gillespie, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artemisia; Carpinus; Castanea; Ephedra; Fagus; Juglans; Olea; Pistacia; Quercus; Quercus cerris; Spiniferites; Spiniferites cruciformis; Spiniferites mirabilis; Tilia; Ulmus
• ISSN: 1040-6182
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2006.11.009

Previous marine palynology studies of pollen and dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) in the Black Sea- Mediterranean corridor were made on short cores, allowing only millennial-century scale reconstruction of past climates. We now describe pollen accumulation rates for 5 cores with eleven super(14)C ages over 30,000 years, and new decadal-scale data for a Holocene core with fourteen super(14)C ages. Pollen influxes show Pinus-Abies-Quercus forest-steppe and deteriorating climate from 29.8-24 kyr BP, then colder, drier pre- and post-LGM conditions, with Artemisia, Cheno-Ams and Ephedra that lasted through the Boelling interstade. Deciduous oak returns by the Younger Dryas, and rapidly expands, followed by Pistacia by 9.3 kyr BP. Foraminiferal delta super(18)O shows 4 degree C cooler than present late glacial summers and rapid Holocene warming. By 9 BP, influxes from Quercus cerris, Tilia, Fagus, Castanea, Ulmus, shade ferns, aquatics, swamp plants and delta super(18)O indicate warm winters (5 degree C or more) and year-round precipitation (>600-1000 mm), not the dry conditions that would be required for Black Sea drawdown. There is mid-Holocene expansion of Carpinus, evergreen Quercus and Pistacia. Walnut, olive and cereal pollen suggest early cultivation attempts, but no sustained farming before 4.5 kyr BP. Dinocyst assemblages show major changes traceable throughout the Corridor. Variability in process length marks low diversity (N=13) Pleniglacial-early Holocene Spiniferites cruciformis assemblages, suggesting fluctuating salinity like the modern Caspian Sea, with brackish to saline conditions ([not, vert, similar]5-16ppt). Distributions of euryhaline cysts Spiniferites mirabilis and Spiniferites bentorii show the Aegean and Marmara Seas were connected by [not, vert, similar]11 kyr BP and linked to Black Sea by 9.3 kyr BP. There is no palynological evidence of either freshwater (salinity