PAGES Poland

Lake Poland Science Highlights

Lake deposits are one of the most important archives used in paleoclimatological studies in Poland. Examples of well known palaeolimnological sites are lakes: Gościąż (Ralska-Jasiewiczowa et al., 1998) and Persepilno (Goslar et al., 1999; Litt et al., 2001). Lake Gościąż is situated in Central Poland (150 km westward of Warszawa) on the high terrace of the Wisła (Vistula) River valley, within the Gostynin Lake District, which sits in the marginal zone of the last Pleistocene glaciation. It covers 45 ha and is ca. 26 m deep. The lake originated from the melting of dead-ice within a depression formed by subglacial waters. Laminated sediments up to 20 m thick and composed of light and dark colored bands of calcareous gyttja, have been identified at the bottom of the lake using numerous sounding borers. Each consecutive pair of light-dark laminas reflects the fluctuation of the climate during one year. The whole sequence covers about 13 000 years and has been investigated using many proxies, including radiocarbon and palaeomagnetic dating, stable isotopes, chemical and mineralogical analysis, pollen, diatoms and Cladocera. Furthermore, attention was paid to human impact during the late Holocene.


Phot. 1. Gościąż Lake from the east.

Lake Perespilno in eastern Poland is located in the western part of the Łęczna-Włodawa Lake District (eastern Poland), in the complex of three lakes. These lakes are situated within a swampy plain, with differences in relative relief not exceeding several meters. The plain is covered by the river sands often forming small dunes. The laminated sediments of Lake Perespilno, eastern Poland, cover the period between the Older Dryas and Preboreal. Using the varve chronologies, pollen and 14C data, the laminated sequence of Lake Perespilno has been synchronized with that of Lake Gościąż.


Figure 1: The records of thickness of light and dark laminae and whole varve of the Lake Gościąż sediments, plotted with time (Goslar, 1998).

References
Goslar, T., 1998: Chronology of the lake Gościąż sediments. In: M. Ralska-Jasiewiczowa, et al. (Eds), Lake Gościąż central Poland - a monographica study, W. Szafer Intitute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, pp. 97-116.
Goslar, T., Bałaga, K., Arnold, M., Tisnerat, N., Starnawska, E., Kuźniarski, M., Chróst, L., Walanus, A. and Więckowski, K., 1999: Climate-related variations in the composition of the lateglacial and early Holocene sediments of Lake Perespilno (eastern Poland), Quaternary Science Reviews 18: 899-911.
Litt, T., Brauer, A., Goslar, T., Merkt, J., Balaga, K., Muller, H., Ralska-Jasiewiczowa, M., Stebich, M. and Negendank, J.F.W., 2001: Correlation and synchronisation of Lateglacial continental sequences in northern central Europe based on annually laminated lacustrine sediments, Quaternary Science Reviews, 20: 1233-1249.
Ralska-Jasiewiczowa, M., Goslar, T., Madeyska, T. and Starkel, L., 1998: Lake Gościąż central Poland - a monographic study, W.Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków.