A Late Glacial to Holocene record of environmental change from Lake Dojran (Macedonia, Greece)

Abstract

A Late Glacial to Holocene sediment sequence (Co1260, 717 cm) from Lake Dojran, located at the boarder of the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Greece, has been investigated to provide information on climate variability in the Balkan region. A robust age-model was established from 13 radiocarbon ages, and indicates that the base of the sequence was deposited at ca. 12 500 cal yr BP, when the lake-level was low. Variations in sedimentological (H₂O, TOC, CaCO₃, TS, TOC/TN, TOC/TS, grain-size, XRF, δ¹⁸O_carb, δ¹³C_carb, δ¹³C_org) data were linked to hydro-acoustic data and indicate that warmer and more humid climate conditions characterised the remaining period of the Younger Dryas until the beginning of the Holocene. The Holocene exhibits significant environmental variations, including the 8.2 and 4.2 ka cooling events, the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. Human induced erosion processes in the catchment of Lake Dojran intensified after 2800 cal yr BP

North–south palaeohydrological contrasts in the central Mediterranean during the Holocene: tentative synthesis and working hypotheses

“…The results suggest relatively shallow water before 11 000 cal BP, a maximum water depth between 11 000 and 6500 cal BP (deep water between 11 000 and 9000 cal BP, intermediate water depth between 9000 and 6500 cal BP), and a decreasing water depth after 6500 cal BP. While the Lake Trifoglietti water-depth record partly reflects the progressive infilling and the overgrowth of this small lake basin, the general pattern shown by Lake Trifoglietti appears to be in general agreement with a humidity maximum during the middle part of the Holocene in southern Italy (Naimo et al, 2005) and shows similarities with the Lake Dojran record in the Balkan region (Francke et al, 2013). While some differences for the palaeohydrological transition chronology appear between the early and middle parts of the Holocene, all the records presented in Fig.…”

“…The possible complexity of the oscillation around 4300-3700 cal BP, well illustrated by the lake-level records of Lakes Ledro and Accesa and of west-central Europe (Magny et al, , 2012a, is also supported by the records from Lake Dojran (Francke et al, 2013) core GeoB7622 in the Black Sea and core GeoB5804-4 in the Red Sea (Lamy et al, 2006), and by a double peak of eolian dust in the Kilimanjaro record (Thompson et al, 2002). However, the pollen data from Siles and core MD95-2043 appear to be conflicting (dryness at Siles and higher humidity in the Alboran Sea region).…”

“…In the southern Mediterranean, an abrupt decrease in wetness at Lake Preola and at Soreq Cave developed south of 40 • N. In the northern Mediterranean and in west-central Europe, Lakes Accesa and Cerin show an accentuated rise in lake level. Such an abrupt change in environmental and climatic conditions around 4500 cal BP has been reconstructed in central Italy Ramrath et al, 1999), at Lake Maliq Fouache et al, 2010) and at Lakes Prespa and Dojran Francke et al, 2013) in the Balkans. As observed for the climate reversal at ca.…”

Sediment provenance, soil development, and carbon content in fluvial and manmade terraces at Koiliaris River Critical Zone Observatory

“…The soil profiles and the findings of OSL dating were put into a time scale depicting the climatic variability for the late Holocene as indicated from studies of sediments in two areas in Greece, in lake Dojran in northern Greece (Francke et al 2012) and Anapodaris river in Crete (Macklin et al 2010 and references therein) (Fig. 5).…”

Northern Mediterranean climate since the Middle Pleistocene: a 637 ka stable isotope record from Lake Ohrid (Albania/Macedonia)

“…Stable isotope ratios preserved in sedimentary lacustrine carbonates are a proxy for past climate and hydrological change (Leng and Marshall, 2004), and combinations of lake records can be used to assess the spatial coherence of isotope variations (Roberts et al, 2008). Although there are numerous stable isotope records from the Mediterranean, for example from marine sediment cores (Piva et al, 2008;Maiorano et al, 2013;Regattieri et al, 2014) and speleothems (Bar-Matthews et al, 2003;Antonioli et al, 2004), those from lacustrine carbonate typically are Late Glacial-Holocene in age (Dean et al, 2013;Francke et al, 2013) and only a limited number of extend beyond the Last Glacial (Frogley et al, 1999;Kwiecien et al, 2014;Giaccio et al, 2015;Regattieri et al, 2016).…”