Patterns in vegetation and sedimentation during the Weichselian Late‐glacial in north‐eastern Germany

Abstract

Aim To identify and interpret spatial patterns of vegetation and sedimentation during the Weichselian Late-glacial.Location North-eastern Germany and the adjacent fringe of north-western Poland.Methods An inspection and comparison of palynological data from c. 150 sites.Results Open Vegetation phase I (Oldest Dryas = earlier part of the Meiendorf, 12,900-12,450 14 C bp) and the Hippophaë phase (Bølling = later part of the Meiendorf; 12,450-12,000 bp) were rather homogeneous palynologically in the study area. Open Vegetation phase II (Older Dryas; 12,000-11,900 bp) is strongly recorded in the northern part of the study area with relatively thick sediments (suggesting severe soil erosion), but it can hardly be traced 200 km further to the south. This is attributed to sea buckthorn (Hippophaë) shrubs persisting longer in the south due to higher temperatures, to Betula forests expanding earlier under the influence of a more humid climate or to a generally denser vegetation independent of the behaviour of Hippophaë and Betula. During the late-glacial Betula/Pinus forest phase (Allerød; 11,900-11,000 bp), pine (Pinus) forests dominated in the southern regions, whereas birch (Betula) forests prevailed in the north. Open Vegetation phase III (Younger Dryas; 11,000-10,000 bp) was characterized by heathlands in the northern regions with scattered birches and with sedimentation dominated by in-washed silicates. In the south, pine parklands occurred with sedimentation dominated by local primary production which had markedly decreased after the previous warmer vegetation phase.Main conclusions The differences in vegetation and sedimentation during the open vegetation phases are attributed to a colder climate in the north than in the south, probably related to a climatic gradient between the ice-free continental central Europe and the decaying Scandinavian ice sheet. The vegetation patterns during the late-glacial Betula/Pinus forest phase are attributed to edaphic differences between the predominantly till plains in the northern part of the study area and the prevailing sandy outwash plains and Urstromtäler of the southern regions.

River flooding as a driver of polygon dynamics: modern vegetation data and a millennial peat record from the Anabar River lowlands (Arctic Siberia)

“…The assemblage comprises a low dwarfshrub canopy of Betula nana, Salix type B, and Andromeda polifolia, similar to the rim vegetation but containing a higher proportion of plants that have a greater water tolerance or occur commonly in raised bogs, such as Carex. In contrast to our study, Minke et al (2009) andDonner (2007) carried out comparable vegetation analyses in the northern Indigirka Lowland and identified Comarum palustre, Drepanocladus revolvens and Sphagnum squarrosum as common elements of vegetation in the rim-to-pond transition zone (in addition to Carex and Andromeda polifolia; de Klerk, 2008).…”

Living on the good soil: relationships between soils, vegetation and human settlement during the late Allerød period in Denmark

“…This delay in immigration was probably not due to temperature limitations, as the Bølling period is known to have been favourable for the establishment of tree birch in the Danish region (Coope et al 1998;Renssen and Isarin 2001). It has been suggested that soil conditions and aridity could have prevented immigration until the middle of the Allerød (Mortensen et al 2011) and an increase in precipitation has been linked to the spread of tree birch and woodland development in northern Germany during this time period (Usinger 1998;De Klerk 2008;De Klerk et al 2001). Although it is problematic to use negative evidence to suggest the absence of tree birch from the Danish region until c. 13,600 cal.…”

First radiocarbon dates on woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) from northern Germany

“…During the early part of the Late Glacial (from 14.5 14 C ka BP) these areas could have been a mammoth refugium soon after deglaciation, because the vegetation remained open there during the early part of the Greenland Interstadial GrI-1e, probably because of a climatic gradient between the ice-free continental Central Europe and the decaying Scandinavian ice shield (de Klerk, 2008). On the other hand, in central Europe the pine/birch woodlands of Greenland Interstadial Gr-1 e-a (Bølling/Allerød) were largely replaced for nearly a thousand years by a subarctic open park tundra during Greenland Stadial 1 (Younger Dryas) in the northernmost parts of the European Lowlands (de Klerk, 2008). This open park tundra, only with scattered birch, was especially developed in the northernmost regions of what is now northeastern Germany.…”