Vegetation of the Ferdynandovian interglacial (MIS 13–15) based on plant macrofossils from a new profile of the stratotype site

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Early Middle Pleistocene palaeolacustrine sediments of the Ferdynandów site (E Poland), serving as a stratotype for the Ferdynandovian interglacial, were subjected to a new drilling in 2011. The obtained profile, covering the late Sanian 1 glaciation, two interglacial successions (Ferdynandovian 1 and 2), the cold Ferdynandovian 1/2 interval, and the early Sanian 2 glaciation, permitted a high-resolution plant macroremains analysis, correlated with the results of a palynological examination. In detailed studies of plant macroremains from the profile, new taxa were discovered for the Polish Pleistocene flora: specifically, species that are extinct or not found nowadays in Poland. On the basis of the taxonomic diversity and occurrence of bioindicators, the division into warm and cold units of the Ferdynandovian interglacial as well as units associated with the Sanian 1 and 2 glaciations, already applied in pollen studies, were confirmed, and the periods were described in terms of plant macroremains.The Ferdynandovian succession is correlated with the Cromerian Complex (Cromerian III and IV) in the Early Middle Pleistocene of Western Europe, as well as with Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 13-15. New geological and palaeobotanical data enabled a description of the palaeogeographic context and conditions of functioning, as well as the evolution of the interglacial lake at the stratotype site.The outcome of plant macroremains analysis is presented and interpreted in comparison with corresponding results previously obtained for the Ferdynandów B profile, studied by Janczyk-Kopikowa (1975). Particular consideration is given to similarities between the succession of Ferdynandów 2011 and the profiles of Ferdynandów B and the nearby drilled Łuków 3A.Study of the macrofossil flora of Ferdynandów 2011 revealed the presence of species absent in the archival Ferdynandów B. Taxa not formerly recorded in early Middle Pleistocene floras, such as Brasenia borysthenica, Aldrovanda borysthenica, Pilularia borysthenica, Caulinia goretskyi, and Potamogeton saryanensis, were identified. These species and other taxa of stratigraphic or climatic significance provided the basis for a more detailed description of the Ferdynandovian flora, afterwards compared with other stratigraphically corresponding Polish and European early Middle Pleistocene floras.The composition of characteristic taxa also was used for comparisons between two bimodal interglacial sequences, namely the Ferdynandovian (correlated with MIS 13-15) and Augustovian (correlated with MIS 19-21), and the Domuratovian succession (correlated with MIS 17).

New palaeoclimate reconstructions based on multidisciplinary investigation in the Ferdynandów 2011 stratotype site (eastern Poland)

“…Lo cal macrofossil as semblage zones (LMAZs) were dis tin guished, num bered from base to top, and la belled from Fe-1 to ). De tailed descrip tion of the LMAZs was pro vided in Stachowicz-Rybka (2015b).…”

“…1 and 2), en abled new palaeobotanical stud ies and full cor re la tion of the phases of veg e ta tion de vel op ment dis tin guished by Jan czyk -Kopikowa (1975) with the new di vi sion of the Ferdy nandovian suc ces sion (Mamako wa, 1996(Mamako wa, , 2003Pidek, 2003) and pol len as sem blage zones ob served in the high-res o lu tion pol len di a gram from the ad ja cent site of £uków-3A (Pidek, 2015). More over, palaeobotanical (palyno logical and plant macroremains) anal y ses, corre lated with re sults of lithological stud ies of sed i ments in the Ferdy nandów 2011 pro file, pro vided im por tant in for ma tion on the de vel op ment (evo lu tion) and tro phy of the palaeo lake it self Stachowicz-Rybka, 2015b). The im por tance of long se ries of lac us trine sed i ments, assigned to the Cromerian, in palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate in ter pre ta tions has been al ready em pha sized, (e.g., by Rzechowski, 1996;Turner, 1996;Zagwijn, 1996).…”

Pleistocene freshwater environments of Poland: a comprehensive study of fish assemblages based on a multi‐proxy approach

“…A new profile called Ferdynandów 2011 (Fig. 2) was described by Pidek (2015), Stachowicz‐Rybka (2015c), Stachowicz‐Rybka et al . (2017) and Winter (2017).…”

“…A new profile called Ferdynand ow 2011 (Fig. 2) was described by Pidek (2015), Stachowicz-Rybka (2015c), Stachowicz-Rybka et al (2017) and Winter (2017). It contains successions covering two warm periods separated by a cooling stage.…”

“…In both Łuk ow and Ferdynand ow, the vegetation of the cool period (F1/2) was strongly diminished and marked by the appearance of species characteristic for boreal climate. During the second optimum (F2), these basins became shallow eutrophic lakes overgrown by Brasenia borysthenica, and at the end of this period transformed into peat bogs (Stachowicz-Rybka et al 2017). The presence of macrophytes was favourable for the roach, rudd and tench.…”