Late glacial multiproxy evidence of vegetation development and environmental change at Solova, southeastern Estonia

Abstract

Reinvestigation of the late glacial Solova (Remmeski) basin, based on plant macro­fossil and diatom record, AMS 14C chronology and sediment composition (loss-on-ignition and magnetic susceptibility data), provided information on vegetation history and palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic changes since the time of the deglaciation of the area around 14 000 cal yr BP. The chronology of the sequence is based on seven AMS dates on terrestrial macrofossils, providing evidence of rapid sedimentation in between 14 000 and 13 500 cal yr BP. Loss-on-ignition data show a clear short-lived warming episode centred to 13 800 cal yr BP, tentatively correlated with the GI-1c warming of the event stratigraphy of the Last Termination in the North Atlantic region, which suggests that at least parts of the Haanja Heights were ice-free by 14 000 cal yr BP. Macrofossil evidence indicates Betula nana–Dryas octopetala-dominated open tundra communities with Saxifraga on dry ground, and Carex sp. and Juncus on wet ground at that time. The first evidence of the postglacial presence of tree birch (Betula pendula) in Estonia is dated back to 13 500 cal yr BP. However, conifer remains were not found in the late glacial sediment sequence of Solova Bog. The late-Allerød (GI-1a) organic deposits, which are quite typical of other parts of Estonia and indicate general warming, are missing at Solova, most probably due to a hiatus in sedimentation in this very small and shallow upland basin.

Keywords

• plant macrofossils
• aquatic macrophytes
• diatoms
• geochronology
• late glacial
• deglaciation
• Estonia