The development of Belarusian lakes during the Late Glacial and Holocene

Abstract

Abstract. Sediment cores from six lakes in northern, central, and southern Belarus were eõamined to establish correlationsbetween changes in lake conditions and catchment evolution since the Older Dryas. Detailed studies were conducted in three areaswith highly different landscape development history. Common patterns and synchronism in lake sedimentation and fluctuations aremore diverse during the Late Glacial and early Holocene, mainly due to the general tendency of climate warming at the beginning ofthe postglacial epoch and disappearance of permafrost, which led to the increase in infiltrating processes. During the latter half of theHolocene lake level changes were asynchronous in different regions of Belarus. At that time most of the existing differences werecaused by local factors.

Keywords

• lake level fluctuation
• lake sediments
• lithology
• Late Glacial
• Holocene
• Belarus