Environmental changes in the catchment of the Jarosławianka Stream recorded in mill pond deposits

Abstract

Interdisciplinary studies on environmental evolution during the last 650 years based on the analysis of mill pond deposits have been conducted in the valley of the Jarosławianka Stream (left-bank tributary of the River Wieprza). According to historical data, confirmed also by radiocarbon dating, the water mill was located in the valley in 1351 and operated until the 1960s. The sequence of stratified deposits with a thickness of up to about 2 metres was accumulated in mill pond basin during this period. The vertical variability in the physical and chemical properties of these deposits reflects temporal environmental changes in the catchment, particularly the intensity of chemical and mechanical denudation and human activity. Analysis of subfossil Cladocera suggests four phases in the development of the mill pond. Changing along with the intensity of the pond basin water flow, redox and nutritional conditions are reflected in the spatial variability of deposits, especially their textural parameters, pH and abundance in organic carbon, nitrogen and carbonates.

Keywords

• bottom deposits
• mill ponds
• environmental changes
• jarosławianka stream
• sławno plain