HIGH-RESOLUTION LACUSTRINE RECORD OF THE LATE-GLACIAL HOLOCENE TRANSITION IN CENTRAL-EUROPE

In this paper we present the high-resolution record of proxy climatic data in central Europe during the final stages of the last deglaciation, derived from the annually laminated sediments of Lake Gosciaz (central Poland). The isotopic, palynological and other microfossil data confirm sudden changes of climate at die onset and termination of the Younger Dryas (completed within 150 and 70 years, respectively), in close agreement with the previous estimates derived from the polar ice cores and marine sediments. In the upper YD some amelioration of climate took place already about 600 years before the main YD/Preboreal transition. Counting of annual varves in the lake sediments allows a direct estimate of the duration of the Younger Dryas in central Europe; it lasted approximately 1640 years, substantially longer than suggested by previous estimates derived from laminated lake sediments and glacial varves, but agreeing with the radiocarbon calibration data obtained for Barbados corals. The calendar ages of the boundaries of the YD, 12,920 and 11,280 cal BP, are tentatively set.