Geochronology, stratigraphy, and evolution of Middle Uralian peatlands during the Holocene (exemplified by the Shigir and Gorbunovo peat bogs) (original) (raw)
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The 5th International Conference “Ecosystem dynamics in the Holocene”. IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 438 (2020) 012013, 2020
The paper presents the results of a comprehensive palaeobotanical research of lacustrine and peat deposits of archaeological Mesolithic sites discovered at the Gorbunovo peat bog (Middle Urals). Pollen and plant macrofossil data, as well as a biome model were used to describe the vegetation changes in the study area in the Early Holocene. It was found out that in the second half of the Pre-Boreal and the first half of the Boreal periods of the Early Holocene (approximately to 9,800-9,600 cal BP), the vicinity of the Gorbunovo peat bog was dominated by cold deciduous forests. Larch, spruce-larch and birch forests and meadow communities with periglacial elements were widespread. Various aquatic plants could be found in the pond, though it started to turn into swamp. In the second half of the Boreal period (approximately at 9,600-9,500 cal BP), the taiga biome, including pine and birch-pine forests with occurrence of spruce started to prevail. Periglacial communities became degraded. Aggressive water logging led to the formation of a peat bog.
Diversity, 2020
Peatlands are remarkable for their specific biodiversity, crucial role in carbon cycling and climate change. Their deposits preserve organism remains that can be used to reconstruct long-term ecosystem and environmental changes as well as human impact in the prehistorical and historical past. This study presents a new multi-proxy reconstruction of the peatland and vegetation development investigating climate dynamics and human impact at the border between mixed and boreal forests in the Valdai Uplands (the East European Plain, Russia) during most of the Holocene. We performed plant macrofossil, pollen, testate amoeba, Cladocera, diatom, peat humification, loss on ignition, carbon and nitrogen content, δ13C and δ15N analyses supported by radiocarbon dating of the peat deposits from the Krivetskiy Mokh mire. The results of the study indicate that the wetland ecosystem underwent a classic hydroserial succession from a lake (8300 BC–900 BC) terrestrialized through a fen (900 BC–630 AD) ...
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2003
The vegetation history of the Kargaly region has been reconstructed on the basis of pollen analysis of archaeological sediments and one peat bog, the only one found during some years of surveying this area. This latter, Novienky peat bog, located in the steppe transition zone, offers an interesting cultural and natural sequence. Palynological analysis reveals several palaeoecological phases from 4300 b.p. (Bronze Age) to the 18th–19th centuries a.d. (Russian period). Metallurgical activities in Kargaly caused deforestation from the Bronze Age onwards that mainly affected the distribution of birch forests in the region. The palaeoclimatic interpretation of the Novienki pollen diagram is based on the observed changes in the pollen curves of Picea (spruce), Pinus (pine), Abies (silver fir) and Betula (birch). These arboreal taxa are regarded as main climate indicators. The chronology is established on a 14C-dated pollen profile from the lowest peat layer as well as on the regional pollen sequences and archaeological stratigraphies.
Holocene environmental history of a peatland in the Lena River valley, Siberia
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1998
A 3.86 m core of peat and organic lake mud from a polygonal peatland in the Lena River valley of Siberia was radiocarbon dated and analyzed for pollen, plant macrofossils, chrysophyte stomatocysts, stable isotopes, and charcoal. At around 7200 BP, a shallow lake or open-water wetland supported diverse aquatic macrophytes. The site had transformed initially into a richer fen with Carex, Comarum palustris, and Drepanocladus and later a poorer fen with Sphagnum which persisted until around 3000 BP. Fire may have been responsible for silt being blown onto the peatland, which changed the hydrological and geochemical conditions for development of the poor fen. Ice accretion led to an increase in the height of the centre of the polygon and expansion of Sphagnum peatland . 18O values become progressively more enriched, which reflects more direct input of summer precipitation waters and less groundwater during this period. Finally, the peatland surface was elevated sufficiently to limit wate...
Radiocarbon, 2001
We have undertaken extensive programs of natural radiocarbon measurement to date the evidence for various events buried in peat bogs. Two case studies are described here: 1) the chronological reconstruction of South Kamchatka volcanic eruptions and, 2) investigation of multi-layered archeological sites in the Upper Volga River Basin. Studies of sample composition and peat taphonomy allowed us to determine the source of 14 C age deviations and to reconstruct the environmental history of organic matter accumulation. Data sets, obtained from different types of peat bog and containing traces of these Holocene events, are discussed.
Russian Journal of Ecology, 2014
Consideration is given to changes in the vegetation and climatic conditions on the eastern slope of the Northern Urals in the second half of the Holocene as reconstructed on the basis of integrated palyno logical, botanical, paleocarpological, and radiocarbon analysis of material from a peat bog section in the floodplain of the Loz'va River. The results show that the northern taiga zone of the study region in the period between approximately 5000 and 700 years BP was occupied by forests of southern taiga facies, as the climate was significantly warmer than it is today.
Holocene, 2021
Peatlands are important records of past environmental changes. Based on a multiproxy analysis, the main factors influencing the evolution of a peatland can be divided into autogenic and allogenic. Among the important allogenic factors, apart from climate change, are deforestation and drainage, which are directly associated with human impact. Numerous consequences arise from these processes, the most important of which are physical and chemical denudation in the catchment and the related hydrological disturbances in the catchment and peatland. The present study determined how human activities and the past climatic variability mutually influenced the development of a small peatland ecosystem. The main goals of the study were: (1) to trace the local changes of the peatland history over the past 600 years, (2) to investigate their relationship with changes in regional hydroclimate patterns, and (3) to estimate the sensitivity of a small peatland to natural and human impact. Our reconstructions were based on a multiproxy analysis, including the analysis of pollen, macrofossils, Chironomidae, Cladocera, and testate amoebae. Our results showed that, depending on the changes in water level, the history of peatland can be divided into three phases as follows: 1/the phase of stable natural conditions, 2/phase of weak changes, and 3/phase of significant changes in the catchment. Additionally, to better understand the importance of the size of catchment and the size of the depositional basin in the evolution of the studied peatland ecosystem, we compared data from two peatlands – large and small – located close to each other. The results of our study indicated that “size matters,” and that larger peatlands are much more resilient and resistant to rapid changes occurring in the direct catchment due to human activities, whereas small peatlands are more sensitive and perfect as archives of environmental changes.
RADIOCARBON STUDIES OF PEAT BOGS: SOUTH KAMCHATKA VOLCANOES AND UPPER VOLGA ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES
We provided the extensive radiocarbon dating of various events buried in peat bogs. Two case-studies – dating South Kamchatka volcanic eruptions imprinted in peat bogs and multilayer peat archeological sites of the Upper Volga River basin – were chosen. Studies of sample composition and peat taphonomy allowed us to determine the source of radiocarbon age deviations, on one hand, and to reconstruct the environmental history of organic matter accumulation, on the other. Data pools, obtained from different types of peat bogs containing traces of Holocene events, are analysed in this article.
Mid Holocene vegetation reconstruction from Vanevan peat (eastern shore of Lake Sevan; Armenia)
Leroyer, C., Joannin, S., Aoustin, D., Ali, A.A., Peyron, O., Ollivier V., Tozalakyan, P., Karakhanyan, A., Jude F. Quaternary International 2015 A sediment core has been retrieved from Vanevan peat (south-eastern shore of Lake Sevan, Armenia), which is today disconnected from Lake Sevan thanks to an artificial shallowing of the lake. Based on 5 radiocarbon dates, Vanevan record covers the Mid Holocene (from ca. 7800 to ca. 5100 cal. BP). The Late Holocene is today absent in the peat stratigraphy due to modern peat exploitation by surface mining. This study focuses on a multi-proxy approach including pollen, charcoals, and pollen-inferred climate reconstruction. An open-land, steppic vegetation is recorded up to ca. 7700 cal. BP, followed by a more forested landscape during the Mid Holocene (up to ca. 5700 cal. BP), and ending again with an open-land vegetation (to the end of record, 5100 cal. BP). This vegetation dynamics responds to general climate changes documented in the Near East. Whether human activities are documented since ca. 7500 cal. BP (Late Neolithic) in Vanevan, they remain marginal and probably did not affect the area. Early Holocene dry climate, which caused the steppic environment to be widespread through the Near East, is strongly related to low late spring precipitation (PMay–Jun = 180 mm). Mid Holocene forested landscape and increasing lake-level seem related to late spring precipitation (+28%), which is the main change in estimated climate parameters. This has to be linked with reinforcement of the Westerlies and less active Siberian High, which are inversely involved in the following, dry phase starting at ca. 5700 cal. BP.
Radiocarbon, 54 (3-4), 2012
Two well-known archaeological sites, the peat bogs of Shigir and Gorbunovo (Middle Urals, Russia), have been radiocarbon dated (61 conventional and accelerator mass spectrometry [AMS] dates from various natural and artifact samples). For the first time, a detailed chronology o f Early to Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic occupation for this region has been obtained, and a paleoenvironmental history reconstructed. Based on these results, we propose that the Mesolithic settlement of the Middle Urals region started in the early Holocene, at the same time as in central and eastern Europe.