Holocene environmental changes inferred from palaeobotanical data of Curonian Lagoon sediments

Abstract

Environmental development and water level changes in the south-western part of the Curonian Lagoon are reconstructed based on the results of bottom sediment investigations, including data on lithology, diatoms, pollen, and radiocarbon dating. Three stages have been identified in the ~ 10000-year history of the lagoon’s development. The diatoms suggest that in the Early Holocene, the southern part of the Curonian Lagoon was a shallow freshwater basin, mainly fed by run-off from the continent. During the Middle Holocene, the study area was a marshy coastal zone. Due to a change in hydrological conditions at the beginning of the Late Holocene, it became an open-water part of the lagoon.