Radiocarbon Chronology of Late Glacial and Holocene Sedimentation and Water-Level Changes in the Area of the Gościąż Lake Basin

Abstract

We obtained 14C ages on samples of lake marl and other sediments from cores taken in Gościąż Lake and its environs. Comparison of 14C dates of bulk samples of laminated sediment with varve chronology and available AMS dates of terrestrial macrofossils indicates a reservoir correction of 2000 +/120 yr for the basal series of lake sediments. 14C dates obtained on peat layers underlying the oldest lacustrine sediments in Gościąż and other lakes consistently locate the beginning of organogenic sedimentation in this area at ca. 13 ka BP. We distinguished three periods of lacustrine gyttja sedimentation in cores taken in Gościąż and adjacent lakes: 11.8-10.2 ka, 8-7 ka and 2.7-2.1 ka BP. From the 14C dates of lithological boundaries in these cores, we reconstruct a pattern of lake-level changes during the last 12 ka, remarkably similar to Swedish lakes and generally agreeing with available records from European and American lakes. The behavior of Gościąż Lake during the last 12 ka fairly well reflects global climate changes in the temperate zone during the Late Glacial and Holocene periods..