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Diatom-inferred late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeolimnological changes in the Ioannina basin, northwest Greece

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Abstract

The character and impact of climate change since the last glacial maximum (LGM) in the eastern Mediterranean region remain poorly understood. Here, two new diatom records from the Ioannina basin in northwest Greece are presented alongside a pre-existing record and used to infer past changes in lake level, a proxy for the balance between precipitation and evaporation. Comparison of the three records indicates that lake-level fluctuations were the dominant driver of diatom assemblage composition change, whereas productivity variations had a secondary role. The reconstruction indicates low lake levels during the LGM. Late glacial lake deepening was underway by 15.0 cal kyr BP, implying that the climate was becoming wetter. During the Younger Dryas stadial, a lake-level decline is recorded, indicating arid climatic conditions. Lake Ioannina deepened rapidly in the early Holocene, but long-term lake-level decline commenced around 7.0 cal kyr BP. The pattern of lake-level change is broadly consistent with an existing lake-level reconstruction at Lake Xinias, central Greece. The timing of the apparent change, however, is different, with delayed early Holocene deepening at Xinias. This offset is attributed to uncertainties in the age models, and the position of Xinias in the rain shadow of the Pindus Mountains.

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Acknowledgments

TDJ gratefully acknowledges a Natural Environment Research Council studentship (NER/S/A/2006/14152), and financial help from the QRA New Researchers Award, the Dudley Stamp Memorial Fund, the Explorer’s Club Exploration Fund and the Ecology and Global Change Cluster Fund (University of Leeds). Radiocarbon dating and stable carbon isotope analysis was generously supported by NERC (allocations 1338.1008 and IP-1107-0509, respectively). Thanks are due to K. Roucoux, A. Milner, I. Kagalou, C. Michelaki and the Istria drilling team for fieldwork support, to J. Corr, D. Ashley and M. Ratcliffe for laboratory support, and to two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK

    Timothy D. Jones

  2. School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Ian T. Lawson

  3. Department of Geography, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

    Jane M. Reed

  4. Department of Geography, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3HE, UK

    Graham P. Wilson

  5. Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    Melanie J. Leng

  6. NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK

    Melanie J. Leng

  7. Department of Earth Sciences, Geological Institute, ETH Zürich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Merle Gierga & Stefano M. Bernasconi

  8. Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Rienk H. Smittenberg

  9. Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland

    Irka Hajdas

  10. NERC Radiocarbon Facility, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, UK

    Charlotte L. Bryant

  11. Department of Geography, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    P. C. Tzedakis

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  1. Timothy D. Jones
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Jones, T.D., Lawson, I.T., Reed, J.M. et al. Diatom-inferred late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeolimnological changes in the Ioannina basin, northwest Greece. J Paleolimnol 49, 185–204 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9654-x

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