Late-glacial and Holocene palaeoenvironments in the Baltic Sea based on a sedimentary record from the Gdansk Basin
2011
The focus of this study was the 11.55 m long sediment core 303700-7, which was
retrieved from the Gdansk Basin during a cruise of RV ‘Poseidon’ within the frame of the
Russian–German Project GISEB. The core was analysed for grain size, elemental chemical composition,
organic carbon and palynological spectra. The age control was based on palynostratigraphy and
7 radiocarbon datings of bulk sedimentary organic matter. These data provide a high-resolution
record of climatic and marine palaeoenvironments in the Gdansk Basin for the last ca. 13 kyr, from
the Bolling to late Holocene time. Sedimentation rates were estimated to vary between 0.37 and
1.62 mm yr–1. Major variations in palaeosalinity were estimated from bromine concentrations in the
sediment. This method allows the first quantitative reconstruction of palaeosalinity changes in the
Baltic Sea, especially profound during the Littorina and Postlittorina periods (middle to late
Holocene). In addition, grain size data indicated several Littorina transgressive–regressive stages
and a few episodes of increased near-bottom current activity. Our results from the Gdansk Basin are
consistent with palaeoceanographic data from other deep basins of the Baltic Sea and provide new
insights into the regional Holocene history.
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