Lake-level and groundwater-level changes in the Lake Gosciąż area, Poland: palaeoclimatic implications

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Starkel, Leszek, Pazdur, Anna, Pazdur, Mieczysław F., Wicik, Bogumil, Wieckowski, Kazimierz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1996
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369600600207; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369600600207

Lake Gosciąz is located in the zone of the maximum extent of the last ice sheet. Distinct lake terraces and deposits related to the lateglacial transgression do not exist. Detailed examination of annually laminated sediments and landforms revealed three phases of higher water level and storage, represented by shore features, by littoral, deltaic and bog deposits, and by higher rates of lacustrine deposition in the pelagic zone. Holocene lake transgressions at c. 8.4-7.7 ka, 2.5-2.3 ka, and less distinct at 5-4 ka BP coincide with phases of higher flood frequency in Poland and glacial advances in the Alps. Because of sedimentation, isolation from groundwaters, encroachment by peatland and drainage of the lake, lake volume during the last 12 ka diminished by as much as 70%, and current water-level fluctuations of about 1-2 m can change water storage by 20-25%.