|
|||||
|
|
The geodynamic and limnological evolution of Balkan Lake Ohrid,possibly the oldest extant lake in Europe |
|
| Authors: | Bernd Wagner Paul Tauber Alexander Francke Niklas Leicher Steven A Binnie Aleksandra Cvetkoska Elena Jovanovska Janna Just Jack H Lacey Zlatko Levkov Katja Lindhorst Katerina Kouli Sebastian Krastel Konstantinos Panagiotopoulos Arne Ulfers Du?ica Zaova Timme H Donders Andon Grazhdani Andreas Koutsodendris Melanie J Leng Laura Sadori Mirko Scheinert Hendrik Vogel Thomas Wonik Giovanni Zanchetta Thomas Wilke |
| Institution: | 1. Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674 Germany;2. Department of Earth Science, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005 South Australia, Australia;3. Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, 3584 CB The Netherlands
Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, 6708 PB The Netherlands;4. Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, 35392 Germany Department of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main, 60325 Germany;5. Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674 Germany Germany and Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Bremen, 28359 Germany;6. National Environmental Isotope Facility, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG UK;7. University Ss Cyril and Methodius, Institute of Biology, Skopje, 1000 North Macedonia;8. Institute of Geosciences, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Kiel, 24118 Germany;9. Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Zographou, Athens, Greece;10. Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Hannover, 30655 Germany;11. Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, 3508 TC The Netherlands;12. Faculty of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Tirana, Tirana, 1000 Albania Deceased.;13. Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, 69120 Germany;14. National Environmental Isotope Facility, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG UK Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, LE12 5RD UK;15. Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma “La?Sapienza”, Rome, 00185 Italy;16. Institute of Planetary Geodesy, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, 01069 Germany;17. Institute of Geological Sciences & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, 3012 Switzerland;18. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Pisa, 56126 Italy;19. Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, 35392 Germany |
| Abstract: | Studies of the upper 447 m of the DEEP site sediment succession from central Lake Ohrid, Balkan Peninsula, North Macedonia and Albania provided important insights into the regional climate history and evolutionary dynamics since permanent lacustrine conditions established at 1.36 million years ago (Ma). This paper focuses on the entire 584-m-long DEEP sediment succession and a comparison to a 197-m-long sediment succession from the Pestani site ~5 km to the east in the lake, where drilling ended close to the bedrock, to unravel the earliest history of Lake Ohrid and its basin development. 26Al/10Be dating of clasts from the base of the DEEP sediment succession implies that the sedimentation in the modern basin started at c. 2 Ma. Geophysical, sedimentological and micropalaeontological data allow for chronological information to be transposed from the DEEP to the Pestani succession. Fluvial conditions, slack water conditions, peat formation and/or complete desiccation prevailed at the DEEP and Pestani sites until 1.36 and 1.21 Ma, respectively, before a larger lake extended over both sites. Activation of karst aquifers to the east probably by tectonic activity and a potential existence of neighbouring Lake Prespa supported filling of Lake Ohrid. The lake deepened gradually, with a relatively constant vertical displacement rate of ~0.2 mm a?1 between the central and the eastern lateral basin and with greater water depth presumably during interglacial periods. Although the dynamic environment characterized by local processes and the fragmentary chronology of the basal sediment successions from both sites hamper palaeoclimatic significance prior to the existence of a larger lake, the new data provide an unprecedented and detailed picture of the geodynamic evolution of the basin and lake that is Europe’s presumed oldest extant freshwater lake. |
| Keywords: | |