Bog development and environmental conditions as shown by the stratigraphy of Store Mosse mire in southern Sweden

Abstract

Macrofossil analyses, pollen analyses, and 14C datings were carried out on profiles from a bog complex in southern Sweden. The development started with a Carex fen c. 6,000 B. P. which transformed to bog c. 1,000 years later. The bog has developed through three stages separated by highly humified peat layers, recurrence surfaces, 3 and 2m below the present bog surface, and formed c. 2,500 and 1,200 B. P., respectively. The fen formation and the initiation of the last two bog stages were contemporaneous with high water levels in lakes of the region. The transition to bog and the formation of the two highly humified peat layers may be related to low water levels in lakes. It is probable that changes in the development of the mire were caused by the climate, since varying water levels are thought to be dependent on variations in the climate.