Changes in the zoocenosis of Lake Kronotskoe in the Late Holocene

Abstract

Investigation of the upper sediments layer in Lake Kronotskoe revealed a unique thanatocenosis with predomination of tintinnids [1]. The sediment core obtained later yielded the data described here. These data shed some light on the stability of this cenosis during the latest period of its existence. The Quaternary Period is characterized by consid� erable fluctuations of climate and state of biocensoses, which may be estimated by analysis of lake sediments cores [2]. Lakes of high latitudes are especially sensi� tive to climatic changes [3, 4]. These lakes were directly affected by the recent glaciation, and their fauna has been mainly formed during the postglacial period [5, 6]. The postglacial stabilization of the cli� mate and complex processes of the development of aquatic biota are closely interconnected [7]. Recon� struction of these processes using paleomarkers, on the one hand, allows the results of paleoclimatic mod� eling to be tested and, on the other hand, reveals the ways of formation of the recent biota [8]. In some cases, the reconstruction of climate may be used in