Influence of man and climate changes on relief and geological structure transformation in central Poland since the Neolithic

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study of relief transformation in central Poland (Fig. 1), which took place in the Neoholocene in the context of growing human impact and climate fluctuations. Standard methods used in Quaternary geology and geomorphology were employed to examine Neoholocene aeolian, slope and fluvial deposits. Seven major stages and a few short-term episodes (Fig. 2), during which the process of relief transformation accelerated, have been distinguished. These stages are characterized by their varying length (from 160 to 480 years) while their duration became gradually longer at the expense of those periods, during which the relief transformation was slow. Major geomorphological processes in each stage and their consequences for relief transformation are briefly discussed. The results obtained are linked to the development of prehistoric cultures in central Poland and to the periods of unstable climate.