Macro- and micropalaeobotanical evidences for late Middle Miocene climate change in Bulgaria

Abstract

An analysis of selected macrofloras (leaves, fruits and seeds) from NW Bulgaria using the Coexistence аpproach method was applied to obtain quantitative data about Volhynian and Bessarabian climate in studied area. The aim of the study is to compare the climate data derived from the analysis of macrofloras and palynological data. The Middle Miocene was a period of a subtropical/warm temperate humid climate with mean annual temperature between 16 and 18 °C and mean annual precipitation between 1,100 and 1,300 mm. Comparison of all data, received from different floras we can observed, showed that nevertheless some differences, in all cases there was a good relation between climate and vegetation dynamics. We observed some deviations in quantities, but they varied in small limits. The climate data derived from macro- and microfloras coincided well in regard to all parameters, nevertheless that different taxa determined coexistence intervals. In some cases, the macropalaeobotanical data provide narrow climate interval, that is explained by better taxonomic resolution and better identification of nearest living relatives (NLRs). The application of both methods has the advantage of obtaining both more accurate climate data and tracking climate change in more detail throughout the study period.