The Holocene history of the southwestern Baltic Sea as reflected in a sediment core from the Bornholm Basin

Abstract

A study of changes in siliceous microfossil assemblages and chemical analyses in a well-dated offshore sediment core from the Bornholm Basin, southwestern Baltic Sea, is carried out with the objective of increasing knowledge of the Holocene history of the area. The core covers about 11300 calendar years from the brackish phase of the Yoldia Sea stage to the present. The first weak marine influence in the Ancylus Lake stage is recorded about 10100 cal. yr BP (c. 8900 14C BP), indicating a complex transition to the Litorina Sea with different phases of brackish-water inflow. The lithology, organic carbon content and C/N and C/S ratios indicate no major changes in the sedimentary environment during the Litorina-Post-Litorina Sea stages. A high productivity event recorded in the Post-Litorina Sea stage around 950 cal. yr BP correlates with the Medieval warm event. A biostratigraphical change indicating a colder climate is recorded in the sediment at about 800 cal. yr BP, which might mark the beginning of the Little Ice Age.