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This comprehensive study examines fossil remains from Niedźwiedzia Cave in the Eastern Sudetes, offering detailed insights into the palaeobiology and adversities encountered by the Pleistocene cave bear Ursus spelaeus ingressus. Emphasising habitual cave use for hibernation and a primarily herbivorous diet, the findings attribute mortality to resource scarcity during hibernation and habitat fragmentation amid climate shifts. Taphonomic analysis indicates that the cave was extensively used by successive generations of bears, virtually unexposed to the impact of predators. The study also reveals that alkaline conditions developed in the cave during the post-depositional taphonomic processes. Mortality patterns, notably among juveniles, imply dwindling resources, indicative of environmental instability. Skeletal examination reveals a high incidence of forelimb fractures, indicating risks during activities like digging or confrontations. Palaeopathological evidence unveils vulnerabilities to tuberculosis, abscesses, rickets, and injuries, elucidating mobility challenges. The cave's silts exhibit a high zinc concentration, potentially derived from successive bear generations consuming zinc-rich plants. This study illuminates the lives of late cave bears, elucidating unique environmental hurdles faced near their species' end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of the work is a reconstruction of environmental conditions in the Lower Oder River Valley in the early Middle Ages with use multi-proxy research. This was considered in terms of natural determinants of the development of hydrogenic habitats in the estuary section of a large lowland river, but at the beginning of a headland of natural morainic plateau known as Castle Hill in Szczecin. In a relatively small area, three different types of geochemical landscapes were distinguished that had specific functions in matter cycles, including the water cycle. The article mainly presents the results of geochemical studies for a series of biogenic deposits separated by a series of lacustrine sediments with a large admixture of mineral material. An attempt was also made to determine subfossil animal remains in the sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mercury content in peat layers of seven peat bogs in the Małopolska region (Wolbrom in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland and Otrębowskie Brzegi, Puścizna Wysoka, Puścizna Mała, Przybojec, Puścizna Długopole and Bór na Czerwonem in the Orawa-Nowy Targ Basin) was determined to a depth of 100 cm at a resolution of 1–2 cm. Geochemical background and level of anthropogenic mercury enrichment were determined for each peat bog. To establish the interdependence between mercury concentration, mineral matter content and selected metals, geochemical diagrams and models of the system were drawn up representing the correlational relationships between the selected geochemical variables for three of the peat bogs in the Orawa--Nowy Targ Basin (Otrębowskie Brzegi, Przybojec and Bór na Czerwonem). It was found that, comparing against other European raised bogs, the range of mercury concentrations in the peat layer down to 50 cm in the peatlands of Małopolska is similar to those in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Spain, and decidedly lower than in the peatlands in Scotland, Belgium and Czechia. Furthermore, the sites in the Orawa-Nowy Targ Basin were clearly lower, the lower the altitude of the peat bog surface, which is probably associated with local topoclimatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sedimentary succession exposed in the Gorzów Wielkopolski area includes Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) or Early Weichselian (MIS 5d–e) deposits. The sedimentary sequence has been the object of intense interdisciplinary study, which has resulted in the identification of at least two palaeolake horizons. Both yielded fossil remains of large mammals, alongside pollen and plant macrofossils. All these proxies have been used to reconstruct the environmental conditions prevailing at the time of deposition, as well as to define the geological context and the biochronological position of the fauna. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the glaciofluvial layers of the GS3 succession to 123.6 ± 10.1 (below the lower palaeolake) and 72.0 ± 5.2 ka (above the upper palaeolake) indicate that the site formed during the Middle–Late Pleistocene (MIS 6 – MIS 5). Radiocarbon‐dating of the lacustrine organic matter revealed a tight cluster of Middle Pleniglacial Period (MIS 3) ages in the range of ~41–32 ka cal bp (Hengelo – Denekamp Interstadials). Holocene organic layers have also been found, with 14C ages within a range of 4330–4280 cal bp (Neolithic). Pollen and plant macrofossil records, together with sedimentological and geochemical data, confirm the dating to the Eemian Interglacial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ner River valley (central Poland) underwent substantial transformation during the Weichselian–Holocene transition as a result of fluvial processes and climate changes, resulting in the establishment of its present shape in the Holocene. A multiproxy study based on organic deposits from a palaeochannel fill (Lutomiersk–Koziówki) shows that after the channel was cut off during the late glacial termination, it became a shallow oxbow, fed by local springs. In the Boreal period, the oxbow lake was also fed by precipitation and became a telmatic environment overgrown by rush and swamp vegetation. Finally, it was covered by overbank deposits. The first flooding phase (9900–9600 cal. BP) was followed by the accumulation of overbank sediments (after 9500 cal. BP) and flooding increased after ca. 9300–9000 cal. BP. Pollen data provide information on the regional vegetation context for local and regional changes. In the Atlantic period, an increase in both summer and winter temperatures is inferred from the pollen data, corresponding to an expansion of thermophilous deciduous forests. While in general, flooding phases of the Early Holocene are poorly recognised in Eastern Europe, the Lutomiersk–Koziówki site may be considered as one of the reference points for this phenomenon in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Geographica Lodziensia is the property of Lodz Scientific Society / Lodzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Wilczków fen (central Poland). The fen developed in an inactive valley at the onset of the Holocene (~11 ka BP) and peat accumulation lasted until 5.7 ka BP. Multi-proxy reconstructions were made on the basis of palaeobotanical, cladoceran, chironomid, beetle and geochemical analyses. A Kohonen self-organizing map ( SOM, unsupervised artificial neural network) of the biotic sequence distinguished four stages of fen history. Stage X1 (11.0-10.7 ka BP) was relatively wet and cool. Organic matter started to accumulate but the habitat conditions remained unstable. Moss, sedge and fern communities then developed. Sedimentary changes reveal an intensive groundwater supply at that time. Numerous and diverse chironomid and cladoceran subfossils indicate nearly permanent aquatic conditions. During stage Y1 (10.6-9.2 ka BP) conditions were dry and the upper peat layer desiccated. Cladocera nearly disappeared whereas chironomids were represented by semi-terrestrial and predatory (Tanypodinae) species. Conditions started to be more reducing. All the remaining samples belonged to the interweaving stages X2 and Y2. Stage Y2 (mostly 9.1-7.3 and 6.0-5.7 ka BP) was also dry but humidity increased towards the top. Oxidizing conditions occurred and the pH became more alkaline, favouring Cladium mariscus. The basin received mostly allochthonous matter input at that time. Stage X2 (mostly 6.8-6.1 ka BP) was humid and warm. The groundwater supply remained low but there was an increase in precipitation, changing local conditions to ombrotrophic. Species-rich chironomid and cladoceran communities were associated with temporary pools. Finally, conditions returned to those characteristic of stage Y2. The presented reconstruction documents long-term abiotic and biotic changes determined by water supply, including groundwater outflow, which have rarely been detected at a multi-proxy scale. We show that inactivated valley fens are sensitive to climate-driven hydrological fluctuations. Kohonen neural networks appear to be a promising method for analysing variability in multi-proxy data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Geographica Lodziensia is the property of Lodz Scientific Society / Lodzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The environmental conditions of the Szczecin Bay, which existed prior to Szczecin Lagoon, have been reconstructed on the basis of the stable carbon and oxygen isotope (18O and 13C) analysis and radiocarbon dates obtained for subfossil shells of Cerastoderma (Cardium) glaucum. The shells in the collected core were well preserved in their life positions, representing a geochemical record of past temperature variation over the middle Holocene. Three major periods with different thermal conditions have been distinguished in the interval ~6000–4300calyr BP, when the important Littorina regional transgression took place. During the first period, 6000–5250calyr BP, water temperature decreased by 1.4°C, and then remained constant over the second period (5250–4750calyr BP). In contrast, during the third period (4750–4300calyr BP) both δ-values were highly variable and the mean summer temperature (March–November) increased by about 3.5°C. During first two periods, δ18O and δ13C were significantly correlated, indicating stability of the environmental conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]