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The aim of the present study was to estimate the range of climate variability in Central Poland during the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e). High resolution pollen records are available for all seven RPAZs typical of this interglacial in Central Europe. These pollen records were used to estimate total annual precipitation and mean annual temperature, as well as the mean temperatures of the warmest and the coldest months based on the plant indicator method and the modern analogue technique. The reconstructions indicate that the combination of these two methods provides a much clearer insight into the climate changes of the Eemian optimum. The results confirmed no drastic drop in temperature in the Middle Eemian, with high total precipitation in the hazel phase, and that this was followed by a decrease in temperature in the Late Eemian (fir-spruce and pine phases). A drop in precipitation occurred during the youngest part of the Carpinus phase, while coincided with a marked lowering of the water level in lakes and their transformation into peatbogs. The last part of the Eemian is characterized by decreasing temperature, particularly during the coldest month, rising water levels due to a combination of lower evaporation and higher air humidity, and a transition to glacial conditions. Principal Component Analysis found all investigated sites to follow the same pattern of changes. Mean winter temperature, annual temperature and precipitation were found to have a strong positive correlation with the occurrence of thermophilus temperate broadleaved trees (hazel, linden, and ash) typical for the mid-Eemian optimum. These three factors also have a negative correlation with the presence of cold tolerant boreal trees (birch and pine) and open land taxa characteristic of the beginning and end of the interglacial. Mean July temperature was found to be positively correlated with the occurrence of temperate broadleaved trees (oak, ash and elm) typical for early stages of the Eemian and negatively with that of coniferous trees (fir and spruce) characteristic for later stages of the interglacial.

Deposits of MIS 11c (Masovian Interglacial) are common in eastern Poland and therefore the area is considered as a Masovian palaeolakeland. In the Skrzynka II succession, MIS 11c lacustrine and MIS 10 lacustrine deposits of the early Liviecian Glaciation were found below beds representing the Weichselian Glaciation and the Holocene (1.35 m). The Mazovian Interglacial succession of the core as well as the base of the Liviecian Glaciation in depth interval 2.10–6.10 m were sampled for the purpose of palynological and isotope analyses. The main goal of the study was to determine a detailed record of climatic oscillations during MIS 11c. The palynological record of the Skrzynka II core contains nearly the entire MIS 11c succession, with an exception of the earliest protocratic stage. Both the previously described oscillation known from other European localities are present in the Skrzynka II record. Moreover, another major regressive oscillation, which was previously misinterpreted in two other Polish localities, was described in the late mesocratic phase. Yet another oscillation can be distinguished within the telocratic phase; it can be correlated with the ‘birch oscillation’ known so far only from Nowiny Żukowskie in Poland. Enhanced sampling resolution enabled also the description of several minor, local-scale climatic events or disturbances. Results of the isotope analysis correspond well with pollen data in the lower part of the succession, confirming a warming trend in the early interglacial and the cold character of the first regressive oscillation event. Since the second stage of the mesocratic phase, an unknown environmental disturbance occurred and δ13C(org) data are inconsistent with the pollen record until the end of the climatic optimum.

We present the results of geochemical investigations, including stable isotope, of the Eemian (MIS 5e) and Vistulian (Weichselian, MIS 5a–d, MIS 3–4) sediments of the palaeolake horizons from Gorzow Wielkopolski site (NW Poland). Our analyzes comprised two profiles from different parts of lake basin, each approximately 11-m long. The deposits represent two cycles of lake accumulation (two limnic layers), each ended by peat deposition, separated by mineral fluvial deposits. The lower and upper limnic layers, despite several similar geochemical features, are records of two separate phases of the lake's functioning. The palynological data suggest that the mineral deposits separating them are not continuous succession, but contain a stratigraphic hiatus. We characterized six geochemical zones (GZ), which correspond well with lithological features of deposits and climatic changes, and reflect the changing environmental conditions (redox conditions, variability and intensity of denudation, biological productivity, and fertility of the environment). In the first phase of lake's development, some influence of the surface material supply is visible, indicated by the increased content of lithophilous elements, (e.g. potassium), as well as closely correlated with them copper and zinc. Slow accumulation of carbonates dominated the limnic layers due to their abundant supply from the catchment area. The greatest variations of isotopic values of carbonates occur in the bottom and at the top of the stratigraphic profile and are related to the changing environmental conditions in the lake's basin (water level and temperature variations). The differences in carbon and nitrogen isotope values suggest different sources of organic matter accumulated in the studied basin and varying trophy of the environment. The higher mercury content is related to the course of climate change and is the highest in cold periods. We identified five main phases of evolution of the palaeolake at Gorzow Wielkopolski site. The lake accumulation began during the final phase of the Wartanian (Late Saalian) Glaciation (MIS 6). Initially the palaeolake harmonically developed and reached its maximum depth (Early and Middle Eemian, MIS 5e). Next the palaeolake became shallower and transformed into the peatbog (Late Eemian, MIS 5e). In the Early Vistulian period (or Early Weichselian, MIS 5a–d), the lake re-existed, initially as a flow-through lake. Finally in middle Vistulian (or Middle Weichselian – Pleniglacial, MIS 3–4), the palaeolake declined and mire developed.

We present a description of an almost complete skeleton of the forest rhino (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis) found near Gorzów Wielkopolski (Northwest Poland) in its geological and palaeoenvironmental context. While finds of bones and teeth are common, the importance of this find resides in, that it is the most complete specimen of this species, almost perfectly preserved in a well-studied and dated stratigraphic and sedimentological context, along with other fossil fauna and flora. The OSL dates of glaciofluvial sediments sandwiching skeleton-bearing horizons indicate a Middle Eemian age of the Pleistocene paleolake land. This warm climate is also indicated by the results of sedimentological, geochemical, paleobotanical, and isotopic analyses. The rhino skeleton was deposited in a shallow area near the lake’s littoral zone. Bite marks of a large predator (cave hyena) were recognized on the rhino’s pelvis, which, due to their location, were probably created post-mortem. With an estimated height of 1.82 m at the withers, this was a large adult Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis. The results of osteometric analyses indicate that we are dealing with one of the largest known individuals of this species. Although it suffered from a pathologically deformed spine, the individual died at a relatively old age.

Climate instability in the Eemian Interglacial is gaining more and more evidence. One of such oscillations in the Beckentin record is indicated by the disappearance of the Cladocera and changes in macroremains at the beginning of E4a (Corylus phase). They confirm the shallowing of the reservoir, probably caused by climate changes, but not reflected in the palynological record. However, a significant oscillation observed in the first half of the E5 (Carpinus phase), ~5860 years after the boreal forests subsided and ~6290 years after the onset of interglacial forestation, suggests that, although not being an analogue of the OHO (Older Holsteinian Oscillations) in MIS 11c and the 8.2 ka cold event in the Holocene, it is very similar to these oscillations. The Eemian oscillation was noted also in the Bispingen profile in northern Germany, ~6500 years after the interglacial forestation. However, the course of vegetation changes there differs from that in Beckentin. The analysis of macroremains and Cladocera confirms the disappearance of rush and water vegetation in the water reservoir at that time in Beckentin. These results confirm that numerous climatic oscillations could have occurred in the Eemian Interglacial.

This study provides a new stratigraphic and palaeogeographic scheme for the time span between Marine Isotope Stages (MISs) 8 and 6. Based on detailed sedimentological and palynological studies, the...

In the region of 20 newly-found fossil lakes in the Garwolin Plain (Central Poland), formed during the Eemian interglacial (MIS 5e), the Kozlow site is considered one of the longest examples of sequences of palaeolake deposits. Pollen investigations have revealed an entire Eemian interglacial (MIS 5e) with a very long hornbeam phase. Repeated coring allowed for high-resolution pollen and diatom analysis to be used in tracing climate-driven palaeoenvironmental changes during the mid- and late-Eemian. The resulting thick series of organogenic deposits from Kozlow joins the collection of existing high-resolution long records of this interglacial in central-eastern Europe. It should be emphasized that a very good correlation was found between palynological and diatom data, which allows for drawing consistent conclusions. The warm and humid climate of the Corylus phase at the onset of the mid-Eemian was marked by a great abundance of planktonic Cyclotella sensu lato species, which indicate a rising water level, increased water temperatures, thermal stratification and a warm-wet climate. In the diatom zones correlated with the Carpinus phase, a distinct change was observed, from an assemblage dominated by planktonic species to one composed of benthic ones, including Fragilaria sensu lato taxa. The greater frequency of oceanic air masses must have affected the humidity and thermal conditions in lake and its surroundings in the first part of the interglacial optimum. Climate changes are very clearly visible at the transition between Carpinus and Picea-Abies zones, which were caused by increased influence of continental air masses. However, in the Middle Eemian no drastic changes were observed in both the pollen and diatom records. In the upper part of the core, represented by Pinus pollen, the presence of cold-loving diatom species, and an increase of green algae Pediastrum spp. point to a drop in temperatures at the close of the interglacial. The pollen results were compared to the well-recognized mid-to late-Eemian successions from Poland and West Europe.

The area of NE Poland, Lithuania and NW Belarus is often studied in terms of palaeoenvironmental changes that occurred at the end of the last glaciation In this area there are numerous lakes, peat bogs, river valleys, kettle holes where limnic and paludic sediments accumulated. Based on the literature, 55 sites from this region were analysed. On the basis of palynological studies, and radiocarbon dating their deposition time was determined as Late glacial period (LG). There are also sites whose age is determined only on the basis of palynology or plant macrofossils. Often in the analysed sediment profiles there is no record of the full LG succession, but there is usually a BØ-AL-YD sequence. The thickness of the described LG sediments ranges from 8 cm to 325 cm. Large thickness LG sediments were found at the sites Stare Biele (thickness 325 cm, Poland, Podlasie; Kupryjanowicz, 2000), Ginkūnai (290 cm, Middle Lithuania; Stančikaitė et al., 2015), Lopaičiai (180 cm, NW Lithuania; Kabailienė et al., 2015). The range of radiocarbon averaged ages for the analysed sediment profiles is from 9,176 to 25,250 ka cal BP. Some of them are subject to error (aged by pollen redeposition or rejuvenated by reservoir effect). Typically, macrofossils isolated from gyttjas, peats or silts were dated.A few km north-east of Suwałki (NE Poland) there is an extensive, irregularly shaped depression, consisting of several larger reservoirs connected by constrictions. Most of its area is covered with peat bogs. Using the GEOPROPBE intact biogenic sediment profile was drilled (profile OS – 10,40 m). So far, palaeobotanical, geochemical, and stable oxygen and carbon isotopes have been performed in the collected sediments. In the near future, 14C AMS dating of selected plant remains is planned.The conducted palynological analysis of OS profile shows that the functioning of the water reservoir near Suwałki began in the OstD, when the area was overgrown by vegetation of open communities. Slight warming of BØ resulted in high Pinus pollen values, which may indicate the development of rare interstadial pine forests. Re-cooling of OD resulted in the withdrawal of these communities and the spreading of herbaceous and shrubs vegetation. Another warming - AL, led to the development of rare pine and birch forests with numerous sea buckthorn. The cooling of the YD brought the domination of open shruby and steppe-tundra communities. The thickness of the sediments from the LG period containing the full record is 81cm. Considering the location of the Osinki site and the significant continental character of this region climate, it can be concluded that it is a stratotype site of LG for this part of Europe.The above research results are presented thanks to the grant of the National Science Center (2018/31/B/ST10/00976) "Geomorphological evidence and palaeogeographic implications of catastrophic floods and glacial charges of the southern sector of the Scandinavian late Vistulian ice sheet (MEASSIS)" and the funds of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń as part of the Emerging Filds "Global changes in the environment".

In the region of the Serteyka River, an extensive accumulative fan was studied. The main goal of the research is an attempt to reconstruct the palaeogeographic development of erosive cuts in Western Russia. The geological structure of the fan and its surroundings was recognized. The fan is built by deluvium sediments, which can be divided into: lower diluvium unit, middle diluvium unit and upper diluvium unit. The top of the fan is built by tillage diamicton. The fan was formed at the earliest from the 2nd half of the 17th century (during the Little Ice Age pessimum). Samples were taken for AMS, OSL, Pb210 dating to determine the phases of fans development. The AMS dating produced mixed results. This was due to the redeposition of the material. Using the OSL method, two samples were dated from the bottom of the clastic fan deposits. Dates from the Neolithic period were obtained, additionally in inversion. It was caused by inaccurate bleaching of the quartz grains. The top part of the fan was dated using the Pb210 method. Slope sediments can be extremely difficult to dating. This may be due to the redeposition of the material, the presence of hiatuses and inaccurate bleaching of samples. The individual units of deluvium sediments differ in colour, structural and textural features.

This paper discusses successive changes in the evolution of the fluvial system observed throughout the Blądzikowo Formation at the Mrzezino key site in northern Poland. The study focuses on the development of fluvial sedimentation during Marine Isotope Stage 7. The sedimentary record of the Pleistocene at the study site shows a well-developed sequence that is over 30 m thick. The Blądzikowo Formation shows a quick evolution of the fluvial system from a high-energy sandy braided river, to a meandering sandy river and, finally, to a low-energy meandering/anastomosing river with significant suspension settling. This transition is explained as a decrease in flow energy, increase in aggradation ratio and expansion of accommodation space during deposition time. A change in the fluvial system has not been manifested in the variations of the plant cover. Palynological analysis indicates that climate conditions were generally stable, cool and humid (boreal). Sediment transport occurred towards the N-NW, through a valley with a NW-SE axis. Infrared optically stimulated luminescence (IR-OSL) dating shows the sequence formed from 225.6 ± 17.2 to 210.5 ± 16.6 ka. Well preserved fluvial cycles and 35 m of thickness suggest the intensive accumulation of the Blądzikowo Formation with decreasing ratio of lateral erosion. It suggests an increasing influence of base level rise on evolution of fluvial system, mostly during MIS 7.

Over recent decades a growing number of well-documented records from terrestrial last interglacial sites across central Europe have substantially improved our understanding of Eemian climate and landscape dynamics. Despite this progress, there are also large areas from which little information is available, thus constituting significant paleo-geographic gaps in the last interglacial record. Among the regions with still inadequate paleo-environmental information is the maritime-influenced area of NE-Germany at the southern margin of the Eemian (Baltic) Sea. Here we present first results from a geological investigation of a new last interglacial site, recently discovered during archaeological excavations near Beckentin (SW-Mecklenburg). The study area is located approximately 25 km to the south of the maximum MIS-2 ice limit of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in NE-Germany, and thus lies outside the Weichselian belt of glaciation. Based on lithostratigraphic and sedimentological logging, complemented by geochemical (XRF) and palynological investigations, we divide the local succession into three sections: (1) a basal facies comprising Saalian till and associated glaciofluvial sand, overlain by section (2) consisting of a fen peat which grades into laminated organic to minerogenic mud. The organic deposits of section (2) preserve a near complete Eemian pollen inventory, encompassing pollen zones (PZ) I to VI (Menke and Tynni 1984). Above this rest poorly sorted periglacial sands (section 3) with ventifacts and evidence for cryogenic deformation. Geochronological results from 230Th/U dating of the buried organic-rich deposits at Beckentin, show that these units accumulated in a former dead ice depression between 118 ± 7/6 ka and 114 ± 6/5 ka during the Eemian Interglacial. High-resolution optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) profiling, undertaken with a portable luminescence reader, reveals a significant hiatus between the lacustrine fines and overlying periglacial cover sand. Five OSL ages obtained from these cover sediments and the sand-filling of an ice-wedge cast show that these strata formed between during the last glacial - interglacial transition.

The wooly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) and forest rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis) were prominent representatives of the Middle and Late Pleistocene glacial and interglacial faunas of Eurasia. Their diet has traditionally been inferred on functional morphology of the dentition and skull. In rare cases, food remains are preserved in the fossas of the teeth or as gut content. New approaches to infer diet include the study of isotopes and mesowear. Here we apply all four methods to infer the diet of these emblematic rhinoceros' species and compare the food actually taken with the food available, as indicated by independent botanical data from the localities where the rhinoceros' fossils were found: Gorzów Wielkopolski (Eemian) and Starunia (Middle Vistulian) as well as analysis of literature data. We also made inferences on the season of death of these individuals. Our results indicate that the woolly rhino in both Europe and Asia (Siberia) was mainly a grazer, although at different times of the year and depending on the region its diet was also supplemented by leaves of shrubs and trees. According to the results of isotope studies, there were important individual variations. The data show a clear seasonal variation in the isotope composition of this rhino's diet. In contrast, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis was a browser, though its diet included low-growing vegetation. Its habitat consisted of various types of forests, from riparian to deciduous and mixed forests, and open areas. The diet of this species consisted of selected items of vegetation, also including plants growing near both flowing and standing waters. The food remains from the fossae of the teeth indicated flexible browsing, confirming the previous interpretations based on functional morphology and stable isotopes. Long-term data from mesowear and microwear across a wider range of S. kirchbergensis fossils indicate a more mixed diet with a browsing component. The different diets of both of rhinoceros reflect not only the different habitats, but also climate changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene., This research was supported by the grant No. 0201/2048/18 “Life and death of extinct rhino (Stephanorhinus sp.) from Western Poland: a multiproxy paleoenvironmental approach” finaced by the National Science Centre, Poland. Research by Elena M. Burkanova and Sergey V. Leshchisnkiy was funded by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RNF), Project No. 20-17-00033.

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 C 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., This research was supported by grant 0201/2048/18 ‘Life and death of extinctrhino (Stephanorhinus sp.) from Western Poland: a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental approach’ financed by the National Science Centre, Poland. LiDAR DTM data presented in this study were used under academic licences DIO.DFT.DSI.7211.1619.2015_PL_N and DIO.DFT.7211.9874. 2015_PL_N awarded to the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Environmental Management University of Wrocław, in accordance with the Polish legal regulations of the administration of the Head Office of Land Surveying and Cartography.

In the current study the result of subfossil Cladocera analysis of the lake sediments from tree sites: Hinterste Mühle (H-M) (NE Germany), Rzecino (NW Poland) and Łęczyce (N Poland) of the Eemian Interglacial and the inferred environmental alterations are presented. The aim of the study was to reconstruct and compare the development of Eemian lakes located within the north of Poland and Germany as determined on the basis of the changes in subfossil Cladocera composition in the context of local conditions, climate change and natural evolutionary processes.The studied reservoirs, fully developed during the Eemian Interglacial, were formed at the end of Late Saalian (MIS 6) and Early Eemian. The Hinterste Mühle profile is located in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The site lies in the southeastern edge of the gravel pit, at about 48 m a.s.l. The Rzecino paleolake is located in the West Pomerania Lakeland (NW Poland), at an elevation of 104.5 m a.s.l. The Łęczyce palaeolake is located in northern Poland, on the northern slope of the Łeba river valley.The subfossil Cladocera fauna from the H-M palaeolake is represented by 14 species belonging to three families. Three of them belong to a benthic group inhabiting mainly the bottom sediments, one to the open water zone, while the remaining species the dominant group occur among aquatic plants. Such a species composition marks a shallow water body or the littoral, macrophyte zone of a deeper lake. The Cladoceran fauna of deposits from the Rzecino paleolake are represented by 22 species that belong to four families. The majority of the remains consist of Chydoridae and Bosminidae. In the deposits, the ephippial eggs of the Daphnia longispina group, Ceriodaphnia spp., Chydorus spp., and Bosmina spp. are also identified. The subfossil cladoceran fauna of sediments in the Łęczyce profile is represented by 18 species that belong to four families. Most of the remains belong to the family of Chydoridae (13). Such species composition points to a deeper reservoir with a developed littoral zone with macrophytes.Summing up, a similar pattern was observed in the research paleolakes related to the beginning of the existing of the lakes, their full development and ending time, different from the paleolakes found in the south, related to the location and more intense contact with cool air masses from Northern Europe.

The accumulative fan was formed at the mouth of a well-developed system of erosive cuts in the lower Serteyka River valley in western Russia. The length of the fan reaches 70 m, and its thickness is up to 2 m. The erosive cuts (gullies) were formed on the steep and short slopes of the tunnel valley (transformed later into the river valley) and dissect the surface of the glaciofluvial plain for a length of ca. 110 meters. The absolute chronology of the development of that relief form was determined based on 14C and 210Pb data set. It was started at the earliest in the second half of the 17th century, and finished before the mid-19th c. AD. These processes can be correlated therefore with palaeoenvironmental changes during the pessary of the Little Ice Age (LIA), as well as with human impact during the agrarian and industrial revolution in Eastern Europe. Studied accumulative fan is formed of deluvium with the insertion of the proluvium and an agricultural diamikton which is developed in ceiling part. The research based on the results of analysis of depth diversity of textural features (mean grain-size diameter, sorting index, skewness and kurtosis), geochemical features (chemostratigraphy determined on the basis of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy – XRF) of the fan’s sediments and palaeoecological features (palynology analysis, subfossil Chironomidae and Cladocera analysis, plant macrofossil analysis) of biogenic deposits from under the fan.

The Eemian-Vistulian developmental history of the Ławy paleolake (Eastern Poland) has been studied by analysing records of micro- (pollen, Cladocera, Ostracoda), macrofossils (molluscs, mammal remains), the lithological record and radiocarbon dating from a 5.30 m sediment core. At Ławy, in the Paterebo stream valley, well-preserved mammal fossil remains accompanied by organic deposits have also been investigated. The results of the multi-proxy analyses suggest explicitly that the climate was the main driving force of the changes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and in the geomorphological processes in the catchment. However, we propose that the water level fluctuations were also an important factor in the modification of the aquatic assemblages. Pollen, cladocerans, molluscs and ostracods from Ławy indicate the existence of a small, shallow, well-vegetated paleolake during the warm Eemian climate optimum. In the final phase of the Eemian the lake was transformed into a mire. In the Early Vistulian, the variable hydrological conditions were the main driver force for the development of the study area. Finally the existence of the basin at Ławy was closely associated with periodic coexistence of limnic, telmatic and river environments.

Lacustrine sediments representing Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11) were found in Hermanow (SE Poland) in a present-day closed depression under a thin cover of Weichselian and Holocene deposits (1.4 m). These sediments filled a palaeolake created as a result of melting of a dead-ice block at the end of MIS 12. Geological research has excluded the presence of an ice sheet during MIS 12 in this area. The lobe of the ice sheet of this glaciation was located several kilometres to the west of Hermanow. The palaeolake was part of a larger palaeolakeland in southeastern Poland, formed during MIS 11. The palaeomorphology of this interglacial is evident in the contemporary relief of the area and the outline of the lakes corresponds to the pattern of the closed palaeodepressions. Based on the record of sediments from Hermanow, a new perspective regarding the sub-division of MIS 11 is presented. Two regressive phases are observed in the Holsteinian Interglacial (MIS 11c) – OHO and YHO. The subsequent substages with five cold fluctuations according to the newest stratigraphic standards should be assigned to MIS 11b with a very clear cooling and a slightly warmer MIS 11a. Carbon isotopic composition of organic matter corroborates geological and environmental analysis. The isotopic composition suggests two cooling periods: OHO and MIS 11b. Stable climatic conditions with little temperature fluctuations persisted between the cooling periods.

Analysis of pollen and macroremains from the Mazovian/Holsteinian interglacial in the Nowiny Żukowskie succession enabled the identification of numerous climatic indicators. The applied indicator-species method allowed for a detailed description of climatic changes, i.e. warmings and coolings that occurred in this interglacial. The determined ranges of temperatures that prevailed in particular periods provide a basis for an assumption that it was probably the warmest interglacial of the Pleistocene. The estimated temperature of the warmest month during the climatic optimum (Abies–Carpinus period) may have been 2–4 C° higher than in the warmest period of the Holocene. Moreover, numerous changes in humidity, evidenced by frequent oscillations from oceanic to continental climate, are particularly important. The cool periods are generally marked by the presence of Betula nana, Selaginella selaginoides and S. helvetica, heliophytes such as Helianthemum nummularium, and shrubs of Ephedra and Hippophae rhamnoides. The warmest period is documented by the occurrence of thermophylous trees, e.g. Pterocarya fraxinifolia, Juglans, shrubs, e.g. Buxus sempervirens and Vitis sylvestris, as well as Hedera helix, Viscum, and aquatic plants, e.g. Brasenia borysthenica.

A novel occurrence of an Eemian interglacial peat was identified in 2011 in a short-lived outcrop of the NEL-pipeline trench, near the village of Banzin, Germany. The profiles are situated in a shallow kettle hole within the undulated landscape of the Saalian glaciation. The distribution of dominantly till lithofacies in the Banzin area confirms the regional trend of Saalian tills with a locally higher abundance of Cretaceous clasts. In the Banzin kettle, at a depth of 2.2 m, lies a 0.5-m thick, strongly compressed Eemian peat layer. The buried Eemian peat layer is deformed by ice-wedge pseudo-morphological and mega crack structures, indicating a strong periglacial influence during Weichselian stadial phases. The post-Eemian sequence is subdivided into three units, beginning with a mixture of aeolian and gelifluction deposits, which are also modified by cryostructures. The top of the Banzin sequence is covered by a 0.5-m thick colluvisol layer of redeposited humic loam from the Late Weichselian/Holocene. The uppermost unit suggests that solifluction processes occurred in the last few hundred years, likely driven by intensive anthropogenic influence. Limnic sedimentation began during the Late Saalian period in a landscape characterized by herbaceous vegetation and heliophytes. During the latest interval of Saalian deglaciation, shallow waters of the basin most likely attained a depth below 3 m and were abundant in calcium carbonate. The beginning of Eemian interglacial peat accumulation (MIS 5e) is characterized by a dominance of light birch forests followed by pine. The ensuing optimum climate was dominated by the encroachment of oak forests and then hazel-oak forest, and sedimentation ceased in the basin during this phase. At the climatic optimum (PZ III/IV), the Eemian peat included remains of Ceratophyllum submersum and species of higher temperature requirements. The Banzin basin gradually became shallower and overgrown until the closing of its open water at the end of phase III/IVa. The lack of Cladocera species composition in the Eemian sequence proves isolated conditions of a shallow reservoir. We present the first results from NE-Germany for Eemian peat bog samples dated by the U–Th disequilibrium method ( 230 Th/U), using leachate alone (L/L) and total sample dissolution (TSD) analytical techniques. Isochron-corrected 230 Th/U ages of 118 ± 8/10 ka (L/L) and 121 ± 9/13 ka (TSD) were obtained. Both 230 Th/U dates ∼118–121 ka, obtained using two different techniques, confirm the biostratigraphical classification into the Eemian interglacial.

A pollen sequence of Holsteinian/Mazovian age known since the 1980s in Brus (Western Polesie) is the second site with a plant macrofossil record in eastern Poland. High sedimentation rates in a palaeolake that functioned in this area have allowed a detailed climate reconstruction that enabled to trace the Older and Younger Holsteinian oscillations and to outline the water-level changes in the water body. Climate reconstructions, based on full palaeobotanical analyses (pollen and macroremains), were compared with those from Nowiny Żukowskie (Lublin Upland), revealing regional climatic patterns. The two Holsteinian climate oscillations were correlated with those detected in the Dethlingen section of Germany (Koutsodendris et al., 2010), providing more information on the spatial scale of these events.

Different methods have been used to determine the stratigraphic position of Pleistocene alluvial deposits, particularly fluvial interglacial deposits. Near-surface deposits of a meandering river, developed in point-bar and oxbow lake facies, in the Samica River valley (near Łukow, eastern Poland) have been investigated. The fossil valley is incised into the till plain and the outwash. The fluvial succession is locally overlain by solifluction deposits. All the deposits underwent sedimentological analysis. The petrographic composition of basal till occurring in the vicinity of a fossil valley was determined with the method of indicator erratics. Fluvial deposits were examined by pollen analysis and plant macrofossil analysis of oxbow lake facies. Absolute dating methods were applied to the deposits (thermoluminescence methods: TL and additionally IRSL). Lithological differences between fluvial and the surrounding glaciofluvial deposits were identified and their lithostratigraphic position assigned. Petrographic analysis of till and palaeobotanical analyses of oxbow lake facies gave compatible results. Fluvial deposits were formed after the Sanian 2/Elsterian Glaciation, during the Mazovian/Holsteinian Interglacial. Luminescence dating of the fluvial deposits by the TL MAX method yielded the most relevant results (412-445 ka), which indicate that these deposits were formed during the end of the MIS 12 and beginning of the MIS 11 stage.

This paper describes a unique succession of alluvial deposits from the Holsteinian Interglacial in eastern Poland. The succession was studied in terms of sedimentology, palaeobotany, and thermoluminescence (TL) geochronology. The interglacial alluvial succession includes two facies of a meandering river: point bar and oxbow. TL ages of point bar deposits and palaeobotanical analysis of oxbow lake deposits allow us to associate the deposits with the initial phases (preoptimum period) of the Holsteinian Interglacial. Specific palaeoenvironmental conditions did not favour the formation of a complete interglacial biogenic–clastic succession as it was deposited in the shallow oxbow lake, which underwent rapid eutrophication.

The environmental variability during the Mazovian/Holsteinian interglacial is better understood thanks to the results of multidisciplinary palaeobotanical studies. The perfectly preserved and abundant material from Nowiny Żukowskie in SE Poland has been the subject of numerous palaeobotanical analyses. The results both of initial pollen analysis and of the examination of plant macroremains provide a detailed view of changes in the palaeoenvironment of this area during the Mazovian/Holsteinian interglacial. Originally, the water basin was mostly the habitat of plants indicative of low trophy. The frequent occurence of swamp plants evidences a change in hydrological and climatic conditions consistent with the intra-interglacial climatic oscillation. In the subsequent part of the optimum, an expansion of swamps with Aracites interglacialis and Dulichium arundinaceum was recorded. The development of a peat bog overgrown by i.a. Sphagnum sp., Eriophorum vaginatum, and Andromeda polifolia was also observed. The growth of swamp and peat vegetation resulted in the nearly complete disappearance of aquatic vegetation, apart from species typical of the climatic optimum of the Mazovian/Holsteinian interglacial: Brasenia borysthenica and Aldrovanda dokturovskyi. The close of the interglacial was marked by the intensive development of peat bog and swamp communities with Carex rostrata, Menyanthes trifoliata, and A. interglacialis. The intensive increase in the number of A. interglacialis during the period described as the “birch oscillation” supports the hypothesis of noticeable changes in hydrological conditions at that time. The end of the described period is typified by a deterioration of climatic conditions, indicated by the increase in values for Betula humilis, B. nana, and Juniperus communis.