Holocene paleoclimatic and paleohydrological changes in Lake Balaton as inferred from a complex quantitative environmental historical study of a lacustrine sequence of the Szigliget embayment

Abstract

The present paper discusses the findings of a complex quantitative paleoecological investigation implemented for capturing the Upper Weichselian, Late Glacial and Postglacial development of Lake Balaton in western Hungary, in the heart of Transdanubia. The studied Late Pleistocene and Holocene lacustrine marl and peat sequence preserved the complete evolutionary history of the catchment basin of the Szigliget Embayment from the time of its birth. The inferred palaeohydrological changes, along with that of the hydroseries, were compared to those observable coevally in the terrestrial vegetation. According to the available data, the birth of the studied embayment can be put to the Late Glacial/Upper Weichselian transition. A wide array of hydrophyte vegetation and habitat types emerged in the embayment depending on the actual water supply and geomorphologic position. Based on a collective quantitative evaluation of the observed sedimentary features and fossil assemblages retrieved from the sequence, a record of paleohydrological transformations in the littoral part of the lake was drawn.