ALBERT

Description: In order to understand the panarchy and interactions since the last interglacial period in the oldest, most diverse and hydrologically connected European lake system, we assess changes in the diatom record and selected geochemistry data from Lake Ohrid's "DEEP site" core and compare it with the diatom and multi-proxy data from Lake Prespa core Co1215. Driven by climate forcing, tephra impact and/or human influence, the lakes experienced two adaptive cycles during the last 92 ka: "interglacial and interstadial-regime" and "glacial-regime". The patterns of regime shifts appear synchronous in both lakes, while differences occur in the inferred amplitudes of the variations. The deeper Lake Ohrid shifted between ultraoligo- and oligotrophic regimes in contrast to the more shallow Lake Prespa, which shifts from (oligo-) mesotrophic to eutrophic conditions. In response to external forcing, Lake Ohrid exhibits a high capacity to buffer disturbances, whereas Lake Prespa is much more resilient and "recovers" in relatively short time. This decoupling of the response is evident during the MIS 5/4 and 2/1 transitions, when Lake Ohrid displays prolonged and gradual changes. The lakes' specific differences in the response and feedback mechanisms and their different physical and chemical properties, probably confine a direct influence of Lake Prespa's shallow/eutrophic regimes over the productivity regimes of Lake Ohrid. Regime shifts of Lake Ohrid due to the hydrological connectivity with Lake Prespa are not evident in the data presented here. Moreover, complete ecological collapse did not happened in both lakes for the period presented in the study.

Description: Lake Ohrid is located at the border between FYROM and Albania and formed during the latest phases of Alpine orogenesis. It is the deepest, the largest and the oldest tectonic lake in Europe. To better understand the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental evolution of Lake Ohrid a deep drilling was carried out in 2013 within the framework of the Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions (SCOPSCO) project that was funded by the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP). Preliminary results indicate that lacustrine sedimentation of Lake Ohrid started between 1.2 and 1.9 Ma ago. Here we present new pollen data (selected percentage and concentration taxa/groups) of the uppermost ~200 m of the 569 m-long DEEP core drilled in the depocenter of Lake Ohrid. The study is the fruit of a cooperative work carried out in several European palynological laboratories. The age model is based on nine tephra layers and on tuning of biogeochemical proxy data to orbital parameters and to the global benthic isotope stack LR04. According to the age model the studied sequence covers the last ~500 000 years at a millennial-scale resolution (~1.6 ka) and record the major vegetation and climate changes that occurred during the last 12 (13 only pro parte) marine isotope stages (MIS). Our results indicate that there is a general good correspondence between forested/non-forested periods and glacial/interglacial cycles of marine isotope stratigraphy. Our record shows a progressive change from cooler and wetter to warmer and dryer interglacial conditions. This shift is visible also in glacial vegetation. The interglacial phase corresponding to MIS11 (pollen assemblage zone, PAZ OD-12, 488–455 ka BP and OD-19, 367–328 ka BP) is dominated by montane trees such as conifers. The two younger interglacial periods, MIS5 (PAZ OD-3, 126–70 ka BP) and MIS1 (PAZ OD-1, 12 ka BP to present) are marked by dominance of mesophilous elements such as deciduous and semi-deciduous oaks. Moreover, MIS7 (PAZ OD-6, 245–189 ka) shows a very high interglacial variability, with alternating expansions of montane and mesophilous arboreal taxa. Grasslands (open vegetation formations requiring relatively humid conditions) characterize the first glacial phases of MIS12 (PAZ OD-12, 488–455 ka), MIS10 (corresponding to PAZ OD-10, 421–367 ka) and MIS8 (PAZ OD-7, 285–245 ka). Steppes (open vegetation formations typical of dry environments) prevail during MIS6 (OD-5 and OD-4, 189–126 ka) and during MIS4–2 (PAZ OD-2, 70–12 ka). Our palynological results support the notion that Lake Ohrid has been a refugium area for both temperate and montane trees during glacials. Close comparisons with other long southern European and Near Eastern pollen records will be achieved through ongoing high-resolution studies.