PALYNOCLIMATOSTRATIGRAPHY AND FORMATION CONDITIO NS OF PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS IN THE TRLICA CAVE (MONTENEGRO)

Abstract

The results of palynological analysis allowed climatostratigraphic subdivision of Pleistocene deposits of the Trlica cave, located in the vicinity of Pljevlja town in northern Montenegro. The palynological record confirms significant hiatuses in the sedimentation revealed by the field lithologic-genetic analysis. The changes of landscape and climatic conditions that occurred during the formation of the studied Pleistocene strata are reconstructed. Specific features of flora and vegetation of three stages of the final part of the Early Pleistocene corresponding to MIS 22, MIS 21, MIS 20, as well as three stages of the first half of the Middle Pleistocene correlated to MIS 19, MIS 18 and MIS 15, have been identified. Throughout the entire period of the Pleistocene deposits in Trlica, the mountain landscapes in the vicinity of the cave were covered mainly by forests, that underwent significant transformations of their composition during the change of interglacial conditions by the stages of cooling. The materials of palynological analysis of the Quaternary sediments of Montenegro are very scarce. Therefore, the sporepollen data of the Trlica section and the revealed climatic-phytocenotic successions of three interglacial and three relatively cold (near-glacial) stages of the Early and Middle Pleistocene presented in the article are an important contribution to the study of the Pleistocene paleoenvironments of the Balkan Peninsula.