Lateglacial to Mid-Holocene history of Vasby Mose, eastern Sjælland, Denmark

Abstract

We retrieved a sediment core from Vasby Mose, a calcareous fen on eastern Sjælland, Denmark. The record spans the period from c. 14 700 to 6800 cal. years BP. During the Lateglacial, Vasby Mose was a lake where minerogenic sandy and clayey sediments accumulated. In the early Lateglacial, from c. 14 700 to 13 200 cal. years BP, a tundralike open, treeless vegetation with Betula nana and Dryas octopetala was found in the region. During the Younger Dryas, a rich flora of aquatic plants was found in the lake. In the Early to Mid-Holocene, Vasby Mose was a spring-fed calcareous fen, with deposition of peat and tufa. The flora included the sedges Carex rostrata and Carex paniculata, the aquatic plant Menyathes trifoliata, the calciphilous reed plant Cladium mariscus and the today nationally extinct bryophyte Meesia triquetra. The fauna included aquatic mollusc taxa such as Pisidium sp., Valvata spp. And Bithynia tentaculate and terrestrial or semi-terrestrial species such as Galba truncatula, Euconolus cf. alderi, Succinea/Oxyloma, Zonitoides nitidus and Vallonia pulchella. The Preboreal oscillation and other Early Holocene climate events are seen as short-lived, wet intervals.