Age and evolution of the Littorina Sea in the light of geochemical analysis and radiocarbon dating sediment of cores from the Arkona Basin and Mecklenburg Bay (SW Baltic Sea)

Two sediment cores from the Mecklenburg Bay and Arkona Basin were analysed in terms of their geochemical composition and stratigraphy. The main stages of the Baltic Sea evolution – Baltic Ice Lake, Ancylus Lake, and Littorina Sea – were identified in both analysed cores. The most pronounced period was the transition between the Ancylus Lake and the Littorina Sea. The character of the initial stage of the Littorina Sea was clearly defined in the Mecklenburg Bay sediments and is marked by a stepwise increase in loss on ignition and contents of biogenic silica, calcium, magnesium, iron, and strontium. The record of the onset of the Littorina Sea in the Arkona Basin sediments is marked by an abrupt change of the geochemical parameters. The age of the initial Littorina Sea in the Mecklenburg Bay was estimated at about 8200 cal years BP and was probably older than the transgression within the Arkona Basin.