Radiocarbon chronology of late Glacial and Holocene sedimentation and water-level changes in the area of the Gosciaz Lake Basin

We obtained ¹⁴C ages on samples of lake marl and other sediments from cores taken in Gosciaz Lake and its environs. Comparison of ¹⁴C dates of bulk samples of laminated sediment with varve chronology and viable AMS dates of terrestrial macrofossils indicates a reservoir correction of 2000±120 yr for the basal series of lake sediments. ¹⁴C dates obtained on peat layers underlying the oldest lacustrine sediments in Gosciaz and other lakes consistently locate the beginning of organogenic sedimentation in this area at c13 ka BP. we distinguished three periods of lacustrine gyttja sedimentation in cores taken in Gosciaz and adjacent lakes: 11.8-10.2 ka, 8-7 ka and 2.7-2.1 ka BP. From the ¹⁴C dates of lithological boundaries in these cores, we reconstruct a pattern of lake-level changes during the last 12 ka, remarkably similar to Swedish lakes and generally agreeing with available records from European and American lakes. -from Authors