Environmental response to climate changes in the Pleistocene : a selected evidence from Poland

We review published data to explain climatic and environmental changes as recorded in the deposits and landforms of the Quaternary of Poland. A wide range of research methods have been used to reconstruct the environmental conditions at many sites and selected studies summarized here include those of interglacial palaeolake deposits at Ossówka and periglacial structures at Wierzchuca Nagórna (both in the Podlasie Region), a loess profile at Wąchock and sandy deposits in Korzecko (both in the Holy Cross Mountains), carbonate cementation forms at Reńsko (Wielkopolska Region), and well-preserved glacial landforms in the Dobrzyń Lakeland, Suwałki Lakeland and the Carpathians including the Tatra Mountains. The terrestrial record described is far from complete but it demonstrates that climate change in the Quaternary glacial and interglacial periods occurred with high frequency, varying intensity and cyclicity. Climate instability during cold phases of the Pleistocene is more evident, as expressed by terminal moraines in the Polish Lowland and in the mountains. In warmer periods, climatic instability was expressed mainly through high-resolution records. The examples provided from both cold and warm Quaternary phases clearly show climate changes as common and natural phenomena.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr POPUL/SP/0154/2024/02 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki II" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki (2025).