DATE2016-06-02 10:36:40
IDABSTRACT20160602103640-1085
CONTACTskyrikou@geol.uoa.gr
PRESENTATIONPOSTER
INVITED0
IDSESSION3
TITLEHOLOCENE PLANT LANDSCAPES OF WEST ATTICA (GREECE): FROM A CLIMATE CONTROLLED VEGETATION TO THE MODERN CULTURAL LANDSCAPE.
AUTHORSStella Kyrikou (1), Katerina Kouli (1), Maria V Triantaphyllou (1), Margarita D Dimiza (1), Alexandra Gogou (2), Aristomenis P. Karageorgis (2), Christos Anagnostou (2)
AFFILIATIONS
  1. Faculty Of Geology And Geoenvironment, National And Kapodistrian University Of Athens Athens (Greece)
  2. Institute Of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre For Marine Research Anavyssos (Greece)
ABSTRACTElefsis bay is located in northern Saronikos Gulf, at a geomorphological embayment between Attica and Salamis Island. Given its restricted communication -through two shallow straits- to the open Saronikos Gulf, its water depth -that does not exceed 35 m- and its vicinity to west Attica, Elefsis bay is very sensitive archive for the study of both marine and terrestrial environmental variability. From the deepest part of Elefsis bay, at a water depth of 35 m, a 3.42-m-long gravity core (S2P) was recovered by the R/V Aegaeo of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). High resolution palynological analysis of the top 200 cm of core S2P provides concrete evidence on vegetation dynamics and prevailing environmental conditions in the area of Western Attica since the base of the Holocene. The complete absence of marine dinoflagellate cysts and foraminifera linings from the base of the sequence until 245 cm and their continuous occurrence in high abundances upcore, marks the marine transgression in Elefsis bay, already identified by previous geochemical, sedimentological and micropalaeontological (foraminiferal) analysis of the sediments. In the base of our pollen record the transition from initially open woodland vegetation with deciduous oaks and significant presence of Pistacia indicating the onset of Holocene, to a dense deciduous oak and then oak-hoarnbeam mixed forest is evidenced. Late Holocene is characterized by the expansion of pines and a retreat of deciduous forest vegetation, while altitudinal forest vegetation exhibits significant fluctuations. The first detected sign of the impact of human activities on vegetation in the area is a mid-Holocene increase of Olea, while during the last ~3000 BP a clear human shaping of the landscape is recorded. As our record is one of the very few existing continuous palaeoenvironmental archives in an area that bear a long history, its further study will improve our understanding of natural and anthropogenic climate variability and the impact of abrupt climate changes on human societies.
PAGE84
STATE1