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Helena Alexandersson

Helena Alexanderson

Professor

Helena Alexandersson

Holocene relative shore-level changes and development of the Ģipka lagoon in the western Gulf of Riga

Author

  • Alar Rosentau
  • Ieva Grudzinska
  • Edyta Kalińska
  • Helena Alexanderson
  • Valdis Bērziņš
  • Aija Ceriņa
  • Laimdota Kalniņa
  • Jānis Karušs
  • Kristaps Lamsters
  • Merle Muru
  • Māris Nartišs
  • Līga Paparde
  • Tiit Hang
Show all

Summary, in English

Holocene relative shore-level changes and development of the Ģipka palaeolagoon in the western Gulf of Riga are reconstructed using multiproxy analyses by combining litho-, biostratigraphical and chronological data with remote sensing and geophysical data. The results show the development of the Ģipka basin from the Ancylus Lake/Initial Litorina Sea coastal zone (before c. 9.1 cal. ka BP) to coastal fen (c. 9.1 to 8.4 cal. ka BP) and gradual development of the Litorina Sea lagoon (c. 8.4 to 4.8 cal. ka BP) and its transition to a freshwater coastal lake (c. 4.8 to 4.6 cal. ka BP), fen (c. 4.6 to 4.2 cal. ka BP), and river floodplain (since c. 4.2 cal. ka BP). The highest shorelines of the Ancylus Lake and Litorina Sea were mapped at an elevation of 12–11 and 9 m a.s.l., respectively. A new relative shore level (RSL) curve for the western Gulf of Riga was constructed based on RSL data from the Ģipka area and from nearby Ruhnu Island studied earlier. The reconstruction shows that the beginning of the last marine transgression in the western Gulf of Riga started at c. 8.4 cal. ka BP, and concurred with the 1.9 m RSL rise event recorded from the North Sea basin. Diatom analysis results indicate the existence of the Ģipka lagoon between c. 7.7 and 4.8 cal. ka BP, with the highest salinity c. 6.1 cal. ka BP. During the existence of the brackish lagoon, settlement sites of the Neolithic hunter–gatherer groups existed on the shores of the lagoon in the period c. 6.0 to 5.0 cal. ka BP.

Department/s

  • Quaternary Sciences

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Pages

517-537

Publication/Series

Boreas

Volume

52

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Geology

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0300-9483