- Objective 1
The High Tatras moraine relief shows a glacier stabilization in two phases, at 26-21 ka and at 18 ka (Makos et al. 2014), followed by a gradual retreat and vanishing, which is dated to 8330 BP at altitude 1400 asl on the Polish side of the Tatras (Kotarba and Baumgart-Kotarba 1999). Makos et al. (2014) consider N-S gradient affected glacier progress/retreat due to higher temperature and lower precipitation on south-oriented valleys. Novikmec et al. (2013) give in attention a topographic effect of shading on ice cover duration of actual Tatras lakes. Therefore, asynchronous absolute age of glacial retreat at the given altitude can be expected.
Objective 1: Timing of the glacier disappearance in the High Tatras Mts. and impact of topography and altitude on climate change timing.
- Objective 2
The transition between the last glacial maximum (PGM) to the Holocene is one of the most intensively studied geological period in palaeoclimatology. The annual average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere during this period increased by 5°C, leading to a warming of the tropical and deep ocean waters and sea level rise about 120 m due a dramatic retreat of glaciers. A deglaciation caused significant changes in the hydrological cycle evidenced at regional level (Cronin 2010).
Vanishing of glacier in the Tatras alpine region lead to a development of pine-birch forest (Vaškovský 1977), but a predictive value of pollen analysis for short time period is suppressed by effect of pollen transport to the lakes from the surrounding area (Baumgart-Kotarba and Kotarba 2001; Rybníčková and Rybníček 2006).
Objective 2: Ecological change analysis on the glacial/interglacial boundary.
- Objective 3
The Holocene period in Europe is divided into five time intervals based on climate changes that could be caused by external factors, e.g. variability of solar radiation or volcanic activity (Cronin 2010). The pollen analysis did not show line forest oscillations in the Holocene sediments of the High Tatras Mts., which was probably more controlled by geomorphological and edaphic conditions than Holocene climate changes (Rybníčková and Rybníček 2006). Sedimentary core from the Poprad Lake, however, shows four short interruptions in organic (gyttja) sedimentation with a significant decrease of TOC and increase of clastic sedimentation.
Objective 3: Identification of ecological changes in the mountain region in the Holocene.
Baumgart-Kotarba M., Kotarba A., 2001. Studia Geomorph. Carp.-Balcanica, 35, 7-38
Cronin Th. M., 2010. Paleoclimates – Understanding Climate Change Past and Present. Columbia University Press. New York, 441 pp.
Kotarba A., Baumgart-Kotarba M., 1999. Z. Geomorph. N.F., Suppl.-Bd. 113, 19-31.
Makos M., Nitychoruk J., Zreda M., 2014. Quaternary Int., 293, 63-78.
Novikmec M., Svitok M., Kočický D., Šporka F., Bitušík P., 2013. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Res., 45, 1, 77-87.
Rybníčková E., Rybníček K., 2006. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 15, 345-356.
Vaškovský I., 1977. Kvartér Slovenska. Geologický Ústav Dionýza Štúra, Bratislava, 247 pp.