Latest Pleistocene and Holocene pollen records from Lake Kopais, Southeast Greece.

Abstract

Latest Pleistocene to Holocene pollen records with six AMS 14C ages from Lake Kopais, Southeast Greece are provided. While the Holocene zone (KP 11) is characterized by dense forest of Quercus (oak), the pre-Holocene zone (KP 10) is dominated by Chenopodiaceae (chenopod) and Artemisia (sagebrush) accompanied with Pinus (pine) and Ephedra (mahuang), showing that KP 10 represents a glacial phase in the Pleistocene. No grains of Olea (olive), Ericaceae (heath) nor Quercus ilex-type (evergreen oak) are found in this glacial phase. This denies that the Kopais region held the refugia for Mediterranean evergreen trees to survive the glacials.