Climatic influence on Lake Stymphalia during the last 15 000 years

Abstract

Known from the ancient myth of Heracles fighting the Stymphalianbirds, the karst polje of Stymphalia (22°27’E, 37°51’N) is anideal site to study the climate history of the area. Stymphaliais the only natural perennial lake on the Northern Peloponnesus,which provides a continuous sedimentary record of the entireHolocene and a large part of the Last Glacial. As a large andquite reliable water reservoir, Lake Stymphalia and itssurrounding karst springs played an important role for the watersupply of the region from ancient time until today. However, dueto climate fluctuations, the water supply can changesignificantly, challenging the water management of the peopleliving in the area. Here we present geochemical analyses of theuppermost part of a lake sediment core (STY-1), recording thechanges in climate and water supply during the Holocene and theLate Glacial. The chronology is based on several 14C datescombined to a Bayesian age-depth model. Using XRF elementalanalysis, we compare the influx of terrestrial material(indicated by K and Rb) to the carbonate precipitation in thelake (indicated by Ca and Sr). The Rb/Sr ratio as a proxy forchanges between dry/warm and wet/cold conditions indicatepronounced wet phases around 6800, 4000–3700–4000, 3500–3000 and500–200 cal BP.