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    Sedimentological processes and environmental variability at Lake Ohrid (Macedonia, Albania) between 637 ka and the present
    (Katlenburg-Lindau : European Geosciences Union, 2016) Francke, Alexander; Wagner, Bernd; Just, Janna; Leicher, Niklas; Gromig, Raphael; Baumgarten, Henrike; Vogel, Hendrik; Lacey, Jack H.; Sadori, Laura; Wonik, Thomas; Leng, Melanie J.; Zanchetta, Giovanni; Sulpizio, Roberto; Giaccio, Biagio
    Lake Ohrid (Macedonia, Albania) is thought to be more than 1.2 million years old and host more than 300 endemic species. As a target of the International Continental scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), a successful deep drilling campaign was carried out within the scope of the Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid (SCOPSCO) project in 2013. Here, we present lithological, sedimentological, and (bio-)geochemical data from the upper 247.8 m composite depth of the overall 569 m long DEEP site sediment succession from the central part of the lake. According to an age model, which is based on 11 tephra layers (first-order tie points) and on tuning of bio-geochemical proxy data to orbital parameters (second-order tie points), the analyzed sediment sequence covers the last 637 kyr. The DEEP site sediment succession consists of hemipelagic sediments, which are interspersed by several tephra layers and infrequent, thin (< 5 cm) mass wasting deposits. The hemipelagic sediments can be classified into three different lithotypes. Lithotype 1 and 2 deposits comprise calcareous and slightly calcareous silty clay and are predominantly attributed to interglacial periods with high primary productivity in the lake during summer and reduced mixing during winter. The data suggest that high ion and nutrient concentrations in the lake water promoted calcite precipitation and diatom growth in the epilimnion during MIS15, 13, and 5. Following a strong primary productivity, highest interglacial temperatures can be reported for marine isotope stages (MIS) 11 and 5, whereas MIS15, 13, 9, and 7 were comparably cooler. Lithotype 3 deposits consist of clastic, silty clayey material and predominantly represent glacial periods with low primary productivity during summer and longer and intensified mixing during winter. The data imply that the most severe glacial conditions at Lake Ohrid persisted during MIS16, 12, 10, and 6, whereas somewhat warmer temperatures can be inferred for MIS14, 8, 4, and 2. Interglacial-like conditions occurred during parts of MIS14 and 8. © Author(s) 2016.
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    The environmental and evolutionary history of Lake Ohrid (FYROM/Albania): interim results from the SCOPSCO deep drilling project
    (Katlenburg-Lindau : European Geosciences Union, 2017) Wagner, Bernd; Wilke, Thomas; Francke, Alexander; Albrecht, Christian; Baumgarten, Henrike; Bertini, Adele; Combourieu-Nebout, Nathalie; Cvetkoska, Aleksandra; D'Addabbo, Michele; Donders, Timme H.; Föller, Kirstin; Giaccio, Biagio; Grazhdani, Andon; Hauffe, Torsten; Holtvoeth, Jens; Joannin, Sebastien; Jovanovska, Elena; Just, Janna; Kouli, Katerina; Koutsodendris, Andreas; Krastel, Sebastian; Lacey, Jack H.; Leicher, Niklas; Leng, Melanie J.; Levkov, Zlatko; Lindhorst, Katja; Masi, Alessia; Mercuri, Anna M.; Nomade, Sebastien; Nowaczyk, Norbert; Panagiotopoulos, Konstantinos; Peyron, Odile; Reed, Jane M.; Regattieri, Eleonora; Sadori, Laura; Sagnotti, Leonardo; Stelbrink, Björn; Sulpizio, Roberto; Tofilovska, Slavica; Torri, Paola; Vogel, Hendrik; Wagner, Thomas; Wagner-Cremer, Friederike; Wolff, George A.; Wonik, Thomas; Zanchetta, Giovanni; Zhang, Xiaosen S.
    This study reviews and synthesises existing information generated within the SCOPSCO (Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid) deep drilling project. The four main aims of the project are to infer (i) the age and origin of Lake Ohrid (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Republic of Albania), (ii) its regional seismotectonic history, (iii) volcanic activity and climate change in the central northern Mediterranean region, and (iv) the influence of major geological events on the evolution of its endemic species. The Ohrid basin formed by transtension during the Miocene, opened during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and the lake established de novo in the still relatively narrow valley between 1.9 and 1.3 Ma. The lake history is recorded in a 584 m long sediment sequence, which was recovered within the framework of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) from the central part (DEEP site) of the lake in spring 2013. To date, 54 tephra and cryptotephra horizons have been found in the upper 460 m of this sequence. Tephrochronology and tuning biogeochemical proxy data to orbital parameters revealed that the upper 247.8 m represent the last 637 kyr. The multi-proxy data set covering these 637 kyr indicates long-term variability. Some proxies show a change from generally cooler and wetter to drier and warmer glacial and interglacial periods around 300 ka. Short-term environmental change caused, for example, by tephra deposition or the climatic impact of millennial-scale Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events are superimposed on the long-term trends. Evolutionary studies on the extant fauna indicate that Lake Ohrid was not a refugial area for regional freshwater animals. This differs from the surrounding catchment, where the mountainous setting with relatively high water availability provided a refuge for temperate and montane trees during the relatively cold and dry glacial periods. Although Lake Ohrid experienced significant environmental change over the last 637 kyr, preliminary molecular data from extant microgastropod species do not indicate significant changes in diversification rate during this period. The reasons for this constant rate remain largely unknown, but a possible lack of environmentally induced extinction events in Lake Ohrid and/or the high resilience of the ecosystems may have played a role. © Author(s) 2017.