Scientific publications

The paper presents the results of high-resolution paleopalynological and lithological studies of sediments from mire lake S14 in the vicinity of the Mukhrino Research Station (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) aged 12 000 cal. yr. BP. Evidence was obtained for the existence of open cryoarid landscapes with sparse spruce and larch stands at the end of the Late Glacial period, rapid spread of birch forests 11 000–10 000 cal. yr. BP, and swift spread of Scots pine immediately after 10 000 cal. yr. BP, but a slower dispersal of fir and Siberian pine only after 4800 cal. yr. BP. It is shown, that the fire frequency and intensity in the landscape peaked at the termination of the Late Glacial period and at the beginning of the Holocene, but as there spread closed-canopy forests, the intensity of regional fires decreased sharply. New paleopalynological data derived from the sediment core from Lake S14 confirm and deepen the age of the paleoreconstructions made previously for the nearest peat section (aged 10 000 cal. yr. BP), but do not correlate with those from the lake core taken from the more distant Lake Svetlenkoye, which was affected by river floods during its early developmental stages.