Vegetation and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the Sousaki Basin (eastern Gulf of Corinth, Greece) during the Early Pleistocene

Pollen analysis was performed on a Lower Pleistocene lacustrine sedimentary sequence outcropping in Sousaki Basin, eastern Gulf of Corinth, Greece for the first time. The palynological assemblages revealed a stable climate, with regard to the glacial/interglacial climate variability timescale, with minor fluctuations in humidity, expressed as a relatively wet phase between 13.1 and 19.3 m and some transient increased aridity and humidity events. A Mediterranean type of vegetation presenting altitudinal zonation was evidenced for the first time in this region. Pinus and Quercus dominate, accompanied by other arboreal and non arboreal plants. The presence of rare taxa such as Taxodiaceae, Engelhardia, Liquidambar, Tsuga and Cedrus in very low percentages shows that these taxa remained in the area as relicts sometime between 2.8 and 1.5Ma. Palaeovegetation patterns from the Balkan Peninsula are lacking, especially during the Early Pleistocene. Thus, in this study a palaeoclimate reconstruction of the Early Pleistocene Sousaki Basin based on palynological data, is presented accentuating the effect of global climate changes in an area where no other similar records exist.