theINNISH F ENVIRONmENT 4 | 2010 PALAEOGEOGRAPHYLATE GLACIAL OF EASTERN AND HOLOCENE FENNOSCANDIA PALAEOVEGETATION AND This volume contains a comprehensive synthesis of mire research concerning the NATURE palaeoecology and palaeogeography of Eastern Fennoscandia, i.e. Karelian republic Late Glacial and Holocene and Murmansk region (Kola Peninsula), done during the last 60 years in the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Petrozavodsk. palaeovegetation and The main aim of publishing the book in English was to bring the knowledge, palaeogeography previously available mainly in Russian only, to the international specialist and scientific community in Nordic countries, in Central Europe, in North America and of Eastern Fennoscandia also elsewhere. The writers of the foreword have had over 20 years of Finnish-Russian cooperation in mire research, giving a good basis for the publishing. The information is important Galina A. Elina, Anatoly D. Lukashov and for the understanding of the present state of boreal and subarctic mires, as well Tatyana K. Yurkovskaya as the impacts of climatic change on nature. This information is needed also in the guidelines of responsible wise use of peat and peatlands. The book also gives a sound basis for the estimation of carbon storages deposited in mires. Hopefully the book will stimulate international cooperation in the studies of mires and climatic change in the whole boreal zone. One important task of this book is increase the understanding that we have to give a chance to mires to continue their role in their palaeoecological task. T E FINNISH ENVIRON H Order Service: Edita Publishing Ltd. P.O. Box 780, FI-00043 EDITA Customer Service: phone +358 20 450 05, fax +358 20 450 2380 Mail orders: [email protected] www.edita.fi/netmarket m E ISBN 978-952-11-3715-0 (pbk.) NT 4/2010 ISBN 978-952-11-3716-7 (PDF) ISBN 978-952-11-3677-1 (CD) ISSN 1238-7312 (print.) ISSN 1796-1637 (online.) 9 789521 137150 Finnish Environment Institute THE FINNISH ENVIRONMENT 4 | 2010 Late Glacial and Holocene palaeovegetation and palaeogeography of Eastern Fennoscandia Galina A. Elina, Anatoly D. Lukashov and Tatyana K. Yurkovskaya Helsinki 2010 FINNISH ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE THE FINNISH ENVIRONMENT 4 | 2010 The Finnish Environment Institute Natural Environment Centre Layout: Pirjo Appelgren Cover: An aerial view of a White Sea coast bog. This kind of huge massifs of eccentric bogs covers large areas on the southern coast of White Sea. The bogs lie in the Baltic shield in the west, and in a sedimentary rock area in the east. This view is from the eastern side of Dvina river in Archangel region. (Photo Tapio Lindholm 2002) Photo page 10: A pillow lava outcrop, smoothed by glaciations. Pillow lava structure is an evidence of the fact that the lava was erupted in water. The water causes a rapid chilling of the crust of the lava, and it may form separate drops or lumps. This lava outcrop is from the River Kepa rapids in Ypäyssuo mire area, in Kalevala region in the Northern part of Karelia. (Photo Tapio Lindholm 2003) Photo page 66: Eriophorum latifolium, a rich fen plant. The photo is taken in Olonets Karelia, Kolatselgä region, where calcareous bedrock is the reason for the occurrence of rich fens and rich forests. Mire Suonansuo. (Photo Tapio Lindholm 2008) Photo page 226: A White Sea coast eccentric bog Matigora close to Belomorsk in North Karelia. The surface pattern consist of hollows and hummocks. Lichens are abundant in high hummocks. (Photo Tapio Lindholm 2006) Photo page 276: Epipactis palustris, plant which favour calcareous moist habitats. In Fennoscadian Boreal zone it is rich fen plant. The photo from Olonets Karelia, Kolatselgä region. Rich fen close to the village Mandera (Photo Tapio Lindholm 2008) This publication is also available on the Internet at www.environment.fi/syke/publications Vammalan Kirjapaino Oy, Sastamala 2010 Printed on paper certified according to ISO 14001 environmental standards. ISBN 978-952-11-3715-0 (pbk) ISBN 978-952-11-3716-7 (PDF) ISBN 978-952-11-3677-1 (CD) ISSN 1238-7312 (print) ISSN 1796-1637 (online) FOREWORD Raimo Heikkilä, Tapio Lindholm & Oleg Kuznetsov Studies of boreal mires have a long history in Russia. Originally mires have been largely studied as natural resources. Up to 1980s the utilization of mires for forestry, peat mining and agriculture were key issues. To understand the present situation of mires, much attention has been paid from the very beginning to the natural history of mires. The research has resulted in numerous high quality publications. Unfortu- nately, during the Soviet time, most of the works have been published only in Rus- sian, which has reduced the possibilities of scientists from most other countries in the boreal zone to get information on the results from Russia. Also during the Soviet time, international contacts of scientists were limited, and research developed more or less isolated. Rather often the fine results were not distributed internationally. This book is a synthesis of work done during almost 60 years in eastern Fennoscandia about the Late Glacial and Holocene dynamics of mires and landscapes. The authors have successfully gathered together both geological and botanical data and reached a unique reconstruction of the Holocene vegetation history of Karelian Republic and Murmansk region. This edition is based on a Russian edition which was originally published in 2000 in Petrozavodsk. In Finnish-Russian mire conservation and research cooperation since 1983 we have learnt about Russian mire science and about the publications. The late Marina Botch from St. Petersburg had an important role in opening the Russian mire science to Finnish researchers. The idea about translating this book into English came up in 2002 when discussing with Galina A. Elina in the Mire Ecosystems Laboratory in the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Petrozavodsk. The text was translated into English by Ms. Olga Kislova from Karelian Research Centre. The figures have been edited in Friendship Park Research Centre by Ms. Pirjo Ap- pelgrén and Ms. Eveliina Pulkkinen to make printing in colour possible. Finally, Ms. Karen Heikkilä, M.A., from Kuhmo has made linguistic revision. For the English edition, also numerous photos were kindly provided by dr. Galina Elina. She also made some updating in the text. The way of expression follows the typical Russian style in synthetic monographs. The text is wide and descriptive, and includes a lot of detailed interpretations of the results. The book is a unique synthesis of the Russian school of mire and palaeoecol- ogy studies. An important point is that the book includes a comprehensive list of references, mainly Russian sources. The main aim of this English edition is to extend knowledge about Russian mire science over the whole circumboreal zone. We also hope to improve possibilities for international cooperation in mire studies. The Finnish Environment 4 | 2010 3 The authors of the book Elina, Galina Andreevna (Елина Галина Андреевна) (1929-) Doctor of Science in Biol- ogy, Chief Researcher and former head of Mire Ecosystems Laboratory of the Karelian Research Centre. She is a specialist in geobotany, mire science, palaeogeography and ecology. She has worked for the Institute of Biology, Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences since 1951. Galina Elina is the author of 180 scientific publications, including 5 monographs and 3 popular science books. She has lately been paying much attention to digital mapping of the Holocene palaeovegetation and palaeolandscapes using GIS technologies. Lukashov, Anatoly Dmitrievich (Лукашов Анатолий Дмитриевич) (1934-2004) PhD in Geology and Mineralogy, Leading Researcher. He worked at the Institute of Geology, Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences for over 45 years. Over these years, he took part in expeditions to many parts of East Fennoscandia, doing research in geomorphology, geoecology, neotectonics and mapping of Quaternary sediments. Anatoli Lukashov published over 100 scientific papers, including 2 monographs writ- ten individually and 5 in co-authorship. Yurkovskaya, Tatyana Kornelievna (Юрковская Татьяна Корнельевна) (1930-) Doctor of Science in Biology, leading researcher, former head of the Vegetation Geography and Cartography Laboratory (Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia). She is a specialist in geobotany, vegetation geog- raphy and cartography, and mire science. Tatiana Yurkovskaya is the editor of the Geobotanical Mapping annual. She has over 200 scientific publications. She is also the author and co-author of numerous vegetation maps, including e.g. the internationally prepared Vegetation Map of Europe. G.A. Elina, Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Science, 11 Pushkinskaya str., 185910 Petrozavodsk, Karelia. E-mail [email protected]; T.K. Yurkovskaya, Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Science, 2 Prof. Popov str., St. Pe- tersburg. E-mail [email protected] 4 The Finnish Environment 4 | 2010 CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................................................7 1 Geology and geomorphology..............................................................................11 Morphostructure.........................................................................................................12 Morphosculpture........................................................................................................16