Due to the long sedimentation period (about 70 000 y.) and the unique quality of the lake deposits represented by very long, monotonous layers of lacustrine chalk, the sequence at Ossówka is exceptional. We conducted highly-resolved pollen and isotope analysis of the 27-m-long, upper part of the sequence of the lake sediments covering the final stage of the Holsteinian and the early phases of the Saalian Complex (Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 11–10). In the pollen profile three main forest interstadials (L PAZ O-3, O-5, O-7) and the intervening steppe – tundra stadials (L PAZ O-2, O-4, O-6, O-8) as well as numerous units of lower rank were identified. Interstadials were characterized mainly by the presence of well-established pine forest. Stadials in turn, represented steppe – tundra vegetation with very pronounced continental influences. Also, three clearly established phases of forest fires starting at the beginning of interstadials and gradually disappearing are interesting feature of the sequence. Fires of that scale are very rarely noted in the palynological spectra. The examined sequence is characterized by the high dynamics of changes in the post interglacial part of the profile. It provides, coupled with clear features of the Holsteinian succession and its duration, a reliable correlation with other terrestrial and marine archives.

This malacological analysis was conducted at a site with peat and calcareous tufas in Łapsze Niżne, Podhale

(southern Poland). The study was carried out in 6 main and several complementary sections, in which 37 mollusc

species were recognized represented by almost 11 000 specimens. The study enabled the reconstruction of

environmental changes during the accumulation of the Holocene deposits (from the Boreal Phase till present).

Conclusions drawn from these reconstructions were compared with results of malacological and palynological

studies from other sites in Podhale. As a result, regional environmental reconstructions for the Holocene of the

area were made. The specific composition, ecological structure and succession of molluscan assemblages from

Łapsze Niżne indicate a significant role for local factors, thus demonstrating the variability of environmental

conditions within a geographic region.

This paper is a summary of the results of research on the accumulation conditions of the Upper Younger Loess (LMg) in Poland and Bug loess (bg) in Ukraine from the maximum stage (MIS 2) of the Vistulian (Weichselian) Glaciation in central and eastern Europe. These studies included an analysis of the morphological (topographic) situation of the loess cover, its grain size and heavy mineral composition, the preserved structures of loess sedimentation as well as mollusc and pollen analyses of this loess. They revealed that the accumulation of Upper Younger Loess (UYL) might have been more dependent on the prevailing moisture conditions than previously thought. These conditions could have been caused by cold air masses from an ice sheet and warm air masses from the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic coming together in the Carpathians and the Holy Cross Mountains and favouring the formation of dust storms and precipitation. In this process, a loading of loess dust (formed from local rocks weathering in periglacial conditions) by atmospheric moisture particles was especially significant. The moist substrate not only favoured the periodic development of vegetation and molluscs but also enabled the interception of dust and the accumulation of an increasingly thick loess cover. Westerly and south-westerly winds predominated in the UYL as indicated by the topographic position of loess patches and the mineral composition of the studied loess. Periodically an increased air circulation from the east and northeast occurred.