Early Holocene Quantitative Summer Temperature Reconstructions in SE Lithuania Inferred from Chironomidae Data

Chironomid subfossils were analysed at the Čepkeliai palaeolake in southern Lithuania in order to reconstruct the environmental history of the site during the Early Holocene, paying particular attention to climate change. Mean July air temperatures were inferred using two different chironomid–climate calibration data sets. As currently no chironomid-based climate calibration set is available from Lithuania, calibration data sets from Fennoscandia, Finland, and Poland were used instead. Our reconstructions suggest that mean July temperatures varied between 13.2 °C and 18.5 °C during the Early Holocene, similar to present-day temperatures. Both reconstructions show a series of climatic events that occurred during the Early Holocene, including the Preboreal oscillation and the “10.2”, “9.2”, and “8.2” oscillations. The reconstruction results correlate well with those carried out simultaneously in neighbouring countries, providing valuable information for this period, as such studies are still rare in the Eastern Baltic region.