LAST MILLENIUM LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION AROUND THE BABADAG LAKE (TULCEA DISTRICT, ROMANIA) : FIRST RESULTS OF A HIGH RESOLUTION SEQUENCE

Jean-Michel Carozza, Laurent Carozza, Mihaela Danu, Albane Burens, Christian Micu, Sorin Ailincai, Bruno Malaize, Philippe Martinez (France)

Abstract

The Babadag lake constitue the north-west termination of the Razim-Sinoe lagunal system. This lake is now separated by a 4 km wide swamp area, high reeds density from the rest of the lagoon and is connexion to the Black Sea is maintained artificially. A part of the water overflow into the Black Sea by this narrow outlet. As the origin of this lake remains unclear, it could be considered as the upper part of the Telitça and Taitza rivers ria, flooded during Black sea / Mediterranean-world ocean reconnexion arround ~ 8000 cal. BP.
As a part of Archaeological and Geoarchaeological Danube Delta Projet, a 9 m deep core was extracted in the Babadag south-est shore in order to found a palaeoecological, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reference sequence. The core covers only the last 1000 years. Palaeoecological (pollen and NPP), phytoliths and XRF analysis are steel in progress but first results indicate :
- A high sedimentation rate in the lake is documented by 6 radiocarbon date during the last Millenium. Mean sedimentation rate is close to 1,15 cm.an-1.
- Good pollen and NPP preservation that allows for the first time to document vegatation history in the lower Danube area. Preliminary data indicate good vegetation richness and arborean/non arborean vegetation fluctuation during this time.
These results are set against historical data, in particular in relation with the Enisala city data. Palaeogeographical implication of these new data in relation to human occupation and landscape transformation are discussed.

Keywords: Babadag lake, Lower Danube, Romania, Razim-Sinoe, multi-proxy analysis, geoarchaeology, palaeogeography, Enisala city