Ecohydrological perspective of phytogenic organic and inorganic componentsin Greek lignites: a quantitative reinterpretation

A consensus about the development of freshwater wetlands in relation to tim e and space is urgently required. Our study aims to address this issue by p roviding additional data for a fine-scaled comparison of local depositional settings of Greek mires during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Lignite profi les exhibit phytogenic organic components (macerals) that have been used to investigate the past peat-forming vegetation structure and their successio n series. The organic petrology of lignite samples from the opencast mines of Komanos (Ptolemais) and Choremi (Megalopolis) was achieved to assess the water supply, wetland type, nutrient status and vegetation physiognomy. A holistic approach (a study of ecosystems as complete entities) was carried out for a paleoecological reconstruction of the mires. Huminite, liptinite and inertinite were traced by means of their chemical and morphological dif ferences together with the morphogenic and taphonomic affinities. The probl em of combining independent information from different approaches in a mult ivariate calibration setup has been considered. Linear regression, non-metr ic multidimensional scaling and one-way analysis of variance tested the occ urrence of palynological and petrological proxies. Although the lignite for mation and deposition are less related to humid periods than expected, the resulting differences occurring in the reconstructed development stages app ear to be related to astronomically forced climate fluctuations. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.