Geologists are trying to determine the absolute age of the oldest sediments of the Quaternary geological period, which are thought to have been deposited a million or a million and a half years ago, i.e. during the first continental glaciation in the Baltic region. Understanding how the Earth’s climate has evolved in the past is essential for predicting possible future climate changes.
“Palaeoclimatic evolution is evident in one way or another in the sediments of rivers, lakes and wetlands. In this respect, Lithuania has a valuable palaeoclimatic archive, especially its eastern part – the territory of the present-day Anykščiai Regional Park is home to the oldest sediments of the Quaternary geological period, which are thought to have been deposited prior to or during the first continental glaciation in the Baltic region. They date back several hundred thousand, or even a million or a million and a half years“, says Prof. Dr. Albertas Bitinas, Academician, Chief Researcher at the Nature Research Centre.
Together with Nature Research Centre’s postdoctoral fellow Dr. Michal Šujan from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, he aims to determine the absolute age of these sediments and thus contribute to the understanding of the still poorly investigated continental glaciation processes in the Northern European Quaternary period.
Research is pursued in the Anykščiai Regional Park, in the outcrops of the Šventoji River at Vetygala, Daumantai and Šlavė Rivulet, as well as in the Anykščiai silica sand quarry.
You can read more at: NETRUKUS SUŽINOSIME TIKRĄJĮ ANYKŠČIŲ REGIONINIO PARKO ATODANGOSE ESANČIŲ KVARTERO PERIODO ŽEMĖS SLUOKSNIŲ AMŽIŲ – Aukštaitijos saugomų teritorijų direkcija (lrv.lt)
