PRISTINE MIRE LANDSCAPES 43 Introduction Żabieniec mire is situated near Łódź (25 kilometres to the east) in the area of Wzniesienia Łódzkie Landscape Park (central Poland). The peatland is located on the morainic upland in the watershed area with the Mrożyca River to the west and Mroga River to the east. The peatland area is stretched over 2 hectares (4.9 acres) and it is situated in the central part of the oval, 1.5 km long depression (without out-flow). The interdisciplinary research carried out during the past few years focused on peat archives and lake sediments. They were accumulated during the late Vistulian and the Holocene. This peatland is a kettle-hole mire, which is unusual for this part of the Polish Lowland. The research work is being carried out by a team of experts in geomorphology, palaeobotany (pollen analysis, plant macrofossils analysis, and diatom analysis), palaeozool- ogy (Cladocera, Chironomidae), protistology (testate amoebae) and archaeology. Laboratory work on the biogenic sediments is in progress. Age-depth model was constructed for the peat part of the profile (0.0 – 3.8 m). This paper demonstrates the results of the Holocene part of the profile. Results Sediments The bottom sediment of Zabieniec mire consists of sand that was at the end of the Upper Plenivistulian. From 16.10 to 12.40 metres, mineral silt can be found and, placed directly above 12.40 m, is gyttia with silt. From 10.75 to 8.30 metres, the basin is filled with light-brown detrital – clay gyttia (accumulated in the Late Vistulian). In the layer between 8.30 and 3.8 metres, detritus brown gyttja was accumulated (with two layers of brown moss peat). Telmatic sediments can be found at 3.80 metres and upwards. The bottom of the peat has been dated at 2100 BC. Plant macrofossil Peat and detrital gyttja were analyzed with palaeobotanical methods (Kloss et al., 2004). From 10.75 m to 8.30 m the basin is filled with light-brown detrital – clay gyttja. Fine- detrital gyttja with a low mineral content can be located between 8.3 and 6.05 metres. It also includes substantial remains of Potamogeton natans and Ceratophyllum demersum. Two layers of moss peat composed mainly of Multi-proxy study of anthropogenic disturbance and climate change in a small mire in central Poland Jacek Forysiak 1 , Zofia Balwierz 1 , Ryszard K. Borówka 2 , Piotr Kittel 1 , Marek Kloss 3 , Mariusz Lamentowicz 4 , Mateusz Płóciennik 5 , Jacek Pawlyta 6 , Dominik Pawłowski 4 , Julita Tomkowiak 2 , Juliusz Twardy 1 , Joanna Żelazna-Wieczorek 5 and Sławomir Żurek 7 1 University of Lodz, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Lodz, Poland Phone: 048-426655972, e-mail: jacekfor@geo.uni.lodz.pl; Phone: 048-426655969, e-mail: zbalw@geo.uni.lodz.pl Phone: 048-426354553, e-mail: pkittel@geo.uni.lodz.pl; Phone: 048-426655973, e-mail: czwart@geo.uni.lodz.pl 2 University of Szczecin, Institute of Marine Sciences, Szczecin e-mail: geologia@univ.szczecin.pl 3 Centre for Ecological Research of Polish Academy of Sciences, Dziekanów Leśny, 05-092 Łomianki, Poland Phone: 048-227513046, e-mail: m.kloss@wp.pl 4 Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Dziegielowa 27, 61-680 Poznań e-mail: mariuszl@amu.edu.pl); e-mail: dominikp@amu.edu.pl 5 University of Lodz, Faculty of Biology and Environment Protection, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland e-mail: mplociennik10@wp.pl; Phone: 048-426354412; e-mail: zelazna@biol.uni.lodz.pl 6 Silesian University of Technology, Institute of Physics, Krzywoustego 2, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland e-mail: jacek.pawlytta@polsl.pl 7 Swiętokrzyska Akademy, Institute of Geography, Świętokrzyska 15, 25-406 Kielce, Poland Phone: 048 413316586, e-mail: jacekteofil@o2.pl Summary The Żabieniec kettle-hole mire is situated in central Poland. Peat and limnic deposits were studied with several proxies. There are also geomorphological and archeological studies being carried out in the mire surroundings. The main part of the sequence of lake sediments and peat accumulated under natural conditions. In the top part of the peat an anthropogenic disturbance was recognized as the signal of agricultural development extending from the Middle Ages to the present day. Key index words: anthropogenic changes, climate change, kettle-hole mire, central Poland