Freshwater ostracods (Crustacea) from the Lateglacial site at Miesenheim, Germany, and temperature reconstruction during the Meiendorf Interstadial

Combined investigations of ostracod communities, pollen, and stable isotopes were carried out on Lateglacial limnic high-resolution sediment sequence from Miesenheim in Germany. The pollen data confirm the presence of Meiendorf Interstadial, the first interstadial after the Pleniglacial. The former shallow lake was formed at the end of the Pleniglacial and partly dried out between the Bølling and the Allerød. Lake Laach tephra (12,880 warve yr BP) marks the top of this profile. The intensive colonization with ostracods at the beginning of the Meiendorf Interstadial is characterized by great instability of their populations. Only ostracods from the upper littoral zones of lakes, ponds or temporary pools were found. The stable isotope data (δ18O, δ13C) of the valves of the Cypridopsis vidua, Herpetocypris reptans, and Candona candida reflect the different microhabitats of these three species and show a general climatic development during the Meiendorf Interstadial with two summer temperature peaks, one at the beginning and a weaker one in the second half of the Meiendorf Interstadial.