Reinvestigation of the interglacial pollen flora at Leveäniemi, Swedish Lapland

The till-covered organic sediments at Leveäiemi, Swedish Lapland have been reinvestigated by pollen analysis in order to gather more detailed information on vegetation history and climatic conditions during the interglacial period represented at this site. A partly different picture of the vegetation succession has arisen compared to earlier studies and results. The organic sequence is still correlated with the Eemian, but the forests were probably more open during the initial and later parts of the interglaciation than suggested earlier. This is based on the higher values of Juniperus pollen noted, and a continuous curve for Populous pollen during the PAZ representing the later part of the interglaciation. Comparisons are made with other sites in northern Sweden, Finland and northern Norway, and the possibilities of separating Eeinian deposits from those formed during the Holsteinian interglaciation are discussed.