Palaeoenvironmental Proxies for Permafrost Presence During the Younger Dryas, Central Poland

Abstract Involutions and small frost fissures have been recorded over a wide area of the lower terrace of the Warta River valley (central Poland). They developed at the lithological boundary between an organic‐rich deposit with a thin peat layer (unit b) and an underlying fluvial sandy deposit (unit a). Most of the involutions are products of a reversed density gradient and loading, or developed under the influence of cryohydrostatic pressure. Among them are drop‐like and flat‐bottomed structures, diapirs, flame‐like and fold structures and irregular involutions. Some frost fissures have also been recorded in the same stratigraphic position. The sedimentological properties and formative mechanism of the involutions, together with environmental data (lithology, groundwater conditions, snow cover and vegetation), reveal their origin as periglacial. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the structures formed during the Younger Dryas. Overall, the involutions and frost fissures indicate that permafrost re‐aggraded in this region of central Poland during the Younger Dryas. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.