52. Western Black Sea continental slope: continuous Late Pleniglacial to Subatlantic palaeovegetation record

The Black Sea is an intercontinental enclosed-type marine basin. The Black Sea continental slope is characterised by deeply indented relief. The AKAD09-10 core studied consists of continuous deposits and was taken from the interfluvial zone located between submarine valleys. The natural vegetation of the western Black Sea coast is dominated by temperate forest communities of Quercus cerris L. and Q. frainetto Ten., together with Q. polycarpa Schur. and Carpinus betulus L. (Bondev 1991; FilipovaMarinova et al. 2017). Riverine flooded (riparian) forests are mainly composed of Fraxinus oxycarpa Willd., Ulmus minor Mill., Carpinus betulus, Q. pedunculiflora C.-Koch, Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaerth., and Hedera helix L. Relic South-Euxinian forests of Fagus orientalis Lipsky, with the undergrowth of Rhododendron ponticum L. are spread in humid ravines of the Strandzha Mountains. Steppe vegetation of the Dobrudzha region is dominated by Festuca pseudovina Hack. ex Wiseb., Chrysopogon gryllus (L.) Trin., Botriochloa ischaemum (L.) Keng, and Poa bulbosa L. Elements of the Mediterranean vegetation are Paliurus spina-christi Mill., Carpinus orientalis Mill., Phillyrea latifolia L., and Fraxinus ornus L. The western Black Sea coast is part of the Continental-Mediterranean climatic area and is influenced by the proximity of the sea. Mean annual precipitation in Varna is 480 mm. The mean annual temperature in Varna is 12 °C (Kotsev & Filipova-Marinova 2017).