The late-glacial at Lac de Creno (Corsica, France): a key site in the western Mediterranean basin

The lower part (460–650 cm) of a lacustrine sequence from Lac de Creno, Corsica (1310 m) is analysed on the basis of 68 pollen spectra and with the support of 10 14C dates (including nine A.M.S. dates). This sequence, which extends from the end of the Würm to the beginning of the Postglacial, reveals a complete late-glacial. The absence of forest dynamics during the late glacial Interstadial in Corsica is a real mystery. Pollen data clearly suggest that Pinus laricio (=Pinus nigra Arnold ssp. laricio Maire) and perhaps other tree species did not exist in Corsica at that time.