Biomarker and carbon isotope data from the 1st Mid-Polish and 2nd Lusatian lignite seams of the Konin Basin (Poland) re-evaluated to reconstruct vegetation dynamics during the Miocene Climatic Optimum

Achim Bechtel; Doris Groß; Andreas Lücke

doi:10.14746/logos.2026.32.geo04

.blurhash-client-img { display: none !important; }

Biomarker and carbon isotope data from the 1st Mid-Polish and 2nd Lusatian lignite seams of the Konin Basin (Poland) re-evaluated to reconstruct vegetation dynamics during the Miocene Climatic Optimum

Geologos

Volume 32 (2026): Issue 1 (May 2026)

By: Achim Bechtel , Doris Groß and Andreas Lücke

Open Access

|Jul 2026

Abstract

This study re-evaluates previous results based on analyses of fossil wood (xylites) from the 2^nd Lusatian lignite seam (LLS-2) and xylites and detritic lignite samples from the 1^st Mid-Polish lignite seam (MPLS-1), and outlines temporal and spatial differences in vegetation and depositional environments. Evidence for varying contributions of gymnosperms and angiosperms during peat accumulation comes from the biomarker and carbon isotopic composition of detritic lignite from MPLS-1. The investigated woody macrofossils (xylites) from all deposits (Lubstów, Adamów, Jóźwin IIB, Tomisławice) were derived from conifers. Slightly lower contributions of Cupressaceae and a greater contribution of Pinaceae in the peat-forming environment during deposition of LLS-2 are indicated by higher average abundance of tricyclic diterpanes (abietane-type) and lower contents of phyllocladanes. A higher groundwater table in the area of the Jóźwin IIB mine is indicated by enhanced gelification and lower cellulose content of xylites. Cellulose decomposition and contamination by inherent detritic lignite affect the δ¹³C values of fossil wood. Variations in δ¹³C values of wood cellulose were most probably caused by differences in water availability to conifers, associated with highly dynamic landscape evolution, including changing river flow directions, flood frequency, and crevasse-splay formation. Slightly higher average δ¹³C values of fossil wood cellulose during deposition of LLS-2, together with a similar trend observed in tree stumps from the Lower Rhine Basin, suggest episodically lower groundwater tables in the mires, probably related to variations in precipitation.

References

Arens N.C., Jahren A.H. & Amundson R., 2000. Can C3 plants faithfully record the carbon isotopic composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Paleobiology 261, 137–164. https://doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373(2000)026<;0137:CCPFRT>2.0.CO;2
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bechtel A., Widera M., Sachsenhofer R.F., Gratzer R., Lücke A. & Woszczyk M., 2007. Biomarker and stable carbon isotope systematics of fossil wood from the second Lusatian lignite seam of the Lubstów deposit (Poland). Organic Geochemistry 38, 1850–1864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2007.06.018
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bechtel A., Gratzer R., Sachsenhofer R.F., Gusterhuber J., Lücke A. & Püttmann W., 2008. Biomarker and carbon isotope variation in coal and fossil wood of Central Europe through the Cenozoic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 262, 166–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.03.005
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bechtel A., Widera M. & Woszczyk M., 2019. Composition of lipids from the First Lusatian lignite seam of the Konin Basin (Poland): Relationships with vegetation, climate and carbon cycling during the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum. Organic Geochemistry 138, 103908.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bechtel A., Widera M., Lücke A., Groß D. & Woszczyk M., 2020. Petrological and geochemical characteristics of xylites from the First Lusatian lignite seam (Konin Basin, Poland): implications for floral sources, decomposition and environmental conditions. Organic Geochemistry 147, 104052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2020.104052
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Benner R., Maccubbin A.E. & Hodson R.E., 1984. Anaerobic biodegradation of the lignin and polysaccaride components of lignocellulose and synthetic lignin by sediment micro-flora. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 47, 998–1004. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.47.5.998-1004.1984
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Benner R., Fogel M.L., Sprague E.K. & Hodson R.E., 1987. Depletion of ¹³C in lignin and its implications for stable carbon isotope studies. Nature 329, 708–710. https://doi.org/10.1038/329708a0
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bray E.E. & Evans E.D., 1961. Distribution of n-paraffins as a clue to recognition of source beds. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 22, 2–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(61)90069-2
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bruch A.A., Uhl D. & Mosbrugger V., 2007. Miocene climate in Europe-Patterns and evolution. A first synthesis of NECLIME. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 253, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.03.030
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Casagrande D.J., 1987. Sulphur in peat and coal. [In:] Scott A.C. (Ed.): Coal and Coal-Bearing Strata: Recent Advances. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 32, pp. 87–105. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1987.032.01.07
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ciuk E. & Grabowska I., 1991. Syntetyczny profil stratygraficzny trzeciorzędu złoża węgla brunatnego Lubstów w Lubstowie, woj. konińskie [Synthetic stratigraphic section of the Tertiary in the Lubstów brown coal deposit at Lubstów, Konin District]. Biuletyn Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 365, 47–72. (in Polish with English summary).
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Diefendorf A.F. & Freimuth E.J., 2017. Extracting the most from terrestrial plantderived n-alkyl lipids and their carbon isotopes from the sedimentary record: A review. Organic Geochemistry 103, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2016.10.016
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Diefendorf A.F., Freeman K.H., Wing S.L. & Graham H.V., 2011. Production of n-alkyl lipids in living plants and implications for the geologic past. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75, 7472–7485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2011.09.028
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Diefendorf A.F., Sberna D.T. & Taylor D.W., 2015. Effect of thermal maturation on plant-derived terpenoids and leaf wax n-alkyl components. Organic Geochemistry 89–90, 61–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2015.10.006
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Eglinton G. & Hamilton R.J., 1967. Leaf epicuticular waxes. Science 156, 1322–1335. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.156.3780.1322
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Fabiańska M. & Kurkiewicz S., 2013. Biomarkers, aromatic hydrocarbons and polar compounds in the Neogene lignites and gangue sediments of the Konin and Turoszów Brown Coal Basins (Poland). International Journal of Coal Geology 107, 24–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2012.11.008
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Grantham P.J. & Douglas A.G., 1980. The nature and origin of sesquiterpenoids in some Tertiary fossil resins. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 44, 1801–1810. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(80)90229-X
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Grimm K. (Ed.), 2002. Tertiary. [In:] German Stratigraphic Commission (Ed.): Stratigraphic table of Germany 2002.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hagemann H.W. & Hollerbach A., 1979. Relationship between the macropetrographic and organic geochemical composition of lignites. [In:] Douglas A.G., Maxwell J.R. (Eds): Advances in Organic Geochemistry. Pergamon Press, pp. 631–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/0079-1946(79)90144-7
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hayek E.W.H., Jordis U., Moche W. & Sauter F., 1989. A bicentennial of betulin. Phytochemistry 28, 2229–2242. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)97961-5
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Inglis G.N., Naafs B.D.A., Zeng Y., McClymont E.L., Evershed R.P. & Pancost R.D., 2018. Distribution of geohopanoids in peat: Implications for the use of hopanoid-based proxies in natural archives. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 224, 249–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.12.029
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jahren A.H. & Sternberg L.S.L., 2008. Annual patterns within tree rings of the Arctic middle Eocene (ca. 45 Ma): isotopic signatures of precipitation, relative humidity, and deciduousness. Geology 36, 99–102. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23876A.1
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jordan M., 1995. δ¹³C-Markierungen in Jahrringen fossiler Baumstämme – miozäne Klimazeugen aus der Niederrheinischen Bucht. [δ¹³C of growth rings from fossil tree stumps – climatic proxies for the Miocene of the Lower Rhine Basin]. PhD Thesis University of Cologne, Hundt Druck GmbH, Köln, 109 pp. (in German).
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Karrer W., Cherbuliez E. & Eugster C.H., 1977. Konstitution und Vorkommen der organischen Pflanzenstoffe [Configuration and appearance of phytochemicals]. Sublimentary volume I, Birkhäuser, Basel, Stuttgart, 1035 pp. (in German). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-9377-0
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kasiński J.R. & Słodkowska B., 2016. Factors controlling Cenozoic anthracogenesis in the Polish Lowlands. Geological Quarterly 60, 959–974.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kojić I., Kus J., Životić D. & Stojanović K., 2021. The potential of biomarkers to distinguish Lower and Middle Miocene lignites from coal-mining districts of Lusatia. [In:] 30^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG), 12–17 September 2021, Montpellier, France. https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.202134092
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kwiecińska B. & Wagner, M. 2001. Możliwość zastosowania refleksyjności jako metody badawczej w klasyfikowaniu i technologicznej ocenie jakości węgla brunatnego [Application of reflectance in natural and technological classification of brown coal (lignite)]. University of Science and Technology Press, Cracow, 35 pp. (in Polish).
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Logan G.A. & Eglinton G., 1994. Biogeochemistry of the Miocene lacustrine deposit at Clarkia, northern Idaho, U.S.A. Organic Geochemistry 21, 857–870. https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6380(94)90045-0
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lücke A., Helle G., Schleser G.H., Figueiral I., Mosbrugger V., Jones T.B. & Rowe N.P., 1999. Environmental history of German Lower Rhine Embayment during the Middle Miocene as reflected by carbon isotopes in brown coal. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 154, 339–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(99)00122-4
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Marynowski L., Otto A., Zatoń M., Philippe M. & Simoneit B.R.T., 2007. Biomolecules preserved in 168 million year old fossil conifer wood. Naturwissenschaften 94, 228–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0179-x
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Noble R.A., Alexander R., Kagi, R.I. & Knox J., 1985. Tetracyclic diterpenoid hydrocarbons in some Australian coals, sediments and crude oils. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 49, 2141–2147. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(85)90072-9
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Otto A. & Simoneit B.R.T., 2001. Chemosystematics and diagenesis of terpenoids in fossil conifer species and sediment from the Eocene Zeitz formation, Saxony, Germany. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 65, 3505–3527. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(01)00693-7
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Otto A. & Wilde V., 2001. Sesqui-, di-, and triterpenoids as chemosystematic markers in extant conifers – a review. Botanical Review 67, 141–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858076
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Otto A., Walther H. & Püttmann W., 1997. Sesqui- and diterpenoid biomarkers in Taxodium-rich Oligocene oxbow lake clays, Weisselster basin, Germany. Organic Geochemistry 26, 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(96)00133-7
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Otto A., Simoneit B.R.T., Wilde V., Kunzmann L. & Püttmann W., 2002. Terpenoid composition of three fossil resins from Cretaceous and Tertiary conifers. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 120, 203–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-6667(02)00072-6
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Pettersen R.C., 1984. The chemical composition of wood. [In:] Roswell R.M. (Ed.): The chemistry of solid wood. American Chemical Society, Washington D.C., pp. 57–126. https://doi.org/10.1021/ba-1984-0207.ch002
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Philp R.P., 1985. Fossil fuel biomarkers. Applications and spectra. Methods in Geochemistry and Geophysics 23, 1–294.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Piwocki M. & Ziembińska-Tworzydło M., 1997. Neogene of the Polish Lowlands — lithostratigraphy and pollen-spore zones. Geological Quarterly 41, 21–40.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Poole I., Dolezych M., Kool J., van der Burgh J. van Bergen P.F., 2006. Do stable carbon isotopes of brown coal woods record changes in Lower Miocene palaeoecology? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 236, 345–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.11.013
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rullkötter J., Peakman T.M. & ten Haven, H.L., 1994. Early diagenesis of terrigenous triterpenoids and its implications for petroleum geochemistry. Organic Geochemistry 21, 215–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6380(94)90186-4
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Sadowska A. & Giża B., 1991. The flora and age of the brown coal from Pątnów. Acta Palaeobotanica 31, 201–214.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Schleser G.H., Frielingsdorf J. & Blair A., 1999. Carbon isotope behaviour in wood and cellulose during artificial aging. Chemical Geology 158, 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(99)00024-8
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Simoneit B.R.T. & Mazurek M.A., 1982. Organic matter of the troposphere – II. Natural background of biogenic lipid matter in aerosols over the rural western United States. Atmospheric Environment 16, 2139–2159. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(82)90284-0
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Simoneit B.R.T., Otto A., Oros D. & Kusumoto N., 2019. Terpenoids of the Swamp Cypress Subfamily (Taxodioideae), Cupressaceae, an Overview by GC-MS. Molecules 2019 24, 3036. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24173036
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Słodkowska B. & Widera M., 2021. Vegetation response to environmental changes based on palynological research on the Middle Miocene lignite at the Jóźwin IIB open-cast mine (Konin region, central Poland). Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae 91, 149–166. https://doi.org/10.14241/asgp.2021.07
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Słodkowska B. & Widera M., 2022. Reconstruction of the sedimentary environment of phytogenic deposits in the Tomisławice opencast mine (Konin Region, central Poland). Geological Quarterly 66, 34. https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1666
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Stock A.T., Littke R., Lücke, A., Zieger L. & Thielemann T., 2016. Miocene depositional environment and climate in western Europe: The lignite deposits of the Lower Rhine Basin, Germany. International Journal of Coal Geology 157, 2–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2015.06.009
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Spyckerelle C., Greiner A.C., Albrecht P. & Ourisson G., 1977. Aromatic hydrocarbons from geological sources. Part III. Journal of Chemical Research (M), 3746–3777.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Sukh Dev, 1989. Terpenoids. [In:] Rowe J.W. (Ed.): Natural Products of Woody Plants, Vol. 1. Springer, Berlin, pp. 691–807. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74075-6_19
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Teichmüller M., 1989. The genesis of coal from the viewpoint of coal petrology. International Journal of Coal Geology 12, 1–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/0166-5162(89)90047-5
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
ten Haven H.L., Peakman T.M. & Rullkötter J., 1992. Early diagenetic transformation of higher-plant triterpenoids in deep-sea sediments from Baffin Bay. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 56, 2001–2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(92)90326-E
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Tipple B.J., Meyers S.R. & Pagani M., 2010. Carbon isotope ratio of Cenozoic CO₂: a comparative evaluation of available geochemical proxies. Paleoceanography 25, PA3202. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009PA001851
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Urbański P., Wachocki R. & Widera M., 2025. Sedimentary record of the late Neogene avulsion process at the Tomisławice lignite opencast mine in central Poland – a new hypothesis. Acta Geologica Polonica 75, e55. https://doi.org/10.24425/agp.2025.155949
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wakeham S.G., Schaffner C. & Giger, W., 1980. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Recent lake sediments. II. Compounds derived from biological precursors during early diagenesis. Geochimimica et Cosmochimica Acta 44, 415–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(80)90041-1
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M., 2007. Litostratygrafia i paleotektonika kenozoiku podplejstoceńskiego Wielkopolski [Lithostratigraphy and Palaeotectonics of the Sub-Pleistocene Cenozoic of Wielkopolska]. Adam Mickiewicz University Press, Poznań, 224 pp. (in Polish with English summary).
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M., 2016. Depositional environments of overbank sedimentation in the lignite-bearing Grey Clays Member: New evidence from Middle Miocene deposits of central Poland. Sedimentary Geology 335, 150–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2016.02.013
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M., 2021. Geologia polskich złóż węgla brunatnego [Geology of Polish lignite deposits]. Bogucki Science Press, Poznań, 180 pp. (in Polish).
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M. & Kita A., 2007. Paleogene marginal marine sedimentation in central-western Poland. Geological Quarterly 51, 79–90.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M. & Klęsk J., 2025. Poznań Clays versus Poznań Formation in the upper Neogene of the Polish Lowlands: Controversy about meaning, origin and age. Geological Quarterly 69, 17. https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1790
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M., Bechtel A., Chomiak L., Maciaszek P., Słodkowska B., Wachocki R., Worobiec E., Worobiec G. & Zieliński T., 2021a. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Konin Basin (central Poland) during lignite accumulation linked to the Mid-Miocene Climate Optimum. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 568, 110307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110307
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M., Zieliński T., Chomiak L., Maciaszek P., Wachocki R., Bechtel A., Słodkowska B., Worobiec E. & Worobiec G., 2021b. Tectonic-climatic interactions during changes of depositional environments in the Carpathian foreland: An example from the Neogene of central Poland. Acta Geologica Polonica 71, 519–542. https://doi.org/10.24425/agp.2020.134567
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Widera M., Dzieduszyńska D. & Petera-Zganiacz J., 2022. Geological and palaeogeographical peculiarities of the Adamów Graben area, central Poland. Geologos 28, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.2478/logos-2022-0001
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wissel H., Mayr C. & Lücke A., 2008. A new approach for the isolation of cellulose from aquatic plant tissue and freshwater sediments for stable isotope analysis. Organic Geochemistry 39, 1545–1561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2008.07.014
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wolff G.A., Trendel J.M. & Albrecht P., 1989. Novel monoaromatic triterpenoid hydrocarbons occuring in sediments. Tetrahedron 45, 6721–6728. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)89142-0
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Worobiec E., Widera M., Worobiec G. & Kurdziel B., 2021. Middle Miocene palynoflora from the Adamów lignite deposit, central Poland. Palynology 45, 59–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2019.1697388
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Zachos J., Pagani M., Sloan L., Thomas E. & Billups K., 2001. Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present. Science 292, 686–693. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059412
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Zieliński T. & Widera M., 2020. Anastomosing-to-meandering transitional river in sedimentary record: A case study from the Neogene of central Poland. Sedimentary Geology 404, 105677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2020.105677
Search in Google Scholar Back to article

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/logos.2026.32.geo04 | Journal eISSN: 2080-6574 | Journal ISSN: 1426-8981

Journal RSS Feed

Language: English

Page range: 1 - 19

Submitted on: Mar 23, 2026

Accepted on: May 5, 2026

Published on: Jul 18, 2026

Published by: Adam Mickiewicz University

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

Related subjects:

Geology and mineralogy

© 2026 Achim Bechtel, Doris Groß, Andreas Lücke, published by Adam Mickiewicz University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 32 (2026): Issue 1 (May 2026)