Palynology of the former lake – marshes of Maliq and Sovjan
Palynology is even more interesting. There is a new, modern field of science Palynology (Palynology from Greek παλ?νω – to multiply) which studies microscopic particles, i.e. inorganic and organic multiplications in the air, in water, in the soil, in water deposits and sediments and everywhere else and among these particles also pollen grains. Meanwhile, palynology does not only study living pollen, but also that of fossils from thousands and millions of years ago, thus opening a new scientific field, its sub-branch, paleopalynology or even more specifically, botanical paleopalynology.
Paleopalynological studies by identifying pollen fossils, for certain periods, in certain environments, help a lot to understand what happened to the flora of thousands of years ago, in a certain area, how this flora, i.e. the vegetation, evolved of forests and the entire plant cover, etc., helps to create paleobotanical profiles and maps of an area, to understand climate changes for periods spanning millions of years, etc.
Pollen grains are fossilized in time and stay like that for thousands of years, thanks to an organic substance that the pollen itself has called sporopollenin, which is lipidic in nature but whose composition is still not well known. Sporopollenin is considered to be the most resistant organic substance in the world that is known to date, as it has been observed untouched even in magmatic rocks thousands of years old. Well, this substance fossilizes the pollen grain, preserving it in time from heat, pressure, cold, as well as from most chemical agents. Fossilized pollen grains are therefore among the most protected biological elements from the ravages of time.
Fortunately for us, the lake-swamp of Maliq has also been studied in this aspect by a group of French scientists, whose results have been published in the scientific article: Michelle Denèflea et al, “A 12,000 – Year Pollen Record from Lake Maliq, Albania”. Elsevier, Volume 54, Issue 3, November 2000, pg. 423 – 432 that in this case too, I am bringing in a summarized form and briefly, some data here. Studies show that in the Maliqi peat, pollen fossils of 91 different plant species have been found, classified into four groups: in trees and shrubs (32); in herbaceous plants (43); in aquatic plants (13); and in algae (3).
Among the trees and shrubs, more frequent in different samples, there are predominances of different pollen fossils of these species; pine 67% with an average for a range of samples 35%; oak 47%; spruce 34%; willow 27%; olive 21%; beech 15%; and black scotch 15%. Other species are found in less than 10% of a sample.
Meanwhile, in the group of trees and shrubs, pollen fossils were also found from these species: maple, birch, ivy, mastic wood, hazel, bush, scotch, chestnut, beech, oak, strawberry, cedar, olive, maple, hemlock, larch , grapes, grapes, nuts, etc., etc.
Among the herbaceous plant fossils, the following predominances were found in the samples: grasses 78%; artemisia (wormwood) 43%; chenopodiacet (laboti) 20%, etc. Meanwhile, these other species have also been found: cow’s tongue, bellflower, carnation, daisy, cococheli, cruciferous, milkweed, rye, oregano, legume, clover, asphodel, plantain flower, sorrel, primrose, rose, umbrella, nettle, etc., etc. .