Clues of a hot spring oasis include fossilized leaf fragments, wood, and pollen of temperate species. Radiocarbon dating places these fossils at the last glacial maximum (LGM) 26,000-19,000 years ago.
Geothermal heat from hot springs likely kept trees like oaks, lindens, and ashes alive during the LGM, in an isolated warm forest habitat far north of their Mediterranean counterparts.
Debates among biologists about glacial refugia in northern Europe during the LGM persist. Refugia are crucial in understanding species distribution and diversity today.
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