Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-05T12:59:14.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Holocene Climatic Change in the Balkans: Speleothem Isotopic Data from Serbia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Aleksander Kacanski ,
Israel Carmi ,
Aldo Shemesh ,
Joel Kronfeld ,
Ruth Yam  and
Akiva Flexer
Aleksander Kacanski
Affiliation:
Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel
Israel Carmi
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Aldo Shemesh
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Joel Kronfeld*
Affiliation:
Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel
Ruth Yam
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Akiva Flexer
Affiliation:
Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A detailed profile of the stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen was obtained from a speleothem (stalagmite) from the Ceremosjna Cave in eastern Serbia. The stalagmite is a low magnesian calcite that did not show any evidence of diagenetic alteration. It was precipitated under isotopic equilibrium conditions from dripping water. The age and rate of deposition was derived from six internally consistent radiocarbon dates. The initial 14C activity was determined to be approximately 80 pMC. The stalagmite appears to preserve a continuous record of calcite deposition from approximately 2300 BP until the present.

Oxygen isotopic data, based upon 100 samples, are used to derive the first paleotemperature record for Serbia. A regression analysis of the all the data indicates that over the period of time that the speleothem was deposited there was a general trend of lowering of the average temperature. Superimposed upon this are significant long-term temperature fluctuations. These can be divided into four broader climatic groupings. Going from the oldest times to the present, there are two warm periods separated by a period when the temperatures fell below the temperature trend line. However, the absolute temperatures were generally above those of the more recent period that is generally characterized by the coolest climatic conditions.

Type
I. Our ‘Dry’ Environment: Above Sea Level
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 43 , Issue 2B: Proceedings of the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 3), Conference Editors: Israel Carmi, Elisabetta Boaretto , 2001 , pp. 647 - 658
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Baker, A, Ito, E, Smart, PL, McEwan, R. 1997. Elevated and variable values of 13C in speleothems in a British cave system. Chemical Geology 136:263–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, I, Fritz, P. 1997. Environmental isotopes in hydrology. New York: Lewis Publishers. 328 p.Google Scholar
Craig, H. 1961. Standard for reporting concentrations of deuterium and oxygen-18 in natural waters. Science 133:1833–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dansgaard, W. 1964. Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus XVI:436–68.Google Scholar
Goudie, A. 1994. Environmental change. Third Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 329 p.Google Scholar
Hendy, CH. 1971. The isotopic geochemistry of speleothems-I. The calculation of the effects of different models of formation on the isotopic composition of speleothems and their applicability as palaeoclimatic indicators. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 35: 801–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendy, CH, Wilson, AT. 1968. Paleoclimatic data from speleothems. Nature 219:48–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodell, D, Shemesh, A, Crosta, X, Kanfoush, C, Guilderson, T. 2001. Evidence for late Holocene Neoglaciation in the Southern Hemisphere. Quaternary Research 56: 191–8.Google Scholar
Horvatincic, N, Srdoc, D, Solar, J, Tvrdikova, H. 1989. Comparison of the 14C activity of groundwater and recent tufa from karst areas in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Radiocarbon 31(3):884–92.Google Scholar
Ivanovich, M, Harmon, RS, editors. 1992. Uranium-series disequilibrium: applications to earth, marine, and environmental sciences. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 910 p.Google Scholar
Lamb, HH. 1971. Volcanic activity and climate. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 10:203–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarevic, R. 1988. Ceremosnja-Pecina. Radna organizacija za ugostiteljstvo i turizam “Partizan”, Kucevo. 88 p. In Serbian.Google Scholar
Levin, I, Kromer, B. 1997. Twenty years of atmospheric 14CO2 observations at Schaunsland Station, Germany. Radiocarbon 39(2):205–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Libby, WF. 1952. Radiocarbon dating. University of Chicago Press. 124 p.Google Scholar
Schwarcz, HP. 1986. Geochronology and isotope geochemistry of speleothems. In: Fritz, P, Fontes, J-C, editors. The handbook of isotope geochemistry, the terrestrial environment. B , Volume 2. Amsterdam: Elsevier. p 271–304.Google Scholar
Vogel, JC. 1967. Investigation of groundwater flow with radiocarbon. Isotopes in Hydrology. Vienna: IAEA. p 355–68.Google Scholar
Vogel, JC. 1970. Carbon-14 dating of groundwater. Radioisotopes in Hydrology. Vienna: IAEA. p 225–39.Google Scholar
Wang, Y, et al. 1998. Carbon cycling in terrestrial environments. In: Kendall, C, McDonnell, JJ, editors. Isotope tracers in catchment hydrology. Elsevier Science. 578 p.Google Scholar
Wigley, TML, Plummer, LN, Pearson, FJ. 1978. Mass transfer and carbon isotope evolution in natural water systems. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 42:1117–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yonge, CJ, Ford, DC, Gray, J, Schwarcz, HP. 1985. Chem. Geol. (hot. Geosci. Sect.) 58:97–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar