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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: yoelk@post.tau.ac.il.
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Abstract

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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.

Information

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 

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