Holocene climatic conditions in the eastern Adriatic recorded in stalagmites from Strašna peć Cave (Croatia)

Holocene hydroclimate changes in continental Croatia recorded in speleothem δ13C and δ18O from Nova Grgosova Cave

“…Additionally, high d-excess values indicate increased evaporation of the Mediterranean caused by inflow of cold and dry continental air (Bladé et al, 2012) and further intensified by strong winter winds, for example, bora wind in the Adriatic (Davolio et al, 2017). Meanwhile, the lower spring and summer (Fohlmeister et al, 2012a), BUN -Bunker Cave (Fohlmeister et al, 2012b), KAT -Katerloch Cave (Boch et al, 2009), ERN -Grotta di Ernesto Cave (Scholz et al, 2012), COR -Corchia Cave (Zanchetta et al, 2007), CV -Cueva Victoria Cave (Budsky et al, 2019), ASC -Ascunsă (Drăguşin et al, 2014), SPD -Strašna peć Cave on Dugi otok Island (Lončar et al, 2019), MLJ -Mala špilja Cave on Mljet Island (Lončar et al, 2017), and Malo jezero Lake sediment (Wunsam et al, 1999), VRA -Vrana Lake sediment (Bakrač et al, 2018) and marine core MD 90-917 (Combourieu-Nebout et al, 2013); (b) cave survey with marked speleothem (red dots and IDs) and water (W) sampling sites (according to Caving Club Samobor (Surić et al, 2018)); (c) massive speleothem deposition in the chamber where the stalagmites NG-3 and NG-7 were sampled; (d) climate data: average monthly external air temperature (station Samobor, 1981-2019), precipitation (station Rude, 1991-2019 and the relation between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration) (CMHS, 2020). Water balance (potential evapotranspiration) is calculated using the Thornthwaite evapotranspiration model (McCabe and Markstrom, 2007;Thornthwaite, 1948); (e) δ 2 H-δ 18 O relationship of monthly integrated NG drip water (crosses) and rainwater samples (dots) with associated local meteoric waterline (Surić et al, 2020).…”

“…Additionally, a decrease in temperature was not commonly featured across the whole region. Speleothem records from the eastern Adriatic insular caves Strašna peć (Dugi otok Island) (Lončar et al, 2019) and Mala špilja (Mljet Island) (Lončar et al, 2017) both point to dry environmental conditions around 4.2 ka (Figure 6), as well as some other regional proxies from the cores from Busuja Bay in Istria (Kaniewski et al, 2018), Lake Vrana (Cres Island) (Schmidt et al, 2000) and Bokanjačko blato in North Dalmatia (Ilijanić et al, 2018). Although the climate type of the NG region does not fully correspond to the Mediterranean climate of Bini et al (2019) (based roughly on the reach of the olive tree), the NG speleothem clearly recorded this sudden anomaly.…”

“…Here we present the first isotopic record from Croatian continental speleothems covering the majority of the Holocene, using samples recovered from Nova Grgosova Cave (NG). The aim of this study is to explore the climate-driven Holocene environmental variability of continental Croatia and to bridge the gap between speleothem records from the Adriatic (Lončar et al, 2017(Lončar et al, , 2019Rudzka et al, 2012), the Alps (e.g. Boch et al, 2009;Fohlmeister et al, 2012a;Mangini et al, 2007;Wurth et al, 2004), and the Pannonian basin (e.g.…”

Millennial‐scale shifts in microtidal ecosystems during the Holocene: dynamics and drivers of change from the Po Plain coastal record (NE Italy)

“…4800-800 cal a BP: Delta plain with brackish wetlands surrounded by wooded peatlands (Fig. 11D-E) Unstable climate conditions, including high-frequency cooling events and alternating drought-wet phases followed by a drying trend (Combourieu-Nebout et al, 2013;Lončar et al, 2019), played a major role as disturbance on the late Holocene landscape. Climate variability influenced fluvial regimes in terms of floods (Macklin and Lewin, 2003;Benito et al, 2015), sediment production-downstream delivery (Fletcher and Zielhofer, 2013;Sarti et al, 2015) and delta lobe switching (Chadwick and Lamb, 2019).…”

Croatia: Submerged Prehistoric Sites in a Karstic Landscape

“…During the past decade, several factors have promoted new interest in the detection and interpretation of submerged prehistoric sites. These include more detailed investigation of sea-level change and submerged karstic features (Benac et al 2004(Benac et al , 2008Surić et al 2004Surić et al , 2005Surić 2009;Surić and Juračić 2010;Faivre et al 2010;Furlani et al 2011;Marriner et al 2014;Radić Rossi and Cukrov 2017;Lončar et al 2017Lončar et al , 2018Faivre and Butorac 2018;Radić Rossi et al 2018), leading to increased awareness of the prehistoric archaeological potential of the Croatian seabed (Benjamin and Črešnar 2009;Benjamin et al 2011) and of the threats to the coastal and underwater heritage posed by construction works and environmental change .…”