Paleoclimatic reconstruction in the Tatra Mountains of the western Carpathians during MIS 9–7 inferred from a multiproxy speleothem record

Abstract

The SC-3 speleothem from Szczelina Chochołowska Cave, located in the Tatra Mountains, was studied in detail. U-series dating and age–depth modeling allowed us to constrain the period of speleothem growth to between approximately 330 and 200 ka, that is, during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 9–7. The complementary use of stable isotope analyses, petrographic studies, and trace element analyses allowed the identification of warm and wet climatic conditions that were favorable for speleothem growth during MIS 9e and MIS 9c. Unfavorable climatic periods included the cold glacial conditions of MIS 8 and the MIS 9/MIS 8 transition. The breaks in the growth of the SC-3 stalagmite were most likely connected with a reduction in precipitation in MIS 9a and extreme hydrologic events during MIS 8. Comparisons with other European records suggest that the climatic variability recorded in the speleothem from the Tatra Mountains is not only a record of local environmental conditions but can also be linked to European climatic patterns during both interglacial and glacial intervals. This makes our study the northernmost paleoclimatic record for the whole Carpathian range and one of the very few records from those periods worldwide.

Palaeoenvironmental conditions during MIS 6/MIS 5 transition recorded in speleothems from the Tatra Mountains

“…2014) and Tatra Mountains record published recently (Błaszczyk et al . 2020). Many speleothem studies located in western Europe and the Alpine region provided discontinuous stable isotopes and trace element curves spanning the Last Interglacial and penultimate glacial periods (Wainer et al .…”

Estimation of the durations of breaks in deposition – Speleothem case study

“…These growth interruptions are underlined with layers of detrital material ( Fig. 1D) and was identified at 186 mm (H-1), 196.6 mm (H-2) and 230 mm (H-3) from the base of the stalagmite (Błaszczyk et al, 2020).…”

“…The SC-3 stalagmite has been collected in Szczelina Chochołowska Cave in Tatra Mts (Błaszczyk et al, 2020). The SC-3 stalagmite is approximately 240 mm long and contains four phases of continuous growth separated by three discontinuities.…”

Sedimentary anatomy and hydrological record of relic fluvial deposits in a karst cave conduit

“…5), but the local caves show formation of speleothems at that time. If mountain glaciers did exist in the Carpathians, they must have been short-lived and of limited extent (Szczygieł et al, 2019;Błaszczyk et al, 2020). Speleothems formed contemporaneously in the Alps (Spötl & Mangini, 2007), where recognizable significant cooling occurred at the closure of MIS 8 (ca 240 to 230 ka), indicating short-lived glaciers.…”