engleski

Speleothem-based paleoclimate reconstruction in coastal regions of Croatia - knowing the past to predict the future

Interdisciplinary studies of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment are important for prediction of future climate and environmental changes. Although climate changes affect all parts of continents, coastal regions are particularly vulnerable to those changes. Croatia occupies a key position between central European and Mediterranean region influenced by different climates. Half of the Croatian territory is covered by karst which offers exquisite potential for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental researches, among which speleothems are particularly useful as they offer important advantages over other archives. Modrič Cave in littoral Croatia has been chosen as one of the study sites because of its stable cave atmosphere and long research history. Conducted surface and cave monitoring provided insight into the cave microclimate settings, karst aquifer architecture and dominant geochemical processes. Variations of the δ18^O and δ13^C values of U-Th dated speleothems are used to resolve palaeoenvironmental changes (temperature, precipitation, vegetation…). Obtained date will help to estimate possible effects of the future climate changes, particularly their impact on coastal aquifers which are crucial water source for local communities. This research is part of the project 1623 Reconstruction of the Quaternary environment in Croatia using isotope methods financed by the Croatian Science Foundation.

Sige, rekonstrukcija paleoklime, monitoring špilja, varijacije stabilnih izotopa, Hrvatska

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