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Copyright of Opera Corcontica is the property of Sprava Krkonosskeho Narodniho Parku and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study from the renowned Demänová Cave System in the Carpathians of Slovakia demonstrates that the conventional methods of fluvial sedimentology, combined with an allostratigraphic mapping and speleothem U‐series isotopic dating, can give unprecedented insights into the hydrological history of underground karst conduit. The deposits studied are a relic compound sidebar ranging from gravel to mud and encapsulating the conduit's hydrological history from the middle Pleistocene to the present time. A succession of 10 allostratigraphic units, time‐constrained by speleothems, are recognized in the sidebar deposits, and the corresponding morphodynamics of an evolving cave‐floor sedimentation are reconstructed in considerable detail. The subterranean river water stages recognized from the deposits, time‐constrained by flowstone layers and stalagmites, correlate with and add to the regional record of climate changes. Two distinct episodes of flow ponding (high‐stage slackwater conditions) are recognized and attributed to the independently documented downstream cave‐roof collapses, probably triggered by the Carpathian post‐orogenic earthquakes. This multidisciplinary study may serve as a useful methodological guide for the analysis of fluviokarstic deposits in speleological research and reconstruction of their hosting cave hydrological history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Opera Corcontica is the property of Sprava Krkonosskeho Narodniho Parku and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We present 100‐ka multiproxy palaeoenvironmental records from three stalagmites collected in different caves located in the Tatra Mountains on the Polish/Slovakian border. A combination of three records from one mountain region helps to estimate local factors controlling the recorded proxies and separate them from regional/global patterns. The studied stalagmites react to the same environmental changes in different ways due to the differences in their local settings. Furthermore, the analysed records show environmental changes from relatively cold and dry climates to interglacial conditions of MIS 5e. One episode of a colder climate during the MIS 6/MIS 5e transition similar to Dryas periods is observed in all studied stalagmites. The δ18O record from the MAG‐1 stalagmite is most similar to the GRIP record. During the MIS 5e, the δ18O record from the MAG‐1 stalagmite e xhibits a pattern similar to the records from the western part of the European continent. This finding suggests that the Atlantic Ocean was an important source of moisture for the region. The observed rapid change of δ18O, δ13C, Sr and Si proxies from the MAG‐1 and Dz‐1 stalagmites after 109 ka are potentially related to a drier and colder climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]