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This comprehensive study examines fossil remains from Niedźwiedzia Cave in the Eastern Sudetes, offering detailed insights into the palaeobiology and adversities encountered by the Pleistocene cave bear Ursus spelaeus ingressus. Emphasising habitual cave use for hibernation and a primarily herbivorous diet, the findings attribute mortality to resource scarcity during hibernation and habitat fragmentation amid climate shifts. Taphonomic analysis indicates that the cave was extensively used by successive generations of bears, virtually unexposed to the impact of predators. The study also reveals that alkaline conditions developed in the cave during the post-depositional taphonomic processes. Mortality patterns, notably among juveniles, imply dwindling resources, indicative of environmental instability. Skeletal examination reveals a high incidence of forelimb fractures, indicating risks during activities like digging or confrontations. Palaeopathological evidence unveils vulnerabilities to tuberculosis, abscesses, rickets, and injuries, elucidating mobility challenges. The cave's silts exhibit a high zinc concentration, potentially derived from successive bear generations consuming zinc-rich plants. This study illuminates the lives of late cave bears, elucidating unique environmental hurdles faced near their species' end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A colluvial origin is postulated for the enigmatic relic mantle of immature, carbonate-cemented rudites on the bedrock slope of Kraków Highland, preserved in the area of Kwaczała Gullies. The deposits comprise four sedimentary facies: (A) sporadic clast-supported openwork conglomerates; (B) predominant matrix-supported massive conglomerates, some with a coarse-tail normal grading; (C) subordinate sheets of parallel stratified and/or ripple cross-laminated fine-grained sandstones; and (D) local coarse-grained sandstones with gently inclined parallel stratification. The 230Th–U dating of sparry calcite cements points to the penultimate Odranian/Warthanian interglacial. The debris was derived from local bedrock, inferred to have been frost-shattered in permafrost conditions during the Odranian glacial. Colluvial resedimentation was triggered by the rapid change in environment conditions brought by early deglaciation. Dense-snow/slush flows and slush-laden watery debris flows are thought to have transferred limestone debris from the upper to middle hillslope, where siliciclastic sand matrix was incorporated and solifluctional creep prevailed, accompanied by slope sheetwash processes. Carbonate cementation of the talus occurred in phreatic conditions during the penultimate Odranian/Warthanian interglacial (marine isotope stage 7), when soils formed and local springs supplied carbonate-saturated groundwater. The patchy preservation of cemented colluvium indicates its erosional relics. The Pleistocene colluvial mantle in the Kraków Highland was probably extensive, but was removed by subsequent erosion where non-cemented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cryogenic cave calcite (CCC), formed by segregation of solutes during water freezing, was found in three Central European caves. This calcite type forms accumulations of loose calcite grains on cave floor. The calcite grains are of highly variable crystal morphology, and of sizes ranging from less than 1 mm to over 1 cm. The most typical feature is their accumulation as loose (uncemented) crystals. U-series dating indicates the formation of CCC in the studied caves during several climatic oscillations of the Weichselian (between 61 and 36 ka BP in the Chelsiowa Jama–Jaskinia Jaworznicka cave system in Poland, between 34 and 26 ka BP in the BUML Cave in the Czech Republic, and between 26 and 21 ka BP in the Stratenska´ Jaskynˇa cave system, Slovakia). At the time of CCC formation, the studied caves were lying in a periglacial zone.Detailed C and O stable isotope study of CCC samples revealed that slow water freezing under isotope equilibrium was the dominant formational process in the studied Polish and Czech caves. Significantly higher δ13C values of CCC in the Stratenska´ Jaskynˇa Cave indicate either water freezing in a more opened system with continuous CO2 escape (Rayleigh fractional separation), or participation of another CO2 source. The model of slow water freezing under isotope equilibrium is supported by isolated character of the caves having limited ventilation.In contrast, modern cryogenic cave calcite powders sampled directly on the ice surface of two recently iced caves in Slovakia with high ventilation showed much higher δ18O and δ13C data, similar to cryogenic calcites obtained in experimental rapid water freezing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Identification of volcanic signals preserved in paleoenvironmental records can provide key insights into the timing and consequences of explosive volcanism. Yet the eruption record is incomplete and this confounds our ability to link volcanic eruptions to their impacts on climate and environments. Studies have suggested that stalagmite records can help to address these gaps, through the identification of transient geochemical variability associated with incorporation of elements derived from erupted material. However, the utility of stalagmites for tracing volcanism is poorly constrained globally. Here, we present a high-resolution geochemical dataset for stalagmite NIED08–05 from Niedźwiedzia Cave (Poland). We do this with two primary aims: (1) to test the suitability of NIED08–05 as a record of volcanism since 3 ka BP, and (2) to ascertain whether stalagmites grown in temperate regions preserve volcanic signals with success comparable to those grown in tropical regions. We find transient enrichments of 16 trace elements and the rare-earth-elements Y, La, Nd, which coincide with the timing of some known eruption events. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) we find that elements atypically incorporated into calcite (e.g., Fe) co-vary. Similarly, filtering PC1 (17% of the dataset variability) for high magnitude deviations from a baseline signal yields tentative agreement between PC scores and some known large eruptions with tephra found in Poland. We use our analysis to discuss the complexities involved in associating volcanic signals with stalagmite chemistry in temperate regions far from the source of large eruptions. The transport pathway from volcanic source to stalagmite growth surfaces includes the complex Niedźwiedzia Cave hydrological system and is influenced by dense forest above the cave site. Together these factors increase the potential for attenuation of volcanic-derived chemical signals prior to reaching the stalagmite, and so make it difficult to unambiguously link trace element enrichments in NIED08–05 to volcanic eruptions. Our results provide strong evidence that in a temperate depositional environment far from active volcanoes, climate and hydrology conspire to mute the strength of volcanic geochemical signals. Therefore, this work provides important incentives for future research in this area by highlighting that stalagmites grown in a comparatively simple hydrological regime and grown in caves overlain by thin vegetation and soil cover , may preserve volcanic signatures with greater success than those grown in temperate environments. • An exploratory analysis of the geochemical composition of a mid-latitude, temperate stalagmite grown in SW Poland between 0 and 3 ka BP. • Transient enrichments of 16 trace elements and the rare-earth-elements Y, La, Nd coincide with the timing of some known eruption events. • However, it is difficult to unambiguously link trace element enrichments to volcanic eruptions. • We suggest this is linked to four key factors: (1) distal location relative to active volcanoes, (2) regional climate, (3) depth within the cave, (4) lack of an extremely precise chronology. • Our results suggest that not all stalagmites are suitable for tephrochronology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clastic deposits in Kalacka Cave in the Tatra Mts. Show soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) rare for a cave environments. The poorly sorted allochthonous sediments were deposited within a cave sump under a fluvial regime, likely due to glacially initiated back-flooding during the Last Glacial. The structures include small-scale faults (normal and reverse), folds (upright symmetric anticlines, low-amplitude open folds, W-vergent folds and fault-propagation folds), and water-escape structures. A laboratory experiment is used to assess the possibile liquefaction of a thin soft-sediment filling in a limestone tube, including calculation of the site effects of resonance frequency and amplification coefficient and the site vulnerability index K g. The calculations indicate that seismic waves can be amplified up to 10 times and the expected resonance frequency is ~17.05 Hz. We argue that the observed SSDS formed in two stages. First, brittle and ductile deformation structures developed due to gravity-induced slumping. Next, liquefaction produced water-escape structures. The studied SSDS were likely seismically triggered. Favorable conditions occurred during the withdrawal of the last glacier (MIS 2) when the sediments were oversaturated and the Tatra Mts. experienced a strong earthquake (M7.0). Alternatively, high-frequency microearthquakes could have been triggered by slope failure cutting into Kalacka Cave. • The clastic sediments of Kalacka Cave a rare record of SSDS. • A first estimation of the site effects and the vulnerability index of cave sediments. • The SSDS in Kalacka Cave are likely co-seismic. • The optimal time for the SSDS development in the cave was the end of the Last Glaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diatoms and Cladocera (Crustacea) remains from two lakes in the Sudets Mountains were analyzed to indicate an influence of acidification induced by anthropogenic factors during the last 150 years. The border area of the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland, the so-called "Black Triangle", has been strongly impacted by developed industry for several decades. The most visible effect of this process is the destruction of mountain forests in the region by acid rains. The diatom communities of Mały Staw and Wielki Staw show that acid rain has strongly affected water biota. Diatom-inferred pH reconstruction suggests major acidification during the last two decades. This process was controlled mainly by anthropogenic factors. Cladoceran records also presented changes of dominant taxa in this period and point to significant changes in living conditions. The discovery of a pH decrease during the last decade is contradictory to emissions data that suggest decrease in industrial pollution.