Northern Dinaric paleoclimate reconstruction based on high-resolution speleothem d18O analysis

Acronym: DinOxyIso

Competition title: Jedinstvo uz pomoć znanja UKF

Funding: UKF i HRZZ

AFZ role: coordinator

Total value: HRK 31,000.00

Funded amount: HRK 31,000.00

Start date: 2019/08/03

End date: 2019/10/02

Web: https://sites.google.com/site/dinoxyiso/

Speleothem records are the most relevant archives to study the climate during the past millennia in mid-latitudes. The oxygen stable isotope record (d18O) of speleothems allows understanding the evolution of the climate in broad geographical areas. We aim to study the d18O record of a speleothem that has already demonstrated to have an accurate chronology that covers the last 12,000 years. This exceptional speleothem record, collected from Postojna Cave (Slovenia), will be used to understand the climate changes in the northern Dinaric Region.
Previous studies have shown that d18O data from this speleothem have regional significance and are related to atmosphere temperature. So, the high-resolution record from this speleothem will be used in subsequent studies to understand the evolution of temperature at human scale in the northern Dinaric Region, and how it affected human migrations. Such detailed record will require a sub-decadal resolution, which will imply sampling the speleothem at 100 mm resolution and analysing more than 2000 samples.
Preliminary data already showed that the most significant climate changes occurred during the Late bronze Age, when Illyrian civilizations collapsed, and new populations migrated into the region. So, the data will provide detailed knowledge on the climate changes in Croatia and will provide a robust record to evaluate the role of climate change on the migrations of Croatian ancestors.

Assoc. Prof. Kristina Krklec, PhD
University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture