Climate variability in the SE Alps of Italy over the past 17 000 years reconstructed from a stalagmite record
- 1 November 2005
- Vol. 34 (4), 445-455
- https://doi.org/10.1080/03009480500231336
Abstract
Stalagmite SV1 from Grotta Savi, located at the SE margin of the European Alps (Italy), is the first Alpine speleothem that continuously spans the past c. 17kyr. Extension rate and δ18Oc record for the Lateglacial probably reflect a combination of temperature and rainfall, with rainfall exerting the dominant effect. Low speleothem calcite δ18 Oc values were recorded from c. 14.5 and 12.35 kyr, during GI‐1 (Bølling— Allerød) interstadial, which in our interpretation, was warm and wet. The GS‐1 (Younger Dryas) was characterized by a shift to heavier δ18 Oc, coinciding with δ13Cc enrichment and extremely low extension rate (18Oc/dT relationship. A 1°C rise in mean annual temperature should correspond to c. 2.85% increase of SV‐1 δc18Oc. We reconstructed a slow and steady temperature rise of c. 0.5°C since 10 kyr BP, in broad agreement with reconstructions from pollen data for SE Europe. Stalagmite SV1 indicates that climate variability in the SE Alps has been influenced by the Mediterranean Sea for the past c. 17 kyr.Keywords
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