Gabriella Koltai

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at University of Innsbruck

Many caves in Sicily have been shown to have a sulfuric acid or other hypogenic origin. We studied three caves (Palombara, Scrivilleri, Monello) near Syracuse (eastern Sicily), in an area that was strongly uplifted and faulted, creating multiple Pleistocene marine terraces. Mineralogy, stable isotopes and dating methods (paleomagnetism, U/Th) were...

The Younger Dryas stadial was characterised by a rapid shift towards cold-climate conditions in the North Atlantic realm during the last deglaciation. While some climate parameters including atmospheric temperature and glacier extent are widely studied, empirical constraints on permafrost temperature and snow thickness are limited. To address this,...

The regional impact of abrupt glacial climate variability remains poorly constrained for arid southwestern Asia, particularly winter dynamics during Marine Isotope Stage 3, due to limited paleoarchives in the Middle East. Here, we present continuous speleothem records of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C with robust chronologies for southwestern and central Iran, span...

The hydroclimatic variability of southern Africa during the Quaternary is comparatively poorly know, partly due to the scarcity of suitable terrestrial paleoclimate archives in this semi-arid to arid region. Speleothems offer great potential for filling these knowledge gaps, and carbonate units exhibiting karst features are present in several regio...

Terrestrial paleoclimate records from arid southwestern Asia are relatively sparse. Therefore, the regional impact of abrupt glacial climate variability remains poorly constrained for much of the Western Asia, particularly winter (wet season) dynamics during Marine Isotope Stage 3. Here, we present the first paleoclimate reconstructions of Southwes...

We present a 500‐year precipitation‐sensitive record based on co‐varying speleothem δ¹⁸O values and Mg/Ca ratios from Larga cave in Puerto Rico. This multi‐proxy record shows that the evolution of rainfall in the northeastern Caribbean was characterized by alternating centennial dry and wet phases corresponding to reduced versus enhanced convective...

Carbonate geothermometry is a fundamental tool for quantitative assessment of the geothermal and geochemical evolution of diagenetic and hydrothermal systems, but it remains difficult to obtain accurate and precise formation temperatures of low-temperature calcite samples (below ~ 40 to 60 °C). Here, we apply three geothermometry methods (∆47-therm...

The Younger Dryas Stadial was characterized by a rapid shift towards cold-climate conditions in the North Atlantic realm during the last deglaciation. While some climate parameters including atmospheric temperature and glacier extent are widely studied, empirical constraints on permafrost temperature and snow thickness are limited. To address this,...

Le cavità ipogeniche sono il risultato della dissoluzione di rocce solubili da non è geneticamente collegata a pro-contrasto con la "classica" speleogene-si epigenica, il percorso di migrazione delle acque avviene spesso dal basso la cui aggressività è solitamente acqui-sita da processi geologici profondi, in-dagli acidi presenti nel suolo. Spesso...

The Last Interglacial (LIG, ∼130–116 ka) was one of the warmest interglacials of the past 800 000 years and an important test bed for future climate conditions warmer than today. LIG temperature reconstructions from marine records and paleoclimate models show that middle and high northern latitudes were considerably warmer (by about 2 to 5 ∘C) comp...

Damage to speleothems is a common phenomenon in mid-latitude caves, and multiple causes have been proposed. Here we report on one of such type of damage, namely stalagmites that are broken and partially sheared near their base but are still in upright position. Such stalagmites occur in the Obir Caves (Austria) associated with cryogenic cave carbon...

The stable isotopic composition of wall rock and cave minerals is a sensitive tool to recognize the hypogene component of speleogenesis (Spötl et al., 2021; Temovski et al., 2022), to elucidate the cave evolution (Dublyansky, 1995, 2013), and to characterize the paleo-fluids (Dublyansky & Spötl, 2009). Here, we report evidence of water-rock interac...

Hypogene dissolution‐precipitation processes strongly affect petrophysical properties of carbonate rocks and fluid migration pathways in sedimentary basins. In many deep carbonate reservoirs, hypogene cavernous voids are often associated with silicified horizons. The diagenesis of silica in carbonate sequences is still a poorly‐investigated researc...

The Last Interglacial (LIG, ~130-116 ka) was one of the warmest interglacials of the past 800,000 years and an important test bed for future climate conditions warmer than today. LIG temperature reconstructions from marine records as well as paleoclimate models show that mid and high northern latitudes were considerably warmer by about 2 to 5°C com...

The Toirano karst system comprises different caves between altitudes of 340 m and 186 m asl. A detailed investigation of cave pattern, morphologies and of the sedimentary deposits attributes the origin of the caves to rising waters that followed the main vertical structural pathways. Many walls and roofs are sculpted with rising features (cupola an...

Glacial periods and their terminations are useful for assessing the full scale of natural climate variability in the diverse climate regions of West Asia (i.e. deserts, mountains, alluvial plains, coastal zones). In this study, we report the first stalagmite stable isotope (δ 18 O and δ 13 C) records from the southern Zagros Mountains in southwest...

The 116 km-long and 1560 m-deep Hirlatzhöhle is one of the major cave systems in the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA; Austria). It is located in the NW part of the Dachstein, an extensive karst massif encompassing 576 km² with its highest point at 2995 m a.s.l. In contrast to most other caves in the NCA, Hirlatzhöhle comprises old (epi)phreatic passa...

The Toirano karst system comprises different caves between altitudes of 340 m and 186 m asl. A detailed investigation of cave pattern, morphologies and of the sedimentary deposits attributes the origin of the caves to rising waters that followed the main vertical structural pathways. Many walls and roofs are sculpted with rising features (cupola an...

Hypogene caves are the product of rock dissolution by reactive fluids whose origin is not linked to surface processes or meteoric water circulation. In contrast to "classic" epigene speleogenesis, the migration path of the fluids generally occurs upwards, and the reactivity of the upwelling solutions stems from deep-seated geological processes (e.g...

Study region Three karst regions in Hungary and Slovakia. Study focus Time series of environmental tracers both in the groundwater recharge and discharge provide important insights into how a karst water system works. The aim of the present work was to study the response of discharging karst waters to recharge using time series of environmental tr...

In the European Alps, the Younger Dryas (YD) was characterised by the last major glacier advance, with equilibrium line altitudes being ∼ 220 to 290 m lower than during the Little Ice Age, and also by the development of rock glaciers. Dating of these geomorphic features, however, is associated with substantial uncertainties, leading to considerable...

The culmination of the glaciers in the European Alps during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is one of the most intensively studied paleoglaciological events, but its trigger and forcing remain incompletely understood. Here, we provide evidence that the timing of this glacier maximum coincided within age uncertainties with a 3100 yr-long interval of...

The Dolomites of northern Italy feature some of the most intensively studied carbonate rocks worldwide. Yet, little is known about the long karst history of this mountain range dating back to the Miocene. This study scrutinizes three caves (F10, Milchloch and Cioccherloch) in the Fanes-Sennes-Prags Nature Park (Province of South Tyrol) and the adja...

Hypogene speleogenesis involves the formation of solution-enlarged permeability structures driven by ascending water acquiring its acidity from deep-seated sources. This process occurs in a wide range of geological settings and in different lithologies. Although hypogene speleogenesis has received increasing attention in the last two decades, the i...

The combined use of the stable isotope compositions of speleothem carbonate and inclusion-hosted water presents great potential in paleotemperature reconstructions, due to the various temperature-dependent isotope fractionations detected in cave systems and their environment. This paper evaluates the applicational possibilities of hydrogen and oxyg...

The Toirano karst system is located in the Ligurian Alps (north Italy), around 4.5 km inland from the coastline and carved in Middle Triassic dolostone. It comprises five cave levels over a 154 m altitudinal range, specifically Ulivo (340 m a.s.l.), Colombo (247 m a.s.l), Upper Santa Lucia (215 m a.s.l.), Lower Santa Lucia (201 m a.s.l.) and Bàsura...

In the European Alps, the Younger Dryas (YD) was characterized by the last major glacier advance with equilibrium line altitudes being ~ 220 to 290 m lower than during the Little Ice Age and also by the development of rock glaciers. Dating of these geomorphic features, however, is associated with substantial uncertainties leading to considerable am...

Although quantitative isotope data from speleothems has been used to evaluate isotope-enabled model simulations, currently no consensus exists regarding the most appropriate methodology through which to achieve this. A number of modelling groups will be running isotope-enabled palaeoclimate simulations in the framework of the Coupled Model Intercom...

Our study presents the hydrochemical data obtained from seven perennial springs located on the Jasov Plateau – Slovak Karst. It is part of the most heavily karstified area in Slovakia extending into northern Hungary. Monthly observations of discharge, temperature and the calcium content have been carried out on perennial springs for 19 months. Sinc...

The relationship between the atmospheric concentration of cosmogenic isotopes, the change of solar activity and hence secondary neutron flux has already been proven. The temporal atmospheric variation of the most studied cosmogenic isotopes shows a significant anti-correlation with solar cycles. However, since artificial tritium input to the atmosp...

The relationship between the atmospheric concentration of cosmogenic isotopes, the change of solar activity and hence secondary neutron flux has already been proven. The temporal atmospheric variation of the most studied cosmogenic isotopes shows a significant anti-correlation with solar cycles. However, since artificial tritium input to the atmosp...

Shulgan-Tash (also known as Kapova) cave located on the western slope of the Ural Mountains (Russia) is the easternmost European cave art monument of late Palaeolithic age. Radiocarbon dates from cultural layers in the cave suggest an age of about 16.3 to 19.6 ka (cal BP), but dates directly on the paintings were not obtained. In order to constrain...

The steep, south facing slopes of the central Vinschgau (Val Venosta, South Tyrol, northern Italy) are characterized by deep-seated compound rockslides affecting 51 km² and reaching beneath the Quaternary valley fill. Morphological features include double ridges, trenches, scarps, and counterscarps, whereby the extent of displacement rises from W t...

Partly coeval flowstones formed in fractured gneiss and schist were studied to test the palaeoclimate significance of this new type of speleothem archive on a decadal-to-millennial timescale. The samples encompass a few hundred to a few thousand years of the Late Glacial and the early Holocene. The speleothem fabric is primarily comprised of column...

A flowstone from the central European Abaliget Cave (Mecsek Mts, Hungary) provides a record of uninterrupted calcite deposition between ∼160 and ∼124 ka, covering most of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and part of 5e. δ18O values of three lateral drill cores show synchronous high-frequency (millennial-scale) variability during MIS 6, interpreted as s...

Coeval flowstones formed in fractured gneiss and schist were studied to test the palaeoclimate significance of this new type of speleothem archive on a decadal to millennial timescale. The samples encompass a few hundred to a few thousand years of the Lateglacial and the Early Holocene. The speleothem fabric is primarily comprised of columnar fasci...

Noble gas and stable isotope analyses can provide useful information on the origin of groundwater including residence time of different mixed components. This paper focuses on two unique therapeutic water areas of Southeast Poland (Horyniec Spa and Iwonicz Spa Lubatowka Spa). Groundwater from the well Róża-III in the Horyniec Spa is of purely meteo...

The Vinschgau is an inneralpine valley in the Southern Alps, whose steep flanks are composed of strongly sheared gneisses and schists affected by deep-seated gravitational slope deformations. Fractures generated by these movements host a groundwater system characterised by high amounts of dissolved solids, which reflect long residence times and wat...

Abstract: The paper gives the results of an isotope investigation carried out on the waters of the crater-lake, Lake Saint Ana (Sf. Ana), of the Ciomadul Mountain, which is located in the Harghita Mountains of the East Carpathians in Romania. The main purpose of this study was to ivestigate the isotope signature of the lake water. The collected wat...

Several springs along the lower section of the south-facing slope (Sonnenberg) of the central Vinschgau (Val Venosta) are supersaturated with respect to calcite/aragonite and/or iron oxyhydroxides, and carbonate precipitation occurs locally as tufas and flowstones. These springs occur along the toe of a deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (...

The hydrological features of Baradla Cave (Hungary) are investigated. Together with the Slovakian caves the Baradla-Domica cave system is a UNESCO world heritage site. The preservation of its karst waters as a drinking water reservoir is an important task. First of all, the water balance (precipitation, infiltration, seepage and evapotranspiration)...

Many freshwater tufas contain millimetre-scale laminae that are attributed to the sesonal differences in physicochemical parameters of water and biological activity. The analysis of the various factors controlling modern tufa deposition can greatly contribute to their palaeoclimatological significance in terms of studying seasonal changes. In Mecse...

Due to some extreme weather conditions (e.g. droughts, inland waters or floods etc.) occurring in Carpathian Basin, climatic fluctuations can be detected in Hungary which can modify some environmental factors in caves. In our study we were determined to enquire to which extent do surface temperature changes influence cave air temperature. Three dif...

This paper analyses the hydrological features of Baradla Cave. Together with the Slovakian caves the Baradla-Domica cave system is a UNESCO world heritage site and the preservation of karst water, as a drinking water reservoir is a very important task. First of all, the water balance (precipitation, infiltration water, seepage water and evapotransp...

The geochemical and stable isotope analyses of karst springs and their freshwater carbonate deposits provide an opportunity to reconstruct past climate changes. Nevertheless, there are still very few paleoclimate records obtained from freshwater carbonate deposits in Hungary. The present study focuses on five recently depositing freshwater tufa sit...

Radon transport processes were investigated in Vadetetős Cave in the Mecsek Mountains, Hungary, for several years. DATAQUA monitoring devices were used for recording the radon concentration, the pressure and the temperature of cave air. Apart from studying the convectional laws of the cave, our primary intention was to detect any significant change...

Radon concentration has been investigated in nine caves of the Mecsek Mountains, Hungary. Apart from radon concentration, underground temperature and pressure were detected by DATAQUA monitoring devices. Our primary aim was to gain information about both the radon concentration levels and the convectional systems of these caves in order to study th...