Marius Vlaicu

• Senior Researcher at Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology

Effects of past anthropogenic metal pollution on the wildlife are understudied. We investigate trace element incorporation in the dentition of a 1000 BP-year-old brown bear from the Romanian Carpathians, an area known historically for strong metallurgical activities. Background values as well as unnatural high lead (Pb), lithium (Li) and zinc (Zn)...

When underground flows in a karst region are derived not only from autogenic, but also from allogenic recharge, natural chemical tracers can be used for distinguishing between these two contributing inputs. And since allogenic recharge prevalently originates in weathering of silicate rocks, the most appropriate natural tracers are those which are m...

In a fluviokarst region, three rarely used natural tracers, SiO2, Na and Ba, were considered for tracking the allogenic, silicate-derived water contribution to cave streams and to final karst outflows. The concerned allogenic recharge originates in watersheds that consist of metamorphic formations intruded by magmatic rocks, for which available who...

Studying the behavioural ecology of long-extinct species is challenging due to the difficulty in measuring the behavioural phenotype and correlating this with genetic and environmental factors. However, a multidisciplinary approach integrating isotope analysis of diet and ancient DNA analysis of genetic relationships offers a potential framework to...

Caves are ideal environments for preserving quantifiable deformational indicators in orogenic areas, as they are conditioned by regional tectonics. The caves and karst of Isverna, developed in the Barremian-Aptian limestones of the Danubian sedimentary nappes (Southern Carpathians, SW Romania), expose formerly undetected evidence of compressional t...

In a fluviokarst region, three seldom used natural tracers, SiO , Na and Ba, were considered for tracking the allogenic, silicate-derived water contribution to cave streams and to final karst outflows. The concerned allogenic recharge originates in watersheds that consist of metamorphic formations intruded by magmatic rocks, for which available who...

In a fluviokarst region, three seldom used natural tracers, SiO 2 , Na and Ba, were considered for tracking the allogenic, silicate-derived water contribution to cave streams and to final karst outflows. The concerned allogenic recharge originates in watersheds that consist of metamorphic formations intruded by magmatic rocks, for which available w...

Learning plays an important role in the ecology and evolution of species. Although learning has been extensively studied in extant populations, studying learning in long extinct species represents a much greater challenge because individuals and thei behaviour cannot be directly observed, and their individual relatedness is more challenging to stud...

Water samples for chemical analyses have been collected from impenetrable karst springs and from water flows intercepted by caves within the area of Sohodol valley. The analyzed inorganic constituents were noticed to belong to two distinct categories. One category included solutes of variable concentrations, likely related to local allochtonous inp...

Underwater sea caves form a relatively under-examined habitat type within the marine regions of Europe, although they provide unique physical conditions such as reduced light and wave energy, in addition to reduced temperature amplitude. This study aimed at revealing the characteristics of submerged cavities on the southern Romanian continental she...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Heavy reliance on plants is rare in Carnivora and mostly limited to relatively small species in subtropical settings. The feeding behaviors of extinct cave bears living during Pleistocene cold periods at middle latitudes have been intensely studied using various approaches including isotopic analyses of fossil collagen. In contrast to cave bears fr...

Acest volum este o colecţie de studii interdisciplinare realizate în cadrul proiectului demonstrativ „Platformă digitală integrată pentru valorizarea peisajului cultural din Munţii Buzăului. Studiu de caz: cadrul natural şi monumentele istorice din zona Aluniş-Bozioru”, derulat în perioada ianuarie 2017 - iunie 2018. Principalul obiectiv al proie...

Ascunsă Cave is situated in the Mehedinţi Mountains and is part of the Isverna cave system. The cave was discovered in the late 1970s by members of the Focul Viu Caving Club, who surveyed the first 13.5 m of it. Since 2008, the “Emil Racoviţă” Institute of Speleology and the Underwater and Cave Exploration Group explored and surveyed 691 m of passa...

Figure 1. Location of Stoieni Cave in Mehedinți County, southwestern Romania. The cave "Peștera Seacă din Ogașul Stoienilor", referred to as Stoieni Cave, is located in the Mehedinți Mountains, SW Romania (Fig. 1). It is 50 m long 2 and 8 m deep, and consists of a single passage ending with a 30 m chamber (Fig. 2), where an excavation was conducted...

Figure 1. Location of Stoieni Cave in Mehedinți County, southwestern Romania. The cave "Peștera Seacă din Ogașul Stoienilor", referred to as Stoieni Cave, is located in the Mehedinți Mountains, SW Romania (Fig. 1). It is 50 m long 2 and 8 m deep, and consists of a single passage ending with a 30 m chamber (Fig. 2), where an excavation was conducted...

Groundwater is a vital resource, when considering its role in the water supply for human activities. Regardless their location, the quality of groundwater resources is influenced by different natural and anthropic factors, especially if the hydro geomorphological settings allow the pollutants to reach the aquifer from the ground surface. Various me...

Endemic and rare species as bioindicators of habitat vulnerability were used to develop protection and management plans for biotope prioritization (mainly islands habitats, lava tubes or groundwaters). Due to their narrow distribution, the endemic species (species confined to a restricted geographic area) are more susceptible to ecological disequil...

Late Pleistocene European cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) have been considered to be largely vegetarian, although stable isotope data (δ13C and δ15N values) from the Romanian Carpathians has suggested considerable dietary variation. Here we evaluate previous and additional adult cave bear isotopic data from four Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) sites in...

Late Pleistocene European cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) have been considered to be largely vegetarian, although stable isotope data (δ13C and δ15N values) from the Romanian Carpathians has suggested considerable dietary variation. Here we evaluate previous and additional adult cave bear isotopic data from four Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) sites in...

We present here the results of a 4-year environmental monitoring program at Ascunsă Cave (southwestern Romania) designed to help us understand how climate information is transferred through the karst system and archived by speleothems. The air temperature inside the cave is around 7 ∘C, with slight differences between the upper and lower parts of t...

Passage morphology and well-preserved kinematic indicators in a limestone-mélange contact cave from the South Carpathians provide evidence of thrusting mechanisms that occurred during the Late Cretaceous nappe emplacement. Large-scale normal faults occurred during the Eocene to Oligocene orogen-parallel extension, were deformed during the Late Mioc...

The authors provide the centralized data about the Romanian caves with endemic fauna, based on all reliable bibliographic sources (as quoted in text and cited in the chapter references) and based on their research activity. The complete list of the Romanian caves with endemic cave-dwelling arthropod species identified up to the subspecies level is...

We present here the results of a four year environmental monitoring program at Ascunsă Cave, Romania, intended to understand how climate information is transferred through the karst system and archived in speleothems. The air temperature inside the cave is around 7 °C, with slight differences between the upper and lower parts of the 20 main passage...

Abstract— The selected caves were monitored to establish management plan for speo-tourism. Several aspects were taken in consideration, among these the biology, geology, climatology, geo-morphology, paleontology and archeology of each cave. Our study is the result of several monitoring stages and it evaluates the thermic characteristics of air...

In taphonomy, the study of carnivore modification of fossil bones and the analysis of their dispersion represent the best approach to assessing the extent of bone modification and displacement for a given bone assemblage. Here we analyze the excavated bone deposit from Urşilor Cave, a well-documented and fossil-rich Upper Pleistocene cave bear site...

Spatial distribution analyses of fossil bones are often used in cave taphonomy for i) assessing directly the size of a given fossil population and ii) indirectly, for palaeo-environmental reconstructions. Urşilor Cave from northwestern Romania hosts one of the richest MIS 3 cave bear bone assemblages of Europe, and as the nature of the bone deposit...

The authors provide the centralized data about the Romanian caves with endemic fauna, based on all reliable bibliographic sources (as quoted in text and cited in the chapter references) and based on their research activity. The complete list of the Romanian caves with endemic cave-dwelling arthropod species identified up to the subspecies level is...

The authors provide the centralized data about the Romanian caves with endemic fauna, based on all reliable bibliographic sources (as quoted in text and cited in the chapter references) and based on their research activity. The complete list of the Romanian caves with endemic cave-dwelling arthropod species identified up to the subspecies level is...

The authors provide details concerning the distribution of the 35 species of cavernicolous Oniscidea of Romania

The Ursilor Cave (NW Romania) is a famous cave bear paleontological site hosting an important Late Pleistocene faunal assemblage and subject to systematic excavation works. To better understand the origin of fossil assemblages, the sedimentary history of the cave must be reconstructed. We conducted a series of investigations on various cave deposit...

The distribution of subterranean copepods may reflect the persistence of cave assemblages in relation to the environmental health of the overlying landscape. Areas supporting groundwater fauna were established by modelling the persistence of seven copepod species using a geographical information system (GIS). Environmental drivers were found to inf...

The authors provide an analysis of PTM in cave sediments, soil and two groups of invertebrates (Oniscidea and Diplopoda)

The authors provide a list of 213 caves and of the species of Oniscidea known to inhabit them, presenting their altitudinal distribution across major physical-geographic units of Romania

The Urs¸ ilor Cave (NW Romania) is a famous cave bear paleontological site hosting an important Late Pleistocene faunal assemblage and subject to systematic excavation works. To better understand the origin of fossil assemblages, the sedimentary history of the cave must be reconstructed. We conducted a series of investigations on various cave depos...

This paper presents monitoring results obtained using digital, automated and optical fiber extensometers for ground surface displacement measurements in two case-studies located in the Buzau Carpathians and Subcarpathians, Romania. The main objective of this research is to accurately estimate the landslide displacement rates in order to be able to...

The Danube has long been considered a “highway” for the prehistoric hominin colonization of Europe. However, its role in the two most significant episodes of colonization – the first peopling of Europe in the Lower–Middle Pleistocene, and Late Pleistocene colonization by anatomically modern humans – is presently a matter of hypothesis based on the...

The Sibiciu Basin is located in Romania between the Buzău Mountains and the Buzau Subcarpathians (Curvature Carpathians and Subcarpathians). The geology of the basin consists of Paleogene flysch deposits represented by an alternation of sandstones, marls, clays and schists and Neogene deposits represented by marls, clays and sands. The area is affe...

The first two palaeontological excavation campaigns held in 2010 at the Urşilor Cave, Bihor Mountains, Romania brought new information concerning the cave occupation by Ursus spelaeus during the Upper Pleistocene. The excavation is located in the Lower Passageway (Scientific Reserve) and extends over 7 m 2 with the lowest point reached during the c...

The landslide from the Colti village is located in the Sibiciu basin, Buzau Carpathians, Romania on Kliwa facies represented by an alternation of sandstones and clays. The landslide occurred in 2004 after long lasting precipitations and was reactivated in the summer of 2005. At that time, the entrance in the Colti village church was severely affect...

A major socio-economic and scientific issue is represented by karst hydrostructures vulnerability mapping, which qualitatively and quantitatively highlights their exposure degree. Two research trends have been developed, one taking into account the environment features exclusively – the aquifer and protective cover type, permeability, aquifer depth...

The authors use a multiproxy approach (hydrogeochemical, biological, geological as well as geomorphological) to assess the karst vulnerability

A faunal list including 104 invertebrate species occured in 22 caves from the Piatra Craiului National Park is given. Among the identified species Deuteraphorura traiani Gruia et Popa, 2005 (Collembola) is an endemic species recently described, Ameroseius insignis Bernardh, 1963 (Acari) is for the first time recorded in the Romanian fauna and Derme...