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Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vol. 18, EGU2016-1953, 2016
EGU General Assembly 2016
© Author(s) 2016. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
Tracing the Mediterranean climate influence over the central Balkans
(southeast Europe) during the past 350 ka
Igor Obreht (1), Christian Zeeden (1), Ulrich Hambach (2), Daniel Veres (3), Slobodan Markovi´
c (4), Janina
Boesken (1), Nikola Baˇ
cevi´
c (5), Milivoj Gavrilov (4), and Frank Lehmkuhl (1)
(1) RWTH Aachen University, Geography, Physical geography, Aachen, Germany (obrehtigor@gmail.com), (2) Chair of
Geomorphology & BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, D-94450 Bayreuth, Germany, (3) Romanian Academy, Institute of
Speleology, Clinicilor 5, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, (4) Laboratory for Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction, Faculty of
Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovi´
ca 2, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia, (5) Department of Geography, Faculty
of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Kosovska Mitrovica, Lole Ribara 29, 38220, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia
Knowledge of past climate variability based on the study of paleoclimate archives may help in better understand-
ing the forcing mechanisms and extent of any future climate change. In some regions, such as Eastern Europe,
loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) are one of the most important terrestrial archives of Quaternary paleoclimate and
its spatial and temporal dynamics. Studies of LPS from the Middle and Lower Danube basins fundamentally
improved understanding of the European Quaternary climate and environmental evolution.
The central Balkans (central Serbia) is situated in a transition zone between the temperate-continental climate
zone to the north and Mediterranean climate to the south. Up to now this area has been poorly investigated
concerning the paleoclimate evolution on a longer term, albeit this region is considered more sensitive to the
relative influence associated to the Mediterranean climate influence than the Carpathian basin further north. To fill
this gap we conducted a high-resolution multiproxy investigation on the Stala´
c LPS in the central Balkan (Serbia).
Located at the southern limits of European loess distribution and within the Mediterranean climate influence, the
Stala´
c section has potential for better understanding of past regional climate dynamics. We discuss grain-size
(granulometric fractions, U-ratio), environmental magnetic (χ,χfd), geochemical (major and trace elements)
and colour (L*, a*, b* values) data from the Stala´
c section in terms of switching sediment provenance sources
modulated by past environmental conditions. We can show that the Carpathian Basin and central Balkans were
influenced by different environmental conditions during past ∼350 ka. A general higher continentality of the
climate during the late Pleistocene can be observed over the Stala´
c section and the Carpathian Basin, indicating
that this trend is more than a regional feature. Our results indicate warmer and/or more humid last glacial
cycles compared to previous. We argue that the observed trend can be the consequence of substantial melting of
Greenland ice-sheets during MIS 5e (not suggested for the previous two interglacials), which led to overall climate
change especially in winter precipitation causing a remarkable reduction of glaciated areas. Smaller ice sheets
may intensify penetration of cyclones into the interior of the Balkans and thus precipitation. A better assessment
of the central Balkan past climate and environmental dynamics demands a refined understanding of connections
between the formation of the Stala´
c site and other paleoclimate archives from adjacent regions such as Carpathian
Basin and long-lake records from the Balkans.