CLIMATE VARIATIONS BETWEEN 59 AND 46 KYR BP RECORDED IN A STALAGMITE FROM NW ROMANIA

S22, a stalagmite from V11 cave (Bihor Mountains, NW Romania) has been dated by thermal ionization mass spectrometry and shown several growth intervals between 124 and 5.6 kyr BP. Stable isotope analyses were performed on a 40 mm sequence corresponding to the interval 59 - 46 kyr BP. The chronology on this growth sequence is based on four U-Th ages. On the sequence studied, growth periods were determined at 59 – 56 and 52 – 46 kyr BP, with one more hiatus occurring before 46 kyr BP. Two cold intervals are covered, separated by a hiatus at 56 – 52 kyr BP, followed by a warm period between 50 and 46 kyr BP. The maximum variations in the δ¹⁸O record are ca. 1.5‰. Oxygen values recorded during the cold intervals, averaging -8.2‰, are close to the ones documented during the Younger Dryas (GS-1) on the same sample, while values recorded between 49 – 46 kyr average present day calcite values, around -7‰. The data shows that seepage water was available for stalagmite growth even during colder periods within the MIS 3 stadials. Hiatuses may be associated to warmer/wetter periods and are due to corrosion by unsaturated dripping water.