Multiproxy analysis of Holocene stalagmites from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract : The Mediterranean area is a hotspot for present day and future climate change. The understanding of past climate dynamics in this area is of great importance to gain insight in the pattern of regional climate variability in response to hemispheric and global climate changes. In the central Mediterranean, contrasting climate responses have been observed during the last 12 ka with drier/wetter conditions in the northern/southern regions lasting until about 6-5 ka, followed by a trend toward the opposite conditions. Carbonate mineral stalagmites are continental archives able to provide simultaneous information about past climate and environmental changes. With the aim to get a deeper understanding of Holocene climate dynamics in the Balkan Peninsula, five stalagmites were collected from two Bosnian caves (Govještica and Mračna Pećina; Prača Valley) in the frame of a PhD project involving the Universities of Bologna (Italy) and Savoie Mont Blanc (France) with the collaboration of the University of Melbourne (Australia). Here we present the multiproxy methodological approach adopted for the study of these samples and some anticipations of the major findings.