PALEOCLIMATIC IMPLICATIONS OF RADIOCARBON DATING OF SPELEOTHEMS FROM THE CRACOW-WIELUN UPLAND, SOUTHERN POLAND

We report preliminary results of a long-term systematic study intended to gather paleoclimatic records from precisely dated speleothems. The research project is limited to speleothems deposited in caves of the Cracow-Wielun Upland, the largest and best-explored karst region in Po land, covering ca. 2900 km(2) with >1000 caves. Speleothem samples wer e selected from collections of the Geological Museum of the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Cracow. Radiocarbon dates of these samples f rom ca. 45-20 ka BP almost exactly coincide with age range of the Inte rplenivistulian. A break in speleothem formation between ca. 20 and 10 ka up may be interpreted as a result of serious climatic deterioratio n associated with the maximum extent of the last glaciation. We observ ed differences among C-14, U/Th and AAR dating results. Changes of del ta(13)C and delta(18)O in speleothems that grew between ca. 30 and 20 ka sp may be interpreted as changes of paleoclimatic conditions.