Caves and Lakes

The research group of Prof. A. Vött (Institute of Geography, University of Mainz) uses geomorphological and sedimentological information based on lake sediment cores retrieved in the vicinity of the investigated caves. The group uses ¹⁴C-dating to establish the chronology of the sediment cores and determines several palaeoclimate proxies at high temporal resolution. Fig. 1 shows the large polje in front of Kaspia Cave in the north-eastern Peloponnese, where widespread, thick lake sediments were deposited over thousands of years. The overarching goal will be to combine and compare palaeoclimate data from both speleothems and palaeolake deposits in search of palaeoclimate changes relevant for landscape formation and man-environment interaction.We will combine the palaeoclimatological information from both archives (speleothems and lake sediments) in order to (i) obtain a comprehensive picture of past climate variability, (ii) distinguish between local and supra-regional climate variability, and (iii) differentiate between proxies reflecting past climate changes and proxy signals dominated by other processes (e.g., effects occurring in the soil and karst above the cave). This multi-archive and -proxy approach will enable a reliable reconstruction of past climate variability in Greece during the Holocene.