Luminescence of Speleothems in Italian Gypsum Caves: Preliminary Report

TL;DR

This study records the luminescence of gypsum cave speleothems in Italy to infer past climate changes, with initial dating indicating growth over the last 5,000 years, providing preliminary insights into cave environmental history.

Contribution

It presents the first luminescence recordings of gypsum cave speleothems in Italy and links luminescence data to climate change, offering new methods for paleoclimate reconstruction.

Findings

Luminescence records reflect climate changes during speleothem growth.

Speleothems started forming approximately 5,000 years ago.

Analysis of luminescence is ongoing.

Abstract

The luminescence of 3 speleothem samples from the Acquafredda karst system and 1 from the Novella Cave (Gessi Bolognesi Natural Park, Italy) has been recorded using excitation by impulse Xe- lamp. All these carbonate speleothems are believed to be formed only from active CO2 from the air, because the bedrock of the cave consist of gypsum and does not contain carbonates. The obtained photos of luminescence record the climate changes during the speleothem growth. U/Th and 14C dating proved that studied speleothems started to grow since about 5,000 years ago. The detailed analyses of the luminescence records is still in progress.