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Abstract

A high-temperature pyrolysis/gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry system was established at the Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research in 2013. A dedicated field of application of the system is the simultaneous measurement of stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the cellulose of modern, relict and subfossil plant tissues and sediments. The measurement protocol was fine-tuned during the first year of operation and documented in detail in this report. To quantify the long-term reproducibility of the simultaneous measurement of stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon in cellulose, a 2σ range inferred from repeated measurements of a Quality Assurance standard can be recommended: 0.16 and 0.20‰, for δ13C and δ18O, respectively. An extensive set of samples with known pyrolysis-based δ13C data was analyzed in combustion mode and the paired results were used to assess the necessity of adjustment of the pyrolysis-based δ13C measurements. The variances of the two datasets were not significantly different; the slope (intercept) of the regression was indistinguishable from unity (zero), suggesting that probably owing to the relatively frequent cleaning of the pyrolysis furnace, pyrolysis-based δ13C data neither suffer from a variance bias nor require a specific adjustment.

Open access

Abstract

The Budapest Tree-Ring Laboratory (BTRL) is a fully equipped dendrochronological laboratory, established in 2002 at the Department of Paleontology and currently hosted by the Department of Physical Geography, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary. The lab has the proper sampling equipment for field work, a sanding workshop to prepare tree-ring samples for measurement and measuring-stages with software for recording and analyzing tree-ring data. Throughout the first 20 years of activity the BTRL collected and analyzed ∼360 living and ∼470 relict samples (including historical and subfossil material) from more than 33 sites distributed mainly in Europe but including a few localities in Asia. The most represented genera are Quercus and Pinus, both among the living and the relic subsets. Open access publication of the essential ancillary scientific information of the stored material will make the sample archive of the BTRL an actual national research infrastructure.

Open access

In this paper the authors publish the results of the dendrochronological and radiocarbon investigation of the beam foundation excavated in the backyard of 20 Jókai Street under the medieval western town wall of Székesfehérvár. Based on the 11th century dating results – hypothesizing the primary usage of the beams – they delineate the historical significance of the early stone town wall in medieval Europe and the Hungarian Kingdom.

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Central European Geology
Authors:
Zoltán Kern
,
Mátyás Árvai
,
Petru Urdea
,
Fabian Timofte
,
Eszter Antalfi
,
Sándor Fehér
,
Tamás Bartyik
, and
György Sipos

Abstract

Visiting three gravel pits and three natural outcrops across the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan, 58 samples were collected from subfossil driftwood recovered from coarse-grained fluvial sediment layers, while no subfossil wood was found at three additional gravel pits. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon analysis of these relict wood can support the temporal extension of the regional dendrochronological reference datasets and their dating can provide a useful contribution to the reconstruction of the landscape evolution of the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan. The tree-ring widths of the subfossil samples were measured. Dendrochronological synchronization resulted in two oak chronologies which encompassed five, and two reliably cross-dated series covering 191 years (MURchr1) and 127 years (MURchr2), respectively. Based on the 14C ages the subfossil driftwood material represents Middle and Late Holocene ages. The occasionally up to 6 m-thick fluvial sediment covering relatively young, < 1000-yr-old wood, indicates intense accumulation at the apex of the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan, which explains the documented rapid and significant Holocene avulsions.

Open access
Acta Biologica Hungarica
Authors:
Zoltán Kern
,
Miklós Kázmér
,
Tamás Müller
,
András Specziár
,
Alexandra Németh
, and
Tamás Váczi

Microscopic inclusions have been observed in 7 out of 106 European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) sagittae using polarizing microscope and scanning electron microscope meanwhile the annual increments were studied to characterize the age structure of the population living in Lake Balaton. The presence of vaterite, a rare calcium carbonate polymorph was observed in these inclusions using Raman spectroscopy. Vateritic sagittae in wild fish are usually considered as symptom of physiological stress. The observed fusiform inclusions represent a new morphological type of vaterite inclusions in eel otolith. Two alternatives are hypothesized to explain their formation: 1) metabolic disorder, such as erroneous protein synthesis; 2) introduction of an alien protein into the eel’s inner ear. The origin and physiological significance of this new morphological type of vateritic inclusions is still an open question. Same as whether it can be found in other species or specific only to eel otoliths.

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Abstract

the Retezat Mountains, this study discusses radiocarbon chronology and sediment accumulation rate changes in two sediment profiles in relation to lithostratigraphy, organic content, biogenic silica and major pollenstratigraphic changes. A total of 25 radiocarbon dates were obtained from sediments of two lakes, Lake Brazi (TDB-1; 1740 m a.s.l.) and Lake Gales (Gales-3; 1990 m a.s.l.). Age-depth modeling was performed on TDB-1 using calibrated age ranges from BCal and various curve-fitting methods in psimpoll. Our results suggest that sediment accumulation began between 15,124–15,755 cal yr BP in both lakes and was continuous throughout the Late Glacial and Holocene. We demonstrated that local ecosystem productivity showed delayed response to Late Glacial and Early Holocene climatic changes in the subalpine and alpine zones most likely attributable to the cooling effect of remnant glaciers and meltwater input. However, regional vegetation response was without time lag and indicated forestation and warming at 14,450 and 11,550 cal yr BP, and cooling at ca. 12,800 cal yr BP. In the Holocene one major shift was detected, starting around 6300 cal yr BP and culminating around 5200 cal yr BP. The various proxies suggested summer cooling, shorter duration of the winter ice-cover season and/or increasing size of the water body, probably in response to increasing available moisture.

Restricted access
Central European Geology
Authors:
Attila Demény
,
Alexandra Németh
,
Zoltán Kern
,
György Czuppon
,
Mihály Molnár
,
Szabolcs Leél-Őssy
,
Mihály Óvári
, and
József Stieber

Determination of the long-term behavior of cave systems and their response to changing environmental conditions is essential for further paleoclimate analyses of cave-hosted carbonate deposits. For this purpose, four actively forming stalagmites were collected in the Baradla Cave where a three-year monitoring campaign was also conducted. Based on textural characteristics and radiocarbon analyses, the stalagmites are composed of annual laminae, whose counting was used to establish age–depth relationships. Fast and slowly growing stalagmites have different stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions as well as trace element contents that could be attributed to differences in drip water migration pathways. The stable isotope compositions were compared with meteorological data of the last ∼100 years indicating that carbon isotope compositions of the stalagmites may reflect changes in precipitation amount, while oxygen isotope compositions are more related to temperature variations. The combined textural–geochemical–meteorological interpretation lead us to select the isotope record that can best reflect variations in environmental conditions and can be used for further evaluation of the climate–proxy relationships.

Open access