Late quaternary paleoclimate reconstruction of Eastern Mediterranean region by using speleothem records from Antalya

In this dissertation, it is aimed to investigate the traces of climate change and human activity during Holocene through soot layers contained stalagmites which were collected from caves in Antalya, SW Turkey. In this respect, Uranium series dating analysis (230Th), stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) measurements, SEM and thin section analysis have been performed on Ta-9 and Ta-10 stalagmites collected from Tabak Cave. Additionally, Ko-1 stalagmite collected from Kocain Cave and Ge-1 stalagmite collected from Geyikbayırı Cave have been used to support the data collected from Tabak Cave. Dating results for stalagmite Ta-9 are 2400±294 years BP, 4419±16 years BP, 6993±266 years BP and 15364±77 years BP, respectively, while for stalagmite Ta-10 are of 4536±30 years BP, 6670±218 years BP, 7424±225 years BP, 7579±177 years BP. There is a hiatus lasted ~2200 years in both stalagmites. According to stable isotope measurement results while stalagmite Ta-9 δ18O values are varying from -6.59‰ to -3.56 ‰, δ13C values range from -7.46‰ to -1.26‰. As to stalagmite Ta-10, δ18O values vary from -6.09‰ to -3.75‰, while δ13C values are varying from -7.97‰ to -1.80‰. The soot layers, which can be detected by SEM and thin section analysis on both stalagmites Ta-9 and Ta-10, are proven to be deposited simultaneously around 6600 years BP. It is observed that soot and charcoal layers deposited during different time periods in stalagmite Ko-1 and stalagmite Ge-1. According to the varying stable isotope values of stalagmites Ta-9 and Ta-10, there were four wetter and four dry periods during the late Holocene in SW Turkey. The dry conditions, which appeared to have started in 3400 years BP continued to 2800 years BP and covers the Late Bronze Age-Iron age transition. In this period, between 3200 years BP and 3100 years BP, dry conditions reached their peak values. Although there were wetter periods during this period, general climate conditions continued as dry. These results obtained from SW Turkey, when compared to the paleoclimate records produced from Eastern Mediterranean region, show that the dry climatic conditions between 3200 years BP and 2800 years BP were widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean. The traces of these dry conditions, which is considered as one of the reasons of collapsing of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, has been recorded in the Tabak Cave stalagmites. As a result, using the stalagmites which are obtained from SW Turkey, precisely dated high-resolution records of the climate conditions of Eastern Mediterranean during late Holocene have been revealed. Especially from the perspective of Late Bronze-Iron Age transition, these paleoclimatic records are the first ones to be produced for the region. Additionally, it has shown that the study of stalagmites can be used to trace the past human activities by using precious periods and it has also shown that speleothems have an important potential to shed light on the archaeological past of the region. KEYWORDS: Stalagmite, Stalactite, Late Holocene, Paleoclimate, Stable Isotope, Uranium-series, Bronze Age-Iron Age Transition, Soot and Charcoal Layers, Geoarchaeology, Antalya, SW Turkey