Abstract
For more than 40 years, isotope research of environmental compartments has been conducted at the Plitvice Lakes. Though it started with initial idea to radiocarbon date tufa, the emerged problems regarding tufa dating eventually led to isotope research of water and carbon cycles, dating of tufa and sediments by other isotopes, using sediment and tufa as natural archives of past climate and environmental conditions. Water from different compartments, precipitation, groundwater, surface and lake water were analyzed by oxygen (stable 18O) and hydrogen isotopes (stable 2H, radioactive 3H). Research have been conducted by carbon (stable 13C, radioactive 14C) isotopes in atmospheric CO2, terrestrial plants and soil, in dissolved inorganic carbon in groundwater and lake water and in aquatic plants, in tufa and in organic and inorganic fraction of lake sediments. Along with carbon isotopes (13C and 14C), 18O and 15 N were also used for analyses of the sediment carbonate and organic fraction, respectively. For dating of recent lake sediments 137Cs and 210Pb were used, while 14C and U/Th were used to date tufa.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to former Ruđer Bošković Institute laboratory staff members Dušan Srdoč, Adela Sliepčević, Bogomil Obelić, Nada Horvatinčić, Elvira Hernaus, and Božica Mustač and the present technician Anita Rajtarić and to the staff of the “Dr. Ivo Pevalek” Scientific Station of the Plitvice Lakes who took part in sample and data collection. We appreciate also indispensable contributions of numerous colleagues from different institutions who participated in various projects.
The work was partially funded by the Croatian Science Foundation project HRZZ-IP-2013-11-1623 Reconstruction of the Quaternary environment in Croatia using isotope methods (REQUENCRIM), 2014–2018, and projects with the Plitvice Lakes National Park “Influence of environmental and climate changes on the biologically induced calcite precipitation in form of tufa or lake sediment at the Plitvice Lakes” 2011–2014, and “An investigation of the influence of forest ecosystems of the National Park Plitvice Lakes on the quality of water and lakes” 2003–2006. Earlier research was funded through project with Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia, and projects of the European Commission ANTROPOL.PROT, SOWAEUMED and STRAVAL.
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Sironić, A., Krajcar Bronić, I., Barešić, J. (2023). Environmental Isotope Studies at the Plitvice Lakes. In: Miliša, M., Ivković, M. (eds) Plitvice Lakes. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20378-7_4
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