TECTONOPHYSICS

II III

ELSEVIER Tectonophysics291 (1998) 277-286

Ground temperature history in Romania inferred from borehole

temperature data
Serban Veliciu a,,, Jan Safanda h
a Geological Institute of Romania, Caransebes 1, 78344 Bucharest, Romania
b Geophysical Institute of the Czech Republic Academy of Sciences, Sporilov, Bocni lI/la, 141-31 Praha 4, Czech Republic
Received 28 February 1997; accepted 18 July 1997

Abstract

Geothermal observations (temperature-depth data and thermal property measurements) from a suite of boreholes in
the Romanian Carpathians area are used to infer ground surface temperature (GST) history. Temperature observations
in boreholes are combined with meteorological data at nearby weather stations to test that temperature in the earth's
subsurface contains a record of recent climate change. The subsurface temperature profiles are consistent with the air
temperature records. The GST histories that can be extracted by inversion of perturbed temperature data from boreholes
ranging in depth between 190 and 520 m cover the past 200-400 years. Results of inversion indicate for the last 150
years a cooler episode for the inner region of the Carpathian Mts. and a warmer time in the Carpathian foreland. The
GST histories for this southeastern part of Europe are slightly different from those obtained in western and central Europe.
These differences are consistent with the spatial variability of climatic trends. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.

Keywords: recent climate; inversion of temperature logs; shallow boreholes; the Carpathian area

1. Introduction The present study aims at obtaining ground sur-

It has long been recognised that borehole temper-
ature profiles contain information about the Earth's
changing climate (extensive references are given in
Lewis, 1992). The basic principle is that temperature
changes at the ground surface diffuse downwards
through solid rock by the process of heat conduction
and are manifested at a later time by a perturbation to
the background temperature profile over a particular
depth range.
* Corresponding author. Fax: +40 1 312 8444; E-mail:
veliciu@igr.ro
face temperature (GST) histories from temperature
measurements in seven boreholes of the Romanian
territory. The GST histories that can be extracted
from these boreholes, ranging in depth between
150 and 500 m, cover the past 500 years (Cermak,
1971; Mareschal and Vasseur, 1992). All sets of data
were separately inverted using the ~afanda method
(~afanda and Kubik, 1992) for the seven boreholes
and the Shen as well as Kostyanev methods (Shen
and Beck, 1991; Dimitriev and Kostyanev, 1993) for
one well (Somova), and they yield regional GST
histories for the Carpathians Mts. and their foreland.
The results of inversion indicate for the last 200

0040-1951/98/$19.00 © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PHS0040-1951(98)00046-8
278 S. Veliciu, J. Safanda/Tectonophysics 291 (1998) 277-286
years the following: (1) a cooling period for the
regions inside the Carpathian Chain (mainly in the
Transylvanian Basin); (2) a warmer period for the
regions outside the Carpathians (especially in the
Dobroudja); and (3) a transition zone following the
exterior of the Carpathian Chain bend where no
evidence has been inferred on climate change during
the last 150 years.
Similar trends are found in the meteorological
records at six corresponding nearby weather sta-
tions; the meteorological data series started since the
middle of the last century.
In order to get some interpretations on the data
revealed by the GST history, a correlation was done
with a so-called 'map of geosystemic units'. On
this map the 'geosystemic units' were separated
according to their differentiation regarding: (1) the
type of soil, (2) the soil humidity and (3) the type of
climate (e.g. deluvial moderate dry soil on hills; cool
humid climate).
2. Geothermal data used in this study
The seven boreholes used in the study are in dif-
ferent regions of Romania, situated either inside or
outside the Carpathian Mountain Chain and were
GEOSYSTEM UNITS M A P O F ROMANIA
GROUP OF UNFRAGMENI
A L L U V I A L B 0 1 L E ; MOD~[F
COOL; RELATIVELY HUM
GROUP OF STRONGLY
FRAQMIr NTED EOILi;
MODERATELY COOL
CLIMATE; SEMI-HUMID
GROUP OF r~OUNTAINOUB
FNAQMENTEO EOILR;
¢OOL ¢LIMATI[; HUMID
Fig. 1. Location of sites where climate change studies were performed and the nearby weather stations plotted on the 'geosystem units'
map of Romania.
drilled for mining exploration in diverse geological
units. Selection of the boreholes was performed by
discriminating through over 150 borehole temper-
ature profiles (Veliciu, 1987). The main criteria for
selection were: (1) relative lithologic homogeneity of
the borehole section in order to avoid strong changes
of the thermal properties of rocks; (2) low appar-
ent permeability in order to avoid significant fluids
flow; and (3) repeatability of the measurements at
an interval of a couple of years. So, the selected
boreholes cross either crystalline formations (wells
from the Dobroudja and the Carpathians Mts. bend)
or Miocene-Palaeogene and Mesozoic compact car-
bonate rocks (Transylvanian Depression).
The geothermal data used consist of high-quality
borehole temperature logs (i.e. temperature-depth
profiles) for the wells of which the locations are
shown in Fig. 1 and Table 1. Borehole temperatures
were determined using a thermistor probe. Precision
in temperature measurements is +0.004°C with an
accuracy in the field of about 0.04°C.
Thermal conductivity measurements made on
samples from the studied boreholes showed little
variations with depth in each hole within a spe-
cific geological formation (Table 2) The laboratory
measurement technique employed was based on the
|00 200 KM
LOUVIO"8OILi;
LY WARM;
D'
Weather ~ a t l o n s
GROUP OF B o r e h o l e a where
UNGFRAGMENTED EOILS; climate changes
WARM CLIMATE; w 0 r 0 studied
MODERATELY DRY*
 S. Veliciu, J. Jafanda / Tectonophysics 291 (1998) 277-286 279

Table 1 power were connected with a computer which auto-

Location, elevation above sea level and logging depth of all matically processes the input data and calculates the
boreholes used in Romania for the study of climate changes
heat conductivityvalues. The time required for a mea-
Well Coordinates Elevation Logging depth surement is about 2 min. Precision is within the limits
lat. °N long. *E
(m a.s.1.) (m) of -4-10% and reproducibility is better than 3%.
The second device consisted of a ring heat source
Altin-Tepe 44.57 28.66 31 250
represented by an electric resistance and a thermistor
Ceamurlia 44.77 28.67 28 190
Somova 45.17 28.62 46 320 placed in the centre of the ring. The device is con-
Stoenesti 45.15 25.10 415 350 trolled by a processor. It was industrially manufac-
Moneasa 46.45 22.23 210 200 tured as a portable device with power supplied from
Gurghiu 46.80 24.85 551 370 batteries. As compared with the first device, this has
Lapus (Razoare) 47.42 23.77 421 520
a lower precision (-t-20%) and it requires a perfect
polished surface with a diameter of minimum 7 cm,
a requirement difficult to be accomplished for poorly
theory of the heat transfer in solids for a transient consolidated rocks. All used samples were dry.
regime, thoroughly described by Carslaw and Jaeger The three sites in North Dobroudja (Somova, Al-
(1959). Two devices have been used for the present tin-Tepe, Ceamurlia) were specifically chosen for
study, which differ by the nature and geometry of the climate studies because they penetrate either low-
transient heat source and consequently by the math- permeability homogeneous 'green schists' forma-
ematical equation describing the heat transfer into tions (Altin-Tepe, Ceamurlia) or compact calcareous
the probe. One device works with a carbon-dioxide cryptocrystalline dolomite (Somova), show no signs
Laser-flash heat source (power 5 W), operating in of ground water flow and have negligible perturba-
the thermal infrared. This ensures practically a point tions by terrain or vegetation effects. The wells were
source on the rock sample. The temperature varia- drilled in the years 1974-78 for mining exploration
tion was recorded using a sub-miniature thermistor. to depths varying from 550 m (Ceamurlia) to 1000
The thermistor and a powermeter controlling the laser m (Somova). Borehole temperatures were measured

Table 2
Name, geological setting, mean values for thermal conductivity and heat flow of seven boreholes used for the study of climate changes
in Romania

Well Tectonic unit Lithology Thermal conductivity Average heat flow

(W m -1 K - l ) (roW m -2)

Altin Tepe North Dobroudja 0-300? m 'green schists' formation 2.8 49

(intra-cratonic Alpine Palaeozoic age
orogenic area)
Ceamurlia North Dobroudja 0-130 m 'green schists' formation 2.7 37
130-190 m porphyry quartz rhyolite 3.3
Somova North Dobroudja 0-320 calcareous dolomite, 2.9 46
cryptocrystalline, very hard (Triassic)
Stoenesti Southern Carpathian 0-350 m chloritoid schists (Proterozoic) 2.5 47
foredeep (orogenic flank)
Gurghiu Transylvanian 0-220 m mudstone very fine grained 2.4 83
Depression (Burdigalian)
220-520 m shells (Oligocene) 2.7
Lapus (Razoare) Transylvanian 0-90 m limestone (Eocene) 2.4 70
Depression
90-520 m sandstone (Oligocene) 2.8
Moneasa Apuseni Mts. 0--140 m basalt, microcrystalline (Triassic) 2.3 63
140-200 m medium-grained quartzite 3.2
(Palaeozoic)
280 S. Veliciu, J. Safanda/Tectonophysics 291 (1998) 277-286

several months after drilling, logging at a 5 m depth
interval. All three sites were revisited in 1993, result-
ing in three remeasured borehole temperature logs at
an interval of 1 m but this time the maximum depth
was only 300 m.
The Stoenesti site is located on the orogenic flank
of the southern Carpathians foredeep. This borehole
crossed only chlorite-schist and has been revisited
two years after completion of the drilling operations
in 1987.
Of the three sites inside the Carpathians two
(Lapus and Gurghiu) are located on the eastern car-
tographic limit of the Transylvanian Depression with
the East Carpathians. The boreholes penetrated the
Lower Miocene and/or Palaeogene sedimentary for-
mations (compact limestones and sandstones) char-
acterised as impervious horizons. The Moneasa well
is situated in the Apuseni Mts. near the eastern limit
of the Pannonian Basin. The borehole encountered
basalts belonging to the Triassic ophiolitic complex
and quartzites which outcrop in the southern part of
the Apuseni Mts. All these wells in the Carpathians
were drilled for mining exploration during the 1980s,
and were remeasured in 1993 at an interval of 2 m.
From a morphologic point of view the sites inside
the Carpathians, including the foredeep, are located
on a series of hills rising a few hundreds metres
above the Carpathian foreland (Table 1). So, a to-
pographic effect on the temperature logs recorded in
the boreholes of this region could not be excluded
but it was not considered for the present study.
For climate studies it is interesting to depict the
transient departures from a background steady-state
thermal regime. As the transient component in many
cases is about I°C, it was convenient to calculate
a reduced ('residual') temperature by removing the
background thermal gradient. This has been accom-
plished following the method described by Chapman
et al. (1992) and the reduced temperature used in this
study is defined as:
Tr(Z) = Tobs -- To - GZ (1)
where Tobs is the measured temperature at depth z
and To and G are the zero-depth intercept and the
gradient, respectively, of a linear fit to the lower
part of the temperature-depth profile. The linear fit
is the regression line calculated by the least-squares
method.
Plots of the observed borehole temperatures are
shown in Fig. 2 for the seven sites. The reduced
(residual) temperature plots (Fig. 3) demonstrate the
departures from the linear temperature-depth pro-

Temperature(C) Temperature(C)
8 9 10 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

°t,,
-50

-100 -~
"~ 1-AltinTepeia
2-Ceamurl
~~Stoenesti ~
-50 --

-150

-200
"\ ~
~, . .
5-Gurghl
6-Lapus u

-150 -- -250
£
-200 -- ~ i ~ 3 -300
-350 i
-400
-250 - -

-450
-300- a 500~ b

Fig. 2. Borehole temperature-depth data used for the study of climate change in Romania; site locations are shown in Fig. 1. Symbols
are individual temperatureobservationsand solid lines are linear fits to the lower part of the temperature-depth profiles.
 S. Veliciu, J. Safanda / Tectonophysics 291 (1998) 277-286 281

Temperature(C)
-2
3. Meteorological data
2 . ~ 7 2 -2
0 ,I :1,1 I I I J I
Historically, the principal meteorological data
-50
used to infer climate change on land are mean an-
-100

-150

-200
.c: -250
1
i2. i nual surface air temperature (Chapman et al., 1992).
It is determined from daily maximum and mini-
mum temperatures. The available annual surface air
temperatures from six of Romania's meteorological
stations indicated in Fig. 1 and Table 3, have been
-3oo compiled. The meteorological stations are nearby the
-350 - 1-Altin Tape well sites. Surface air temperature records started in
2-Ceamurlla
-400 3-Samara 1856 at the Bucharest weather station, in 1875 in the
4-Stoeneatl
Sulina and Constanta weather stations and in 1878

o
-450 -
in the Baia Mare and Bistrita weather stations (Tris-
-soo -= a tea et al., 1966). Completed time series of surface
Temperature (C)
2 -2 0 2 -2 0 2
air temperatures for three representative meteorolog-
I I L-J I I i I i I i | I i ical stations (Bucharest, Sulina and Baia Mare) are
0
plotted in Fig. 4.
-50
For the stations situated outside the Carpathian
-I00
Mts. (Bucharest, Constanta, Sulina) the records in-
-150 dicate an average rise of temperature over the
-200 time interval 1850-1990, determined by the least-
square regression. For the weather stations inside the
J;: -250
Carpathian Mts. an average decrease has been in-
-300
ferred. So, the Sulina, Constanta and Bucharest time
-350 5-Gurghlu series to the southeast and south of the Carpathian
67Lapus
-400 7-Moneaml Mts. are compatible showing the century-long trend
-450
of +0.22 to +0.84°C.
6 The remaining three weather stations inside the
-5oo b
Carpathian Mts. show different century scale trends
Fig. 3. Residual temperature profiles for observations with the but are in good agreement with each other, an av-
temperature gradient removed using Eq. 1. erage decrease of temperature determined by the
least-square regression of about -0.6°C being char-
acteristic.
files in the upper 100 m of the wells from Dobroudja
and in the upper 200-250 m of the wells from the
East Carpathians. The plots for the Stoenesti well
(southern Carpathian foredeep) exhibit no significant Table 3
Location of weather stations situated near sites where climate
departure from the linear temperature--depth profile. change was studied in Romania
Three wells (Somova, Ceamurlia, Altin-Tepe) ex-
hibit positive temperature residuals at shallow depth; Weather station Coordinates Elevation (m a.s.1.)
one well (Stoenesti) has a near-linear profile to the lat. °N long. °E
surface and three sites (Lapus, Gurghiu, Moneasa) Baia Mare 47.67 23.58 194
exhibit a negative temperature residual near the sur- Bistrita 47.13 24.50 366
face. The maximum departure of the observed tem- Timisoara 45.77 21.25 91
peratures from the regression line is about 0.8°C for Bucharest 44.42 26.10 95
the wells located outside the Carpathian Mts., and it Sulina 45.15 29.67 9
Constanta 44.11 28.40 32
is 2 to 4°C within the Carpathian Mts.
282 S. Veliciu, J. Safanda l Tectonophysics 291 (1998) 277-286

Sulina Weather Station (+0.84 C)

14
M~n 12 .~.~"~.~',.--.,' ~,~,,~-'~-.~-~/,,-~ ---,,~-',j.-~-~
~
AnnuiI Air Ot -, " i, , l\ ,,
Temperature
(c)
61 I ) I I I
1865 1885 1905 1925 1945 19'~5 1985

J - - o b .... tions -- -- -recJ .... ion I year

Bucharest Weather Station (+0.22 C)

Mean
Annual Air
Temperature
(c) 8
6 ; I i
1855 1875 1915 1935 1955 1975

I observations -- -- -regression, year

Baia Mare Weather S t a t i o n ( - 0 . 5 8 C)

Mean
12 .~!.~.~,,/j.77.,' .... -'7",,,--,~-:-, ,,,/1 ,, r
"L 1
~"r~. "" q I .... ,' '
Annual Air
Temperature
(c) 8
6 ~
1855 18"/5 1895 1915 1935 1955 1975
!

I observations -- -- -regression J year

Fig. 4. Mean annual surface air temperatures plotted as departures from the weather station average; locations are shown in Fig. 1.
Dashed line is the least-square regression line for the entire record (1855-1990). The 135-yr. temperature change is indicated beside the
station name.

Direct comparison of the borehole temperature 4. I n v e r s i o n o f g e o t h e r m a l data

profiles and surface air temperature records is not
possible for two main reasons: (1) ground temper- The inverse method used for the geothermal data
atures are generally warmer than air temperatures sets from Romania was thoroughly described by
by 1-5°C; (2) changes of surface temperature are Safanda and Kubik (1992) and it is based on the
filtered and attenuated in the earth's surface by the simple theory of 1-D heat conduction using the least
process of heat conduction. However, the presented squares method (Shen and Beck, 1991). The em-
surface air temperature trends show a consistent ployed parametrisation scheme constrains the GST
warming outside the Carpathian Mts., but a slightly history to a few changes.
negative trend inside the Carpathian area. GST histories were reconstructed from temper-
 S. Veliciu, J. ~afanda/Tectonophysics 291 (1998) 277-286 283

Gurghiu Well Ceamurlia Well

16
14
| 12
~ lO
O~ |4 f
10
8
8, t ~ ~- ~ ,-
~ 6, , ' " ~ I .....
1400 1500 1600 1700 1~00 1900 2000
1400 1,600 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Year A.D. Year A.D.

Moneasa Well Somova Well

16 16 . . . . . . . . . .

.= 14
12
~L
~1o ~ 10.-

8 I t ' I ' ~ I 't"' 8 ~ ..... ~ ~ '" ',

1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 t 400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Year A.D. Year A.D. '

Lapus Well Altan Tepe Well

14 . . . . . . . 16

14
,-i
, 10 11: ~ 12

~8 ....... ~ E 10
O m m . . . . . . . . ,
./
t r i P "
I--
8 t t .... I J ' " I. . . .
1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Year A.D. Year A.O.

I .lw, mK;o.os, - - - I 1W/InK; 0,05K - - - 2W/InK; 0..1K I

Stoenesti Well
16
o
14

12
O
Q,
E 10

8 ', ,* ', ~

1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900. 2000

Year A.D.
Fig. 5. Ground surface temperature (GST) history from inversion of the data set of seven boreholes in Romania, Continuous lines:
calculated using an a-priori standard deviation of 1 W m -1 K - t for thermal conductivity and of 0.05 K for temperature. Dashed lines:
calculated using 2 W m - I K -~ and 0.1 K, respectively.
284 S. Veliciu, J. ~afanda / Tectonophysics 291 (1998)277-286
20
16
Temperature14.
14
(e) 12
1
6 ,
1800
=1~ Shen's method - - l l - - Kostyanev's method
Fig. 6. Inverse results for the Somova well data obtained from three different inversion methods.
ature logs of all seven boreholes drilled in the
Carpathian area and foreland. Each borehole was
individually inverted. The results of inversion are
presented in Fig. 5. Six boreholes seem to exhibit
climatic episodes over the last 400 years;
The temperature fluctuations for this period do
not generally exceed 2.0-4°C and the quality of the
measured temperature logs permitted to resolve in
this time interval not more than 2-3 climatic events
with the greatest impact on the temperature log in
the given environment.
GST histories appear coherent for the Somova,
Ceamurlia and Altin-Tepe wells located outside the
Carpathians Mts. area in North Dobroudja. Temper-
atures show a cooling period with a maximum at
1880-1900 A.D. followed by a notably rapid warm-
ing since the beginning of the 20th century.
The temperature logs from boreholes situated in
the interior of the Carpathians Mts. give less coherent
GST histories. The GST history presented in Fig. 5
for the Lapus well shows a cooling period with a
minimum between 1700-1800 A.D. ('Little Ice Age'
in the Eastern Carpathian area?), a certain wanning
before 1900 and a pronounced recent cooling after
1910. Inversion of the Gurghiu well log has indicated
a similar GST history pattern.
The Moneasa well located on the western flank of
the Apuseni Mts. at the eastern limit of the Pannon-
ian Basin gives a different GST history as compared
with the Lapus well. The cooling trend which starts
at 1600 A.D., extends until 1900 and is followed by
a warming period during the 20th century. However,
the amplitude of each of these climatic events seems
Somova Well
/
I ......... J. . . . .
1850 1900 1950 2000
Years A.D,
A Salanda's method J
to be smaller (I°C) than those exhibited by the Lanus
well (3°C).
Because of some uncertainties about the effective-
ness of various methods in inferring the GST histo-
ries derived from borehole temperature data (Beck et
al., 1992), the results for the Somova well obtained
from three inverse methods (Shen and Beck, 1991;
Safanda and Kubik, 1992; Dimitriev and Kostyanev,
1993) are presented in Fig. 6. The three individual
plots are shown for the last two centuries interval.
5. Discussion
In the present study, perturbed temperature pro-
files measured in boreholes were interpreted in terms
of recent changes in GST history. Comparison with
the direct record of climate is useful to determine
whether this interpretation is sensible and whether
the inversion yields meaningful results. Fortunately,
time series of measured air temperature are available
for this purpose. Air temperature has been recorded
continuously in Romania since the middle of the
19th century (Tristea et al., 1966). It appears that all
reconstructed GST histories fit those of the nearby
meteorological station records reasonably well. (1)
Meteorological records from the stations located out-
side the Carpathian Mts. show a century-long trend
of about +0.22 to +0.84°C. This is indicated in
the reconstructed GST histories from the wells of
Dobroudja. So, the last 100 years are recognised
as a period of relatively rapid warming but with a
more pronounced amplitude (approximately 2°C for
the Somova and Altin-Tepe wells). (2) The average
 S. Veliciu, J. ,~afanda/ Tectonophysics 291 (1998)277-286
decrease of air temperature of about -0.6°C deter-
mined by the least-square regression for the data
series from the weather stations situated within the
Carpathian area is correlated with the GST histo-
ries obtained for the sites on the western limit of
the East Carpathians (western limit of the Transyl-
vanian Basin). The mean annual air temperature at
Baia Mare seems to exhibit more than just a linear
trend. It has a minimum at about 1880, followed by
a warming and then a cooling. The inferred GST
history of the Lapus well reflects the changes. How-
ever, the decrease of GST resulting from inversion of
Lapus well data is about I°C (inserting into the cal-
culation the a-priori standard deviation of 2 W m-1
K -1 for thermal conductivity and 0. I°C for tempera-
ture measurements) and about 3°C (using 1 W m -1
K -1 and 0.05°C, respectively). The Gurghiu well ex-
hibits a higher amplitude for cooling (approximately
4°C, for a-priori standard deviations of 1 W m -1 K -1
and 0.05°C). The results from these two Carpathian
boreholes could be suspicious not because they indi-
cate cooling but because of the amplitude of cooling
that they seem to indicate, as compared with the
meteorological records. The suspicion concerns the
question whether the perturbations observed in the
Lapus and Gurghiu wells are only climatic.
In summary it appears that most of the prominent
features in the reconstructed GST histories correlate
with variations in the century long-term air-tem-
perature records of the surrounding meteorological
observations. Also, the reconstructed GST histories
can be correlated with the 'geosystem units' map
of Romania (Fig. 1). The Altin-Tepe, Ceamurlia and
Somova wells are all located on the geosystem group
separated in the map as the group of unfragrnented
soils affected by warm climate and being moderately
dry. The Stoenesti well is situated near the limit of
this group. The Gurghiu and Lapus wells are both in-
side the group of mountainous fragmented soils with
a cool and humid climate, while the Moneasa bore-
hole location belongs to the group of strongly frag-
mented soils in a moderately cool, moderately humid
climate. The limits of the 'geosystem units' could
suggest a possible maximum geographical extent of
the reconstructed GST from individual boreholes.
The trends observed in the reconstructed GST
histories, for a time interval older than that covered
by the meteorological records (1400-1800 A.D.),
285
are similar for all the investigated sites even though
the amplitude variations differ between locations.
This indicates a general cooling which may be in-
terpreted as the effect of the 'Little Ice Age' known
in western and central Europe, but probably affect-
ing the southeastern European regions with a delay
of approximately 100 years. Comparisons with GST
histories inferred in other studies sustain this as-
sumption: (1) French data (Mareschal and Vasseur,
1992) suggest a cold episode, tentatively identified
with the Little Ice Age between 400 and 200 years
ago; (2) the GST histories from boreholes located in
the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin exhibit also a cool
episode like the 'Little Ice Age' between about the
15th and 18th centuries (Bodri and Cermak, 1994;
Clausser and Mareschal, 1994). This general trend is
in good agreement with palaeoclimatic reconstruc-
tions in Europe carried out by using a variety of
proxy sources.
Acknowledgements
This study was performed within an international
joint research project. We acknowledge financial
assistance from the Romanian Academy and the
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, from
the Romanian Ministry of Science and Technology
and from the host institutions of the authors. Also,
we express our gratitude to V. Cermak, H.N. Pollack,
D.S. Chapman for motivating this study and to the
two reviewers P.Y. Shen and J.C. Mareschal for their
pertinent comments on the manuscript.
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