| ABSTRACT | Over the past decade, Central and SE Europe experienced an increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods. In order to better understand the flood generating climatic conditions, we present here an 1100 years record of flood events in Transylvania (Romania) and their relationship with past climatic conditions. The study is based on documentary evidence and sedimentary records along one of the main rivers draining this area (Someșul Mic river). Two periods of increased flooding activity occurred in Transylvania, one at beginning of the 10th century, most likely as a result of generally wet conditions, and a second one, at the end of the 16th and beginning of 17th century, when a southward displacement of the westerlies storm-track lead to enhanced zonal moisture transport from the Atlantic Ocean. Between 1500 and 1899, the documentary evidence indicate a maximum incidence of floods during the 17th and 19th centuries, likely as flash-floods during heavy summer thunderstorms. |