Constraining Holocene sea levels using U‐Th ages of phreatic overgrowths on speleothems from coastal caves in Mallorca (Western Mediterranean)

Tuccimei, Paola; Soligo, Michele; Ginés, Joaquín; Ginés, Àngel; Fornós, Joan J.; Kramers, Jan; Villa, Igor M.

doi:10.1002/esp.1955

Cited by 32 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Phase 4 ( Figure 5D): The cap of the mushroom is the most unusual subunit of the speleothem. To our knowledge, this type of rock facies has never been described in detail from any other cave (one of the few comparable occurrences is probably that described by Tuccimei et al (2010)). The cap facies occurs in a well-defined horizontal band of the cave rooms (i.e., on the top of the mushroom stipe and on the walls surrounding the water pool).…”

Section: Model For Mushroom Speleothem Formationmentioning

confidence: 75%

Mushroom Speleothems: Stromatolites That Formed in the Absence of Phototrophs

et al. 2016

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Unusual speleothems resembling giant mushrooms occur in Cueva Grande de Santa Catalina, Cuba. Although these mineral buildups are considered a natural heritage, their composition and formation mechanism remain poorly understood. Here we characterize their morphology and mineralogy and present a model for their genesis. We propose that the mushrooms, which are mainly comprised of calcite and aragonite, formed during four different phases within an evolving cave environment. The stipe of the mushroom is an assemblage of three well-known speleothems: a stalagmite surrounded by calcite rafts that were subsequently encrusted by cave clouds (mammillaries). More peculiar is the cap of the mushroom, which is morphologically similar to cerebroid stromatolites and thrombolites of microbial origin occurring in marine environments. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations of this last unit revealed the presence of fossilized extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)-the constituents of biofilms and microbial mats. These organic microstructures are mineralized with Ca-carbonate, suggesting that the mushroom cap formed through a microbially-influenced mineralization process. The existence of cerebroid Ca-carbonate buildups forming in dark caves (i.e., in the absence of phototrophs) has interesting implications for the study of fossil microbialites preserved in ancient rocks, which are today considered as one of the earliest evidence for life on Earth.

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Section: Model For Mushroom Speleothem Formationmentioning

confidence: 75%

Mushroom Speleothems: Stromatolites That Formed in the Absence of Phototrophs

et al. 2016

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“…Powders for stable isotope analyses ( Figure 3) were obtained with a dental drill. These institutes are renowned for carbonate U-Th dating, producing hundreds of ages per year; chemical preparation of subsamples and mass-spectrometer analytical details are the same as those presented in the following recent research papers for Melbourne (Bajo et al, 2016;Columbu et al, 2017), Bern (Tuccimei et al, 2010;De Waele et al, 2017) and Mainz (Gibert et al, 2016;Obert et al, 2016). The isotope values are reported in the conventional delta notation with respect to VPDB (Table II).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speleothems in a north Cuban cave register sea‐level changes and Pleistocene uplift rates

Waele

D’Angeli

Bontognali

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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A flight of marine terraces along the Cuban coast records Quaternary sea‐level highstands and a general slowly uplifting trend during the Pleistocene. U/Th dating of these limestone terraces is difficult because fossil reef corals have been affected by open system conditions. Terrace ages are thus often based on geological and geomorphological observations. In contrast, the minimum age of the terraces can be constrained by dating speleothems from coastal mixing (flank margin) caves formed during past sea‐level highstands and carving the marine limestones. Speleothems in Santa Catalina Cave have ages >360 ka and show various cycles of subaerial–subaqueous corrosion and speleothem growth. This suggests that the cave was carved during the MIS 11 sea‐level highstand or earlier. Some stalagmites grew during MIS 11 through MIS 8 and were submerged twice, once at the end of MIS 11 and then during MIS 9. Phreatic overgrowths (POS) covering the speleothems suggest anchialine conditions in the cave during MIS 5e. Their altitude at 16 m above present sea level indicates a late Pleistocene uplift rate of <0.1 mm/ka, but modelling also shows uplift to have been insignificant over a long timespan during the middle Pleistocene since the cave was carved. Our study shows that some flank margin caves in the region of Matanzas are older than commonly believed (i.e. MIS 11 rather than MIS 5). These caves not only can be preserved but are good markers of interglacial sea‐level highstands, more reliable than marine abrasion surfaces. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…The coastal caves of Mallorca provide the archetype of these SLIPs (Vesica et al, 2000;Dorale et al, 2010;Tuccimei et al, 2010), but they have also been found in Bermuda and elsewhere (Harmon et al, 1978;Grimes, 2001;Urushibara-Yoshino, 2003;Tuccimei et al, 2007). POS also exist at different depths within the flooded passages of Mallorca's coastal caves, thus providing evidence for prior sea-level highstands and lowstands with unprecedented vertical and temporal resolution (Dorale et al, 2010).…”

Section: Phreatic Overgrowths On Speleothems In Littoral Cave Environmentioning

confidence: 99%