Controls on trace element (Sr–Mg) compositions of carbonate cave waters: implications for speleothem climatic records

Fairchild, Ian J.; Borsato, Andrea; Tooth, Anna F.; Frisia, Silvia; Hawkesworth, C. J.; Huang, Yiming; McDermott, Frank; Spiro, Baruch

doi:10.1016/s0009-2541(99)00216-8

Cited by 522 publications

(459 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Raich and Schlesinger, 1992) and reduce speleothem δ 13 C (Genty et al, 2003). Increased rainfall can also limit the opportunity of prior calcite precipitation during seepage (Fairchild et al, 2000), a process that may enrich δ 13 C along the percolation pathway due to excessive degassing of CO 2 . Thus, the broad period of lower values between ca.…”

Section: Results and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced rainfall in the Western Mediterranean during deposition of sapropel S1: stalagmite evidence from Corchia cave (Central Italy)

Zanchetta

Drysdale

Hellström

et al. 2007

Quaternary Science Reviews

217

202

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A stable isotope record from a stalagmite collected from Antro del Corchia cave (Apuan Alps, Central Italy), supported by 17 uranium-series ages, indicates enhanced regional rainfall between ca. 8.9 and 7.3 kyr cal. BP at the time of sapropel S1 deposition. Within this phase, the highest rainfall occurred between 7.9 and 7.4 kyr cal. BP. Comparison with different marine and lake records, and in particular with the Soreq Cave record (Israel), suggests substantial in-phase occurrence of enhanced rainfall between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins. There is no convincing evidence for major climatic change at the time of the "8.2 ka event".

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Section: Results and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced rainfall in the Western Mediterranean during deposition of sapropel S1: stalagmite evidence from Corchia cave (Central Italy)

Zanchetta

Drysdale

Hellström

et al. 2007

Quaternary Science Reviews

217

202

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“…For example, drier conditions can result in a lower drip rate, which can increase the d 13 C values due to the longer time available for calcite precipitation between successive drips Scholz et al, 2009;Dreybrodt and Scholz, 2011). Dry conditions can also favour disequilibrium fractionation at and/or 'upstream' of the drip site during prior calcite precipitation (PCP) (Fairchild et al, 2000;Fairchild and Treble, 2009), a process by which CO 2 degassing causes preferential loss of the lighter 12 C isotope to the gas phase and hence enriches the percolation water, and ultimately the speleothem, in 13 C. Another process affecting the C isotopes is fractionation between gaseous CO 2 and HCO 3 À (in the aquifer) and HCO 3 À and CaCO 3 (during calcite precipitation).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These phase relationships suggest that during wetter periods, when DCF values are high and Mg/Ca ratios are low, the C isotopes undergo less fractionation than would be the case during drier intervals when PCP is enhanced (Griffiths et al, 2010a). In general, wet periods permit less PCP (Fairchild et al, 2000;Fairchild and Treble, 2009) and tend to result in higher drip rates, which lead to less fractionation during stalagmite growth Scholz et al, 2009;Dreybrodt and Scholz, 2011) and hence higher stalagmite d 13 C values. Therefore, it is clear that for d 13 C, variations in the host rock contribution are more than counterbalanced by variations in fractionation effects related to karst hydrology.…”

Section: Host Rock Contribution To Dcfmentioning

confidence: 94%

Hydrological control of the dead carbon fraction in a Holocene tropical speleothem

Griffiths

Fohlmeister

Drysdale

et al. 2012

Quaternary Geochronology

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a b s t r a c tOver the past decade, a number of speleothem studies have used radiocarbon ( 14 C) to address a range of palaeoclimate problems. These have included the use of the bomb pulse 14 C to anchor chronologies over the last 60 years, the combination of U-Th and 14 C measurements to improve the radiocarbon agecalibration curve, and linking atmospheric 14 C variations with climate change. An issue with a number of these studies is how to constrain, or interpret, variations in the amount of radioactively dead carbon (i.e. the dead carbon fraction, or DCF) that reduces radiocarbon concentrations in speleothems. In this study, we use 14 C, stable-isotopes, and trace-elements in a U-Th dated speleothem from Flores, Indonesia, to examine DCF variations and their relationship with above-cave climate over the late Holocene and modern era. A strong association between the DCF and hydrologically-controlled proxy data suggests that more dead carbon was being delivered to the speleothem during periods of higher cave recharge (i.e. lower d 18 O, d 13 C and Mg/Ca values), and hence stronger summer monsoon. To explore this relationship, we used a geochemical soil-karst model coupled with 14 C measurements through the bomb pulse to disentangle the dominant components governing DCF variability in the speleothem. We find that the DCF is primarily controlled by limestone dissolution associated with changes in open-versus closed-system conditions, rather than kinetic fractionation and/or variations in the age spectrum of soil organic matter above the cave. Therefore, we infer that periods of higher rainfall resulted in a higher DCF because the system was in a more closed state, which inhibited carbon isotope exchange between the karst water dissolved inorganic carbon and soil-gas CO 2 , and ultimately led to a greater contribution of dead carbon from the bedrock.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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“…The EC characteristics of each drip can then vary on a sitespecific basis according to variations in water residence time within the aquifer (Miorandi et al, 2010, Sherwin and Baldini, 2011), the extent of aquifer mixing (Genty and Deflandre 1998) and potentially prior calcite precipitation (PCP) (Fairchild et al, 2000, Fairchild et al, 2006, Sherwin and Baldini, 2011 (Spotl et al, 2005, Baldini et al, 2008, Tremaine et al, 2011, Wong et al, 2011). An increase in cave air pCO 2 acts to suppress the normal rate of CO 2 degassing from drip waters and in so doing limits the supersaturation of percolating waters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The EC characteristics of each drip can then vary on a sitespecific basis according to variations in water residence time within the aquifer (Miorandi et al, 2010, Sherwin andBaldini, 2011), the extent of aquifer mixing (Genty and Deflandre 1998) and potentially prior calcite precipitation (PCP) (Fairchild et al, 2000, Fairchild et al, 2006, Sherwin and Baldini, 2011. Several studies have observed strong speleothem drip rate / EC relationships, thought to be driven by the karst hydrology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drip water electrical conductivity as an indicator of cave ventilation at the event scale

Smith

Wynn

Barker

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

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The use of speleothems to reconstruct past climatic and environmental change through chemical proxies is becoming increasingly common. Speleothem chemistry is controlled by hydrological and atmospheric processes which vary over seasonal time scales. However, as many reconstructions using speleothem carbonate are now endeavouring to acquire information about precipitation and temperature dynamics at a scale that can capture short term hydrological events, our understanding of within cave processes must match this resolution. Monitoring within Cueva de Asiul (N. Spain) has identified rapid (hourly resolution) changes in drip water electrical conductivity (EC), which is regulated by the pCO 2 in the cave air. Drip water EC is therefore controlled by different modes of cave ventilation. In Cueva de Asiul a combination of density differences, and external pressure changes control ventilation patterns. Density driven changes in cave ventilation occur on a diurnal scale at this site irrespective of season, driven by fluctuations in external temperature across the cave internal temperature threshold. As external temperatures drop below those within the cave low pCO 2 external air enters the void, facilitating the deposition of speleothem carbonate and causing a reduction in measured drip water EC. Additionally, decreases in external pressure related to storm activity act as a secondary ventilation mechanism. Reductions in external air pressure cause a drop in cave air pressure, enhancing karst air draw down, increasing the pCO 2 of the cave and therefore the EC measured within drip waters. EC thereby serves as a first order indicator of cave ventilation, 2 regardless of changes in speleothem drip rates and karst hydrological conditions. High resolution monitoring of cave drip water electrical conductivity reveals the highly sensitive nature of ventilation dynamics within cave environments, and highlights the importance of this for understanding trace element incorporation into speleothem carbonate at the event scale.Keywords: Northern Spain; Cueva de Asiul; speleothem; cave ventilation; cave water chemistry; electrical conductivity. IntroductionSpeleothems are important repositories of palaeoclimate information (Fairchild and Baker 2012).Speleothem carbonate chemistry is routinely used to assess large-scale palaeoenvironmental change, as well as offering the ability to identify annual to sub-annual variations in local meteorology (Treble et al., 2003, Wynn et al., 2014 and vegetation dynamics (Borsato et al., 2007; Fairchild et al., 2010).Although there is a wealth of information to be drawn from cave speleothems, interpretation frequently relies upon understanding site specific controls on carbonate deposition (Spotl et al., 2005, Miorandi et al., 2010. For this reason, a greater emphasis is now being placed upon robust high resolution cave monitoring studies, which aid the interpretation of speleothem chemistry through the characterisation of cave environments (Mattey et al., 2010, Wong et al., 2011.Drip wat...

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Controls on trace element (Sr–Mg) compositions of carbonate cave waters: implications for speleothem climatic records

Cited by 522 publications

References 26 publications

Enhanced rainfall in the Western Mediterranean during deposition of sapropel S1: stalagmite evidence from Corchia cave (Central Italy)

Enhanced rainfall in the Western Mediterranean during deposition of sapropel S1: stalagmite evidence from Corchia cave (Central Italy)

Hydrological control of the dead carbon fraction in a Holocene tropical speleothem

Drip water electrical conductivity as an indicator of cave ventilation at the event scale

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