Palaeoclimate determination from cave calcite deposits

Gascoyne, M.

doi:10.1016/0277-3791(92)90074-i

Cited by 228 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Three possible mechanisms may explain this interval of low δ 18 O values. The first concerns changes in regional air temperatures, which can alter air temperatures inside the cave (Gascoyne, 1992). Cave air temperature controls the degree of isotopic fractionation between cave drip waters and the calcite deposited from them.…”

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

218

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

218

202

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“…Atkinson et al, 1978), and the generation of oxygen isotope time series in an attempt to elucidate palaeotemperatures (Gascoyne, 1992). In the latter case, the attraction was the useful property of cave interiors to be close to the mean annual external temperature.…”

Section: The Progress Of Speleothem Studies and The Future Agendamentioning

confidence: 99%

Modification and preservation of environmental signals in speleothems

Fairchild

Smith

Baker

et al. 2006

Earth-Science Reviews

739

506

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Speleothems are primarily studied in order to generate archives of climatic change and results have led to significant advances in identifying and dating major shifts in the climate system. However, the climatological meaning of many speleothem records cannot be interpreted unequivocally; this is particularly so for more subtle shifts and shorter time periods, but the use of multiple proxies and improving understanding of formation mechanisms offers a clear way forward.An explicit description of speleothem records as time series draws attention to the nature and importance of the signal filtering processes by which the weather, the seasons and longer-term climatic and other environmental fluctuations become encoded in speleothems. We distinguish five sources of variation that influence speleothem geochemistry: atmospheric, vegetation/soil, karstic aquifer, primary speleothem crystal growth and secondary alteration and give specific examples of their influence. The direct role of climate diminishes progressively through these five factors.We identify and review a number of processes identified in recent and current work that bear significantly on the conventional interpretation of speleothem records, for example: 1) speleothem geochemistry can vary seasonally and hence a research need is to establish the proportion of growth attributable to different seasons and whether this varies over time.2) whereas there has traditionally been a focus on monthly mean δ 18 O data of atmospheric moisture, current work emphasizes the importance of understanding the synoptic processes that lead to characteristic isotope signals, since changing relative abundance of different weather types might 1 Corresponding author, fax +44(0)1214145528, E-mail: i.j.fairchild@bham.ac.uk control their variation on the longer-term. 3) the ecosystem and soil zone overlying the cave fundamentally imprint the carbon and trace element signals and can show characteristic variations with time. 4) new modelling on aquifer plumbing allows quantification of the effects of aquifer mixing. 5) recent work has emphasized the importance and seasonal variability of CO 2 -degassing leading to calcite precipitation upflow of a depositional site on carbon isotope and trace element composition of speleothems. 6) Although much is known about the chemical partitioning between water and stalagmites, variability in relation to crystal growth mechanisms and kinetics is a research frontier. 7) Aragonite is susceptible to conversion to calcite with major loss of chemical information, but the controls on the rate of this process are obscure.Analytical factors are critical to generate high-resolution speleothem records. A variety of methods of trace element analysis are available, but standardization is a common problem with the most rapid methods. New stable isotope data on Irish stalagmite CC3 compares rapid laser-ablation techniques with the conventional analysis of micromilled powders and ion microprobe methods. A high degree of comparability between techniques ...

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“…Ivanovich and Harmon, 1992;Richards and Dorale, 2003;van Calsteren and Thomas, 2006), and their existence is in itself a large-scale climate signal (e.g. Gascoyne, 1992). Although deposition can occur adjacent to or under glaciers in cases where and alternative mechanism (e.g.…”

Section: Stalagmites As Proxy Archivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is because precipitation of CaCO 3 occurs when high P CO 2 seepage water equilibrates with the cave atmosphere as the CO 2 degasses to accommodate the lower-P CO 2 atmosphere of the cave.. Stalagmites can thus conserve proxy archives of palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental change (e.g. Gascoyne, 1992;Lauritzen, 2003;Fairchild et al, 2006). Stalagmite growth rate is related to regional climate through the cave temperature (∼ surface mean annual temperature), meteoric precipitation, soil activity and Ca 2+ concentration in the drip water (e.g.…”

Section: Stalagmites As Proxy Archivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fantidis and Ehhalt, 1970;Hendy, 1971;Gascoyne, 1992;Mickler et al, 2006;Lachniet, 2009). This is commonly tested for by performing the "Hendy test", which investigates the behaviour and covariation of δ 18 O c and δ 13 C c along growth horizons, and where a strong covariation is taken as indicative of kinetic fractionation.…”

Section: Stable Isotopes -Isotopic Equilibrium Testing and Stratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stable isotope records for the last 10 000 years from Okshola cave (Fauske, northern Norway) and regional comparisons

et al. 2009

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Abstract. The sensitivity of terrestrial environments to past changes in heat transport is expected to be manifested in Holocene climate proxy records on millennial to seasonal timescales. Stalagmite formation in the Okshola cave near Fauske (northern Norway) began at about 10.4 ka, soon after the valley was deglaciated. Past monitoring of the cave and surface has revealed stable modern conditions with uniform drip rates, relative humidity and temperature. Stable isotope records from two stalagmites provide time-series spanning from c. 10 380 yr to AD 1997; a banded, multi-coloured stalagmite (Oks82) was formed between 10 380 yr and 5050 yr, whereas a pristine, white stalagmite (FM3) covers the period from ∼7500 yr to the present. The stable oxygen isotope (δ 18 O c ), stable carbon isotope (δ 13 C c ), and growth rate records are interpreted as showing i) a negative correlation between cave/surface temperature and δ 18 O c , ii) a positive correlation between wetness and δ 13 C c , and iii) a positive correlation between temperature and growth rate. Following this, the data from Okshola show that the Holocene was characterised by high-variability climate in the early part, lowvariability climate in the middle part, and high-variability climate and shifts between two distinct modes in the late part.A total of nine Scandinavian stalagmite δ 18 O c records of comparable dating precision are now available for parts or most of the Holocene. None of them show a clear Holocene thermal optimum, suggesting that they are influenced by annual mean temperature (cave temperature) rather than seasonal temperature. For the last 1000 years, δ 18 O c values display a depletion-enrichment-depletion pattern commonly interpreted as reflecting the conventional view on climate Correspondence to: H. Linge (henriette.linge@geo.uib.no) development for the last millennium. Although the δ 18 O c records show similar patterns and amplitudes of change, the main challenges for utilising high-latitude stalagmites as palaeoclimate archives are i) the accuracy of the age models, ii) the ambiguity of the proxy signals, and iii) calibration with monitoring data.

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Palaeoclimate determination from cave calcite deposits

Cited by 228 publications

References 60 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)

Modification and preservation of environmental signals in speleothems

Stable isotope records for the last 10 000 years from Okshola cave (Fauske, northern Norway) and regional comparisons

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