An extended and higher-resolution record of climate and land use from stalagmite MC01 from Macal Chasm, Belize, revealing connections between major dry events, overall climate variability, and Maya sociopolitical changes

Akers, Pete D.; Brook, George A.; Railsback, L. Bruce; Liang, Fuyuan; Iannone, Gyles; Webster, James W.; Reeder, Philip; Cheng, Hai; Edwards, R. Lawrence

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.07.007

Cited by 42 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Towards lower latitudes, seasonal variations in δ 18 O p are clearly controlled by precipitation amount, with depleted values occur during the rainy season (JJA in the north). This latitudinal gradient in the dominant controls on δ 18 O p translates to the interpretations of δ 18 O spel , which are supported by observations of cave drip water, e.g., [86] and multi-proxy speleothem studies, e.g., [8]. In the Bahamas, evidence from stalagmites and fluid inclusions support temperature as the primary control on δ 18 O spel on millennial timescales [91,92].…”

Section: Controls On δ 18 O P and δ 18 O Spelmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Locations further west are less influenced by the eastern trades and the CLLJ, but receive more moisture from Pacific sources. This, in turn, is indicative of a more dominant influence of ENSO activity in speleothems from mid and western Central America, as proposed for many of these records [6,8,9,130] A negative correlation is observed between δ 18 Ospel of CHIL-1, the southernmost record from the Isthmus of Panama, and both YOKI (Belize) and JX-6 (Mexico). A number of precipitation-based records suggest that the seasonal extremes of the ITCZ rainbelt respond to local summer insolation, and consequently the rainbelt seasonal range undergoes latitudinal migrations [10,[132][133][134][135][136].…”

Section: Last 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Interpreting δ 18 O spel in the Central American speleothems as a proxy for precipitation amount, the δ 18 O spel records from Yucatan and also western Mexico show a series of droughts during the last millennia [9,93,[129][130][131]. These major dry events (marked with vertical bars in Figure 9) are particularly pronounced in MC01 from Belize, where major dry events (MDE) were identified between 2840-3060, 2500-2540, 2060-2140, 1600-1700, 1050-1200, 750-900, 370-420, and 40-100 cal yr BP [8]. The timing of drought in the Mexico highlands (JX6, JX-7) may have preceded that in the lowlands (YOKG, MC01, YOKI) [9].…”

Section: Last 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the Bahamas, evidence from stalagmites and fluid inclusions support temperature as the primary control on δ 18 O spel on millennial timescales [91,92]. However, on the Yucatan Peninsula, cave monitoring suggests that drip water and speleothem δ 18 O closely reflect rainfall amounts [8,87,88,93]. Furthermore, it is possible to discern the isotopic signature of individual tropical cyclones in a very high resolution δ 18 O spel record from Belize that is not included in SISAL_v1 [94].…”

Section: Controls On δ 18 O P and δ 18 O Spelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oxygen isotope values in speleothem PDR-1 from Puerto Rico during the last 800 years are characterized by a pronounced multi-decadal variability [129]. Moving from Puerto Rico towards the west, speleothem records from central America show a multi-decadal pattern superimposed upon several multicentennial-scale trends during the last 2000 years BP [8,9]. Interpreting δ 18 O spel in the Central American speleothems as a proxy for precipitation amount, the δ 18 O spel records from Yucatan and also western Mexico show a series of droughts during the last millennia [9,93,[129][130][131].…”

Section: Last 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Speleothem Paleoclimatology for the Caribbean, Central America, and North America

et al. 2019

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Speleothem oxygen isotope records from the Caribbean, Central, and North America reveal climatic controls that include orbital variation, deglacial forcing related to ocean circulation and ice sheet retreat, and the influence of local and remote sea surface temperature variations. Here, we review these records and the global climate teleconnections they suggest following the recent publication of the Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and Analysis (SISAL) database. We find that low-latitude records generally reflect changes in precipitation, whereas higher latitude records are sensitive to temperature and moisture source variability. Tropical records suggest precipitation variability is forced by orbital precession and North Atlantic Ocean circulation driven changes in atmospheric convection on long timescales, and tropical sea surface temperature variations on short timescales. On millennial timescales, precipitation seasonality in southwestern North America is related to North Atlantic climate variability. Great Basin speleothem records are closely linked with changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Although speleothems have revealed these critical global climate teleconnections, the paucity of continuous records precludes our ability to investigate climate drivers from the whole of Central and North America for the Pleistocene through modern. This underscores the need to improve spatial and temporal coverage of speleothem records across this climatically variable region.Quaternary 2019, 2, 5 2 of 33 original authors. The challenges found while compiling such data are discussed in [1]. The database archives speleothem oxygen and carbon isotope data, detailed chronologic and analytical information, and important metadata for each cave site and speleothem such as bedrock geology, overburden thickness, and whether cave monitoring was conducted, among other pieces of information that are essential for working with and interpreting speleothem isotope records.Of the 376 records included in SISAL_v1, 42 are from cave sites in Central and North America and the Caribbean [2]. These records cover a vast region, spanning the tropics to mid-latitudes and bordering two oceans, with climate controls that are highly variable both in the modern and through time. Speleothem records from this region have revealed critical climate teleconnections between the polar regions, the tropics, and the mid-latitudes at decadal to orbital timescales [3][4][5][6]. These records have provided evidence for the effects of climate variability on ancient civilizations [7-9], and contributed toward open questions and key debates regarding Earth's climate system [3,10]. Here, we discuss the spatial and temporal coverage of North and Central American and Caribbean speleothem records included in SISAL_v1 and the predominant controls on δ 18 O spel variability in each region. We review the most salient discoveries arising from regional records included in SISAL_v1 and conduct a statistical analysis to underscore observed spatial relationships. O...

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Section: Controls On δ 18 O P and δ 18 O Spelmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Last 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Last 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Controls On δ 18 O P and δ 18 O Spelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Last 2000 Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Speleothem Paleoclimatology for the Caribbean, Central America, and North America

et al. 2019

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Evidence for decreased precipitation variability in the Yucatan Peninsula during the mid-Holocene

Marks

Medina‐Elizalde

Burns

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The Yucatán Peninsula (YP) harbors diverse ecosystems, including the Mesoamerican barrier reef and tropical rainforests, and has been inhabited by Maya societies for thousands of years. Biological systems and human societies in the region developed under limited surface and groundwater availability and have therefore been vulnerable to hydroclimate extremes. Under future climate warming scenarios, the YP is projected to receive less wet season precipitation compared to current precipitation (Karmalkar et al., 2011). The important role of hydroclimate variability in shaping the past, present, and future of human societies and

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Human Influence Versus Natural Climate Variability

Torrescano-Valle

Ramírez-Barajas

Islebe

et al. 2019

The Holocene and Anthropocene Environmental History of Mexico

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An extended and higher-resolution record of climate and land use from stalagmite MC01 from Macal Chasm, Belize, revealing connections between major dry events, overall climate variability, and Maya sociopolitical changes

Cited by 42 publications

References 79 publications

Speleothem Paleoclimatology for the Caribbean, Central America, and North America

Speleothem Paleoclimatology for the Caribbean, Central America, and North America

Evidence for decreased precipitation variability in the Yucatan Peninsula during the mid-Holocene

Human Influence Versus Natural Climate Variability

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