High-resolution speleothem record of precipitation from the Yucatan Peninsula spanning the Maya Preclassic Period

Medina‐Elizalde, Martín; Burns, Stephen J.; Polanco-Martínez, Josué M.; Beach, Timothy; Lases‐Hernandez, Fernanda; Shen, Chuan‐Chou; Wang, Haocheng

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.10.003

Cited by 52 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Superimposed upon the spatial differences are changes in the seasonal variation in δ 18 O p , which is inversely correlated with rainfall amount. The influence of the amount effect on δ 18 O p in Central America and the Caribbean has been observed by studies from e.g., Panama [83], Belize, Guatemala and Mexico [80], Barbados [84], Puerto Rico [85,86], and the Yucatan peninsula [87,88]. However, moisture source and air mass rainout history are also important controls on the isotope values of Central American precipitation [89].…”

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

confidence: 84%

“…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%

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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: 84%

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

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2019

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“…During these stadials large parts of the cave system were exposed, drained and became accessible for animals and humans. During interglacial stages of the Pleistocene and during the early–middle Holocene (13 000–7600 a bp), the caves were repeatedly flooded (Smart et al ., ; Gabriel et al ., ; van Hengstum et al ., ; Collins et al ., ; Medina‐Elizalde et al ., ). Modern water levels were reached at about 4500 a bp (van Hengstum et al ., ; Grant et al ., ; Khan et al ., ), although oscillations of up to a few meters must still have occurred during Maya times (Curtis et al ., ; Kennett et al ., ; Medina‐Elizalde et al ., ).…”

Section: Regional Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During interglacial stages of the Pleistocene and during the early-middle Holocene (13 000-7600 a bp), the caves were repeatedly flooded (Smart et al, 2006;Gabriel et al, 2009;van Hengstum et al, 2010;Collins et al, 2015;Medina-Elizalde et al, 2016). Modern water levels were reached at about 4500 a bp (van Hengstum et al, 2010;Grant et al, 2012;Khan et al, 2017), although oscillations of up to a few meters must still have occurred during Maya times (Curtis et al, 1996;Kennett et al, 2012;Medina-Elizalde et al, 2016). Today, the YP contains a coastal density-stratified aquifer with a freshwater lens of meteoric groundwater overlying a saline groundwater generated from penetrating seawater.…”

Section: Regional Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Chan Hol cave near Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico): evidence for long‐lasting human presence during the early to middle Holocene

Hering

Stinnesbeck

Folmeister

et al. 2018

J Quaternary Science

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Numerous charcoal accumulations discovered in the submerged Chan Hol cave near Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, have been 14C‐dated revealing ages between 8110 ± 28 14C a BP (9122–8999 cal a BP) and 7177 ± 27 14C a BP (8027–7951 cal a BP). These charcoal concentrations, interpreted here as ancient illumination sites, provide strong evidence that the Chan Hol cave was dry and accessible during that time interval. Humans used the cave for at least 1200 years during the early and middle Holocene, before access was successively interrupted by global sea level rise and flooding of the cave system. Our data thus narrow the gap between an early settlement in the Tulum area reaching from the late Pleistocene (∼13 000 a) to middle Holocene (e.g. 7177 14C a BP), and the Maya Formative period at approximately 3000 a bp. Yet, no evidence has been presented to date for human settlement during the ∼4000‐year interval between 7000 and 3000 a. This is remarkable as settlement in other areas of south‐eastern Mexico (e.g. Chiapas, Tabasco) and in Guatemala was apparently continuous.

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“…This has made it possible to define punctuated events more accurately and better understand the role of these events in local and regional political processes (e.g., Siebe 2000). In some cases, such as reconstructions of climate patterns from δ 18 O records in speleothems (Bernal et al 2011;Kennett et al 2012;Lachniet et al 2012;Medina-Elizalde et al 2016), chronometric resolution is achieved by fine-interval U-Th dating. Although such resolution is not possible in alluvial, marine, or lacustrine sediment contexts that rely on radiocarbon dates, very high resolution sedimentation rates and sequences are occasionally encountered, as in the marine Cariaco Basin off Venezuela (Haug et al 2001) or the distal beach plain at the mouth of the Usumacinta-Grijalva river system in Tabasco, Mexico (Noreen et al 2017), that allow for precise dating of environmental events.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Holocene volcanic activity and environmental change in Highland Guatemala

Lohse

Hamilton²,

Brenner

et al. 2018

Quaternary Science Reviews

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High-resolution speleothem record of precipitation from the Yucatan Peninsula spanning the Maya Preclassic Period

Cited by 52 publications

References 43 publications

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

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

The Chan Hol cave near Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico): evidence for long‐lasting human presence during the early to middle Holocene

Late Holocene volcanic activity and environmental change in Highland Guatemala

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