Isotopes in Speleothems

McDermott, Frank; Schwarcz, Henry P.; Rowe, Peter

doi:10.1007/1-4020-2504-1_05

Cited by 89 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 117 publications

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“…Unlike most other continental palaeoclimate archives, they can be dated precisely by U-series methods, facilitating comparisons and correlations with independent records such as ice cores. However, as discussed in recent reviews (McDermott, 2004;White, 2004;McDermott et al, 2006;Fairchild et al, 2006;Lachniet, 2009;Fairchild and Treble, 2009), the response to climatic conditions of some commonly measured parameters in speleothems (e.g.  18 O) can be influenced by regional and site-specific factors.…”

Section: Introduction and Rationale For The Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

A first evaluation of the spatial gradients in δ18O recorded by European Holocene speleothems

McDermott

Atkinson

Fairchild

et al. 2011

Global and Planetary Change

106

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Section: Introduction and Rationale For The Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

A first evaluation of the spatial gradients in δ18O recorded by European Holocene speleothems

McDermott

Atkinson

Fairchild

et al. 2011

Global and Planetary Change

106

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“…Clearly, direct preservation of palaeo-precipitation is impossible away from polar regions, but fortunately groundwater δ 18 O and δ 2 H values usually closely reflect the bulk isotopic composition of the rainfall giving rise to them (Clark and Fritz, 1997;Darling et al, 2005). Within certain limitations, speleothem fluid inclusion water may provide the same function (McDermott et al, 2005).…”

Section: Stable Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Isotopic fractionation effects during speleothem growth are probably more significant in this regard. While they lie beyond the scope of this review they have been amply covered (e.g., McDermott et al, 2005;Lachniet, 2009). Noble gases The recharge temperature information provided by noble gases dissolved in groundwater is considered related to conditions at the water table.…”

Section: Uncertaintiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The isotope hydrology of quaternary climate change☆

Darling

2011

Journal of Human Evolution

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Understanding the links between climate change and human migration and culture is an important theme in Quaternary archaeology. While oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes in high-latitude ice cores provide the ultimate detailed record of palaeoclimate extending back to the Middle Pleistocene, groundwater can act as a climate archive for areas at lower latitudes, permitting a degree of calibration for proxy records such as lake sediments, bones and organic matter. Not only can oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes be measured on waters, but the temperature of recharge can be calculated from the amount of the noble gases neon, argon, krypton and xenon in solution, while residence time can be estimated from the decay of the radioisotopes carbon-14, chlorine-36 and krypton-81 over timescales comparable to the ice core record. The Pleistocene-Holocene transition is well characterised in aquifers worldwide, and it is apparent that isotope-temperature relationships of the present day are not necessarily transferable to past climatic regimes, with important implications for the interpretation of proxy isotope data. Groundwaters dating back to one million years, i.e. to beyond the Middle Pleistocene, are only found in major aquifer basins and information is relatively sparse and of low resolution. Speleothem fluid inclusions offer a way of considerably increasing this resolution, but both speleothem formation and large-scale groundwater recharge require humid conditions which may be relatively infrequent for areas currently experiencing arid climates. Both types of record therefore require caution in their interpretation when considering a particular archaeological context.

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“…However, our understanding of the true sensitivity of δ 18 O calcite and δ 13 C calcite values to climatic and environmental variables remains limited and interpretation of speleothem stable isotope records is therefore often controversial (e.g. Clemens et al, 2010;LeGrande and Schmidt, 2009;McDermott et al, 2006). A way to reduce these uncertainties is to measure additional climate-sensitive parameters in speleothems, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stalagmite water content as a proxy for drip water supply in tropical and subtropical areas

et al. 2013

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Abstract. In this pilot study water was extracted from samples of two Holocene stalagmites from Socotra Island, Yemen, and one Eemian stalagmite from southern continental Yemen. The amount of water extracted per unit mass of stalagmite rock, termed "water yield" hereafter, serves as a measure of its total water content. Based on direct correlation plots of water yields and δ 18 O calcite and on regime shift analyses, we demonstrate that for the studied stalagmites the water yield records vary systematically with the corresponding oxygen isotopic compositions of the calcite (δ 18 O calcite ). Within each stalagmite lower δ 18 O calcite values are accompanied by lower water yields and vice versa. The δ 18 O calcite records of the studied stalagmites have previously been interpreted to predominantly reflect the amount of rainfall in the area; thus, water yields can be linked to drip water supply. Higher, and therefore more continuous drip water supply caused by higher rainfall rates, supports homogeneous deposition of calcite with low porosity and therefore a small fraction of water-filled inclusions, resulting in low water yields of the respective samples. A reduction of drip water supply fosters irregular growth of calcite with higher porosity, leading to an increase of the fraction of water-filled inclusions and thus higher water yields. The results are consistent with the literature on stalagmite growth and supported by optical inspection of thin sections of our samples. We propose that for a stalagmite from a dry tropical or subtropical area, its water yield record represents a novel paleo-climate proxy recording changes in drip water supply, which can in turn be interpreted in terms of associated rainfall rates.

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Isotopes in Speleothems

Cited by 89 publications

References 117 publications

A first evaluation of the spatial gradients in δ18O recorded by European Holocene speleothems

A first evaluation of the spatial gradients in δ18O recorded by European Holocene speleothems

The isotope hydrology of quaternary climate change☆

Stalagmite water content as a proxy for drip water supply in tropical and subtropical areas

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