Monitoring of Cueva Larga, Puerto Rico—A First Step to Decode Speleothem Climate Records

Vieten, Rolf; Warken, Sophie; Winter, Amos; Miller, Thomas E.; Spötl, Christoph; Schröder‐Ritzrau, Andrea

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-51070-5_36

Cited by 12 publications

(42 citation statements)

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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%

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%

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

et al. 2019

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“…An exception was April 2014 when drip sites D‐LA2, D‐LA4, and E‐SW1 were about 0.5‰ more negative, and in April 2015 when drip site D‐LA2 was more negative (−3.2‰). Available δD and δ 18 O results are discussed in Vieten et al (). During the rainy season rainwater plots near the Global Meteoric Water Line and during the middle and end of the dry season it plots near the local meteoric water line (δD = 8.2×δ 18 O + 14) established by Scholl and Murphy () (Vieten et al, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In April 2015, only site D‐LA2 showed more negative values (−3.2‰), less negative than drip water in April 2014 and less negative than the previous wet season rainfall, which included hurricane Bertha. A previous investigation in Larga cave estimated that the seepage flow time from the surface into the cave requires several months (Vieten et al, ). The most negative values (April 2014) are more negative than the monthly rainfall values during the wet season of 2013 and may have been caused by rainfall during hurricane Isaac (August 2012) indicating a minimum surface‐to‐cave transfer time of 20 months.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Environmental monitoring of Larga cave commenced in 2012. Previous studies have identified seasonal cave ventilation changes in this cave , and preliminary data from two drip sites imply that they are fed by seepage water which might take years to travel from the surface to the cave (Vieten et al, 2018). Here monthly observations from six drip sites, sampled between 2012 and 2015, are presented.…”

Section: Citationmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Vieten, R., Warken, S., Winter, A., Schröder-Ritzrau, A., Scholz, D., & Spötl, C. (2018). Hurricane Impact on Seepage Water in Larga Cave, Puerto Rico.…”

Section: Citationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hurricane Impact on Seepage Water in Larga Cave, Puerto Rico

et al. 2018

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Hurricane‐induced rainfall over Puerto Rico has characteristic δ18O values which are more negative than local rainfall events. Thus, hurricanes may be recorded in speleothems from Larga cave, Puerto Rico, as characteristic oxygen isotope excursions. Samples of 84 local rainfall events between 2012 and 2013 ranged from −6.2 to +0.3‰, whereas nine rainfall samples belonging to a rainband of hurricane Isaac (23–24 August 2012) ranged from −11.8 to −7.1‰. Cave monitoring covered the hurricane season of 2014 and investigated the impact of hurricane rainfall on drip water chemistry. δ18O values were measured in cumulative monthly rainwater samples above the cave. Inside the cave, δ18O values of instantaneous drip water samples were analyzed and drip rates were recorded at six drip sites. Most effective recharge appears to occur during the wet months (April–May and August–November). δ18O values of instantaneous drip water samples ranged from −3.5 to −2.4‰. In April 2014 and April 2015 some drip sites showed more negative δ18O values than the effective rainfall (−2.9‰), implying an influence of hurricane rainfall reaching the cave via stratified seepage flow months to years after the event. Speleothems from these drip sites in Larga cave have a high potential for paleotempestology studies.

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Typhoon rainfall impact on drip water δ¹⁸O in Xianyun cave, Southeast China

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2021

Hydrological Processes

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Precisely dated high-resolution speleothems may record past typhoon events, however, the state of the art cave monitoring is a prerequisite to identify suitable stalagmites for the reconstruction of such events. With this motivation, we examined the isotopic composition (δ 18 O and d-excess values) of rainfall, outside river, cave drip water, and an underground river in the Xianyun cave system, located in southeastern China. Monthly to bimonthly monitoring of environmental and isotopic conditions was conducted for 1 year, from December 2018 to December 2019, including a typhoon event (August 24, 2019 to August 26, 2019), called Bailu. The δ 18 O of rainfall samples over the cave and outside river water ranged from −9.7‰ to −1.9‰ and −8.2‰ to −6.3‰, respectively, while the δ 18 O of Typhoon Bailu rainfall and instantaneous outside river water ranged from −19.6‰ to −6.3‰ and −10.4‰ to −7.7‰, respectively. Typhoon Bailu-induced rainfall showed distinctly negative δ 18 O values as compared to those of the monthly and bimonthly rainfall, exhibiting a three-stage inverted U-shaped variation characteristic. Four drip water monitoring sites inside the cave revealed low variations during the studied period with average values of −7.8‰, −8.0‰, −8.0‰, and −8.1‰. However, during the typhoon, the drip water δ 18 O values exhibited similar characteristic as outside rainfall but with just 0.2‰ negative deviation owing to precipitation amount and drip water source reservoir. The integration of rainfall amount with drip water source reservoir determines the degree to which a typhoon isotopic signature gets diluted during epikarst infiltration. This study provides the first instrumental evidence of typhoon signal in karst system in southeastern China. Our results imply that the δ 18 O of drip water in Xianyun cave can instantaneously respond to typhoon rainfall. However, the 0.2‰ shift in drip water δ 18 O is difficult to be recorded by speleothems. We suggest multiyear monitoring to ascertain fully if the stalagmites could be used as paleotyphoon proxy.

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Monitoring of Cueva Larga, Puerto Rico—A First Step to Decode Speleothem Climate Records

Cited by 12 publications

References 53 publications

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

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

Hurricane Impact on Seepage Water in Larga Cave, Puerto Rico

Typhoon rainfall impact on drip water δ¹⁸O in Xianyun cave, Southeast China

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Monitoring of Cueva Larga, Puerto Rico—A First Step to Decode Speleothem Climate Records

Cited by 12 publications

References 53 publications

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

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

Hurricane Impact on Seepage Water in Larga Cave, Puerto Rico

Typhoon rainfall impact on drip water δ18O in Xianyun cave, Southeast China

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Typhoon rainfall impact on drip water δ¹⁸O in Xianyun cave, Southeast China