Palaeoclimatic implications of the growth history and stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) geochemistry of a Middle to Late Pleistocene stalagmite from central-western Italy

Drysdale, Russell N.; Zanchetta, Giovanni; Hellström, John; Fallick, Anthony E.; Zhao, Jian‐xin; Isola, Ilaria; Bruschi, G

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2004.09.010

Cited by 113 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…One potential source of supporting data is the δ 13 C time series. The full Holocene δ 13 C time series for CC26 displays the typical interglacial pattern found in older Corchia speleothems, where isotopic values steadily decrease the further an interglacial progresses ( Figure S1), probably due to the time lag required for post-glacial soils to establish above the cave (Drysdale et al, 2004). The range of δ 13 C values in CC26 is comparable with those predicted from the δ 13 C of the dissolved inorganic carbon in modern cave drip waters (-4.1±0.6‰; Doveri et al, 2005).…”

Section: Results and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is regarded as a principal mechanism driving variations in rainfall δ 18 O (and therefore drip-water and speleothem δ 18 O values) in the Mediterranean region (Bar-Matthews et al, 2000;Bard et al, 2002). In previously studied Corchia stalagmites, intervals of low δ 18 O correspond to wetter and warmer climatic periods (Drysdale et al, 2004;, suggesting that the amount effect is coupled to regional temperatures. Such a coupling presumably arises due to greater evaporation from warmer versus cooler sea surfaces in the moisture source regions (i.e.…”

Section: Results and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). The regional setting and cave characteristics are described in detail by Drysdale et al (2004). After sectioning, the internal stratigraphy of CC26 revealed several phases of deposition (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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

215

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%

Section: Results and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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

215

202

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“…On the contrary, the limestone dissolution should be lower during the cold and dry stages MIS 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. Studying stalagmite growth in a cave in Tuscany, Drysdale et al (2004) found very low or absent growth during these cold stages and during MIS 3 as well. The authors reported that during these periods, the Ca carbonate circulation in water was low or very low, while during the warmer stages, the stalagmite growth rate was similar to that of the Holocene.…”

Section: Volume and Age Of Limestone Dissolutionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Pedostratigraphy of Terra Rossa and Quaternary geological evolution of a lacustrine limestone plateau in central Italy

Priori

Costantini²,

Capezzuoli

et al. 2008

Z. Pflanzenernähr. Bodenk.

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Pedostratigraphic levels (PLs) are typical assemblages of soil-genetic horizons, formed by materials having the same degree of weathering. The pedostratigraphic approach can be very useful to comprehend the formation of the Quaternary soil cover, the environmental evolution of a territory, and to estimate the age of paleosols. A pedostratigraphic study of a Terra Rossa was carried out to understand the soil-parent material origin and to estimate the time of the beginning of pedogenesis. Besides soil and geomorphological survey, the Terra Rossa was analyzed for Fe forms, geochemistry, clay mineralogy, micromorphology, and with scanning electron microscope. Optical dating was applied to obtain age estimates for the deposition of the parent material of soil formation. The insoluble residue of limestone was obtained and analyzed for geochemistry and clay mineralogy. The bedrock is constituted by Quaternary lacustrine limestone, showing pronounced karst landforms. The soil profile is situated in a little dissolution doline and was divided into three PLs: PL1 (0-110 cm) is constituted by cambic and ochric horizons, formed during Holocene in a mixture of colluvial soil sediments and fresh limestone, with aeolian components; PL2 (110-290 cm) includes two argic horizons, which began to form during Late-Middle Pleistocene in colluvial soil sediments, with few aeolian additions; PL3 (290-330 cm) is constituted by a red argic horizon, with nitic properties, which developed from the insoluble residue of the limestone. The age of PL3 was calculated through a mass balance and an estimation of the limestone-dissolution rate during the Quaternary, which led to an approximate age of Middle Pleistocene, between 250 and 500 ky BP. The time of the beginning of pedogenesis on limestone can be used as a reference for the tectonic uplifting of the area and emersion of the plateau.

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“…In most cases the parallelism reflects the sensitivity of δ 18 O in atmospheric precipitation in particular regions (e.g. monsoonally-influenced areas, Burns et al, 2001) to climate system parameters (see section 3.2), although Drysdale et al (2004) described a case from Italy where temperature appears to be the control on the glacial-interglacial timescale. In Figure 11, we re-present some of the speleothem results matched in a common format with likely forcing parameters (or other proxy data), together with associated power spectra.…”

Section: Orbital Geomagnetic and Solar Forcingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modification and preservation of environmental signals in speleothems

Fairchild

Smith

Baker

et al. 2006

Earth-Science Reviews

729

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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Palaeoclimatic implications of the growth history and stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) geochemistry of a Middle to Late Pleistocene stalagmite from central-western Italy

Cited by 113 publications

References 38 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)

Pedostratigraphy of Terra Rossa and Quaternary geological evolution of a lacustrine limestone plateau in central Italy

Modification and preservation of environmental signals in speleothems

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