6533b871fe1ef96bd12d0ee0

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Millennial-scale climate variability during the last 12.5 ka recorded in a Caribbean speleothem

Claudia FenstererChristian HornAndrea Schröder-ritzrauDirk L. HoffmannJesús M. PajónChristoph SpötlAugusto ManginiDenis ScholzDenis Scholz

subject

geographygeography.geographical_feature_categoryδ18OIntertropical Convergence ZoneSpeleothemStalagmiteSea surface temperatureGeophysicsOceanographySpace and Planetary ScienceGeochemistry and PetrologyClimatologyEarth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)PrecipitationHoloceneGeologyTeleconnection

description

Abstract We present a speleothem stable oxygen isotope record for the last 12.5 ka based on two stalagmites from western Cuba. The δ18O signal is interpreted to represent past precipitation variability. Both stalagmites show a pronounced transition from higher δ18O values (indicating drier conditions) to more negative δ18O values (suggesting wetter conditions) between 10 and 6 ka. This transition is also visible in a planktonic δ18O record off Haiti. On orbital timescales, the δ18O value of Caribbean precipitation, thus, strongly resembles the oxygen isotope composition of Caribbean surface water. On millenial timescales, the speleothem δ18O record shows a high correlation to a North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) record off West Africa as well as a similarity with the Bond events. Periods of lower North Atlantic SST correspond to less precipitation in the Caribbean and vice versa. The potential teleconnection to the Caribbean may reflect the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone because a further southward position of the ITCZ leads to reduced precipitation in the northern Caribbean.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2013-01-01Earth and Planetary Science Letters
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.11.019