Speleothem trace element and stable isotope data and reconstructed late Holocene autumn/winter precipitation variability from Cloșani Cave, SW Romania ...

• Main Authors: Warken, Sophie F, Fohlmeister, Jens, Schröder-Ritzrau, Andrea, Constantin, Silviu, Spötl, Christoph, Gerdes, Axel, Esper, Jan, Frank, Norbert, Arps, Jennifer, Terente, Mihai, Riechelmann, Dana F C, Mangini, Augusto, Scholz, Denis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2019
• Subjects: North Atlantic forcing; precipitation reconstruction; proxy calibration; Romania; speleothem; trace elements; Speleothem sample; Bomb Peak; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.909989; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909989

We present the first high-resolution trace element (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca) record from a stalagmite in southwestern Romania covering the last 3.6 ka, which provides the potential for quantitative climate reconstruction. Precise age control is based on three independent dating methods, in particular for the last 250 yr, where chemical lamina counting is combined with the identification of the 20th century radiocarbon bomb peak and 230Th/U dating. Long-term cave monitoring and model simulations of drip water and speleothem elemental variability indicate that precipitation-related processes are the main drivers of speleothem Mg/Ca ratios. Calibration against instrumental climate data shows a significant anti-correlation of speleothem Mg/Ca ratios with autumn/winter (October to March) precipitation (r = −0.61, p < 0.01), which is statistically robust when considering age uncertainties and auto-correlation. This relationship is used to develop a quantitative reconstruction of autumn/winter precipitation. During ...