Speleothem δ 13 C record suggests enhanced spring/summer drought in south-eastern Spain between 9.7 and 7.8 ka – A circum-Western Mediterranean anomaly? ...

• Main Authors: Budsky, Alexander, Scholz, Denis, Wassenburg, Jasper A, Mertz-Kraus, Regina, Spötl, Christoph, Riechelmann, Dana FC, Gibert, Luis, Jochum, Klaus Peter, Meinrat O Andreae
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Figshare 2019
• Subjects: Geography; History; Cueva; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25384/sage.c.4497452.v1; https://sage.figshare.com/collections/Speleothem_sup_13_sup_C_record_suggests_enhanced_spring_summer_drought_in_south-eastern_Spain_between_9_7_and_7_8_ka_A_circum-Western_Mediterranean_anomaly_/4497452/1

South-eastern Spain is one of the driest regions in Europe and thus, prone to drought. Terrestrial climate records covering the late Glacial and Holocene from this area are sparse. Here, we present a flowstone record from Cueva Victoria, south-eastern Spain, which covers the late Glacial (15 ka) to the mid-Holocene (7 ka) including the Younger Dryas (YD). Between the onset of the Bølling/Allerød (B/A) and the early Holocene, flowstone δ 18 O values progressively decrease in accordance with sea-surface temperatures in the Alboran Sea, indicating an increase in precipitation in south-eastern Spain and a supra-regional signal of North Atlantic temperature change. At the same time, decreasing δ 13 C values suggest progressively increasing precipitation and vegetation density. This trend is interrupted by both colder and drier conditions during the YD. Between 9.7 ± 0.3 and 7.8 ± 0.2 ka, a large positive excursion of the δ 13 C values indicates a strong reduction in vegetation density, probably as a consequence ...