A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes
Advisors: Nathan D. Stansell. Committee members: Justin P. Dodd; Byron A. Steinman. Includes bibliographical references. Includes illustrations and maps. Guatemala is a drought-sensitive country that experiences varying amounts of precipitation in response to Atlantic and Pacific Ocean influences. A...
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ftnorthillinuni:oai:commons.lib.niu.edu:10843/20852 2023-05-15T17:35:49+02:00 A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes Feller, Jacob Ryan Stansell, Nathan D. Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences 2016 iv, 58 pages application/pdf https://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/20852 eng eng Northern Illinois University https://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/20852 NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors. Paleoclimatology--Guatemala Lake hydrology--Guatemala Stable isotopes Precipitation anomalies--Guatemala Text Dissertation/Thesis 2016 ftnorthillinuni 2020-09-22T08:42:58Z Advisors: Nathan D. Stansell. Committee members: Justin P. Dodd; Byron A. Steinman. Includes bibliographical references. Includes illustrations and maps. Guatemala is a drought-sensitive country that experiences varying amounts of precipitation in response to Atlantic and Pacific Ocean influences. A 5.5 m, finely-laminated sediment core from Lake San Francisco in the Huehuetenango province was collected in order to reconstruct precipitation changes over the last ~5,200 years at a decadal-scale resolution. An age-depth model was developed based on 7 radiocarbon ages of charcoal as well as ²¹⁰Pb dating of surface sediments. Authigenic calcite preserved in the sediment record provides an archive of lake-water isotopic variability in response to climate driven changes in hydrologic balance. Modern surface water isotope data taken from lakes throughout the region do not indicate evaporative enrichment relative to meteoric water. Within open-basin lakes within the Tropics, such as San Francisco, δ¹⁸O variation is often driven by the amount effect. This means that high δ¹⁸O reflects drier conditions within the record while lower δ¹⁸O values indicate wetter overall periods. Our data suggest relatively dry conditions within the region between 5-2 ka BP, with the driest period lasting from ~4.2 to ~3.2 ka. A shift to wetter conditions began at ~2 ka and persisted until the past century. Correspondence between the San Francisco record and both North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) reconstructions suggest that both of these modes of variability drive precipitation change in this region of Guatemala. In general, positive (negative) phases of ENSO cause drier (wetter) conditions, while positive (negative) phases of NAO cause wetter (drier) conditions throughout the duration of the record. The detailed stratigraphy and well-resolved age model exhibited by the San Francisco record indicate a high potential to produce detailed paleoclimate data from Western Guatemala. M.S. (Master of Science) Thesis North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Northern Illinois University (NIU): Huskie Commons Repository Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Northern Illinois University (NIU): Huskie Commons Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftnorthillinuni |
language |
English |
topic |
Paleoclimatology--Guatemala Lake hydrology--Guatemala Stable isotopes Precipitation anomalies--Guatemala |
spellingShingle |
Paleoclimatology--Guatemala Lake hydrology--Guatemala Stable isotopes Precipitation anomalies--Guatemala Feller, Jacob Ryan A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes |
topic_facet |
Paleoclimatology--Guatemala Lake hydrology--Guatemala Stable isotopes Precipitation anomalies--Guatemala |
description |
Advisors: Nathan D. Stansell. Committee members: Justin P. Dodd; Byron A. Steinman. Includes bibliographical references. Includes illustrations and maps. Guatemala is a drought-sensitive country that experiences varying amounts of precipitation in response to Atlantic and Pacific Ocean influences. A 5.5 m, finely-laminated sediment core from Lake San Francisco in the Huehuetenango province was collected in order to reconstruct precipitation changes over the last ~5,200 years at a decadal-scale resolution. An age-depth model was developed based on 7 radiocarbon ages of charcoal as well as ²¹⁰Pb dating of surface sediments. Authigenic calcite preserved in the sediment record provides an archive of lake-water isotopic variability in response to climate driven changes in hydrologic balance. Modern surface water isotope data taken from lakes throughout the region do not indicate evaporative enrichment relative to meteoric water. Within open-basin lakes within the Tropics, such as San Francisco, δ¹⁸O variation is often driven by the amount effect. This means that high δ¹⁸O reflects drier conditions within the record while lower δ¹⁸O values indicate wetter overall periods. Our data suggest relatively dry conditions within the region between 5-2 ka BP, with the driest period lasting from ~4.2 to ~3.2 ka. A shift to wetter conditions began at ~2 ka and persisted until the past century. Correspondence between the San Francisco record and both North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) reconstructions suggest that both of these modes of variability drive precipitation change in this region of Guatemala. In general, positive (negative) phases of ENSO cause drier (wetter) conditions, while positive (negative) phases of NAO cause wetter (drier) conditions throughout the duration of the record. The detailed stratigraphy and well-resolved age model exhibited by the San Francisco record indicate a high potential to produce detailed paleoclimate data from Western Guatemala. M.S. (Master of Science) |
author2 |
Stansell, Nathan D. Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Feller, Jacob Ryan |
author_facet |
Feller, Jacob Ryan |
author_sort |
Feller, Jacob Ryan |
title |
A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes |
title_short |
A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes |
title_full |
A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes |
title_fullStr |
A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes |
title_full_unstemmed |
A 5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central Guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes |
title_sort |
5200 year record of precipitation changes in west-central guatemala inferred from lacustrine carbonate-based stable isotopes |
publisher |
Northern Illinois University |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/20852 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_relation |
https://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/20852 |
op_rights |
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors. |
_version_ |
1766135099834761216 |