Multi-proxy speleothem records attest to Central-Eastern Europe hydro-climate variability during MIS 3, the LGM, and the Holocene
- 1Institute of Earth Sciences, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- 2Institute of Environmental Physics, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- 3Institute for Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 21, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- 4German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Köpenicker Allee 120-130, 10318 Berlin, Germany
- 5Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- 6Department of Climate Geochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- 7Institute of Speleology "Emil Racovita", strada frumosa 31, 010986 Bucuresti, Romania
Speleothems from well-monitored Cloşani Cave (Romania), have provided excellent records of past rainfall amount and European winter hydro-climate variability (Warken et al., 2018). Here we present new data allowing to extend the precipitation history of Central-Eastern Europe back to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as well as MIS 3. High-precision 230Th/U ages show that the two analysed speleothems (C09-1 and C09-2) grew nearly continuously during the past 20 ka, with only one growth interruption between c. 11 and 9.7 ka BP. In addition, C09-2 also covers the Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) Stadials/Interstadials 16 to 14 between 60 and 52 ka BP. Consistently with previous results, the speleothem proxies (δ18O and δ13C values, as well as laser ablation ICPMS trace element profiles) provide a comprehensive picture of local and regional hydro-climate variability on centennial to glacial/interglacial timescales.
Over the course of the record, all proxies reveal millennial-scale features associated with prominent transitions during MIS 3, i.e., D/O events 16 to 14, as well as during the deglaciation, i.e., the Bølling-Allerød (BA) and Younger Dryas (YD). Local wetness as indicated by Mg/Ca ratios exhibits large variability, including pronounced swings between dry conditions during MIS 3 interstadials, and wetter conditions during stadials. After speleothem growth re-initiated at 20 ka BP, Mg/Ca ratios indicate a progressive drying until 15 ka BP, followed by an interval with enhanced variability from the Late Glacial to the Early Holocene. During the subsequent mid to late Holocene, from 8 ka BP to present, the local hydroclimate was characterized by relatively stable conditions. This dataset thus provides new insights into Central-Eastern European precipitation variability, and possibly also into its linkages to the North Atlantic realm.
References:
Warken, S.F., Fohlmeister, J., Schröder-Ritzrau, A., Constantin, S., Spötl, C., Gerdes, A., Esper, J., Frank, N., Arps, J., Terente, M., Riechelmann, D.F.C., Mangini, A., Scholz, D., (2018). Reconstruction of late Holocene autumn/winter precipitation variability in SW Romania from a high-resolution speleothem trace element record. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 499, 122-133. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.07.027
How to cite: Warken, S. F., Riechelmann, D. F. C., Fohlmeister, J., Schröder-Ritzrau, A., Spötl, C., Jochum, K. P., Scholz, D., Constantin, S., and Frank, N.: Multi-proxy speleothem records attest to Central-Eastern Europe hydro-climate variability during MIS 3, the LGM, and the Holocene, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4294, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4294, 2022.
