TY - JOUR
T1 - Global analysis reveals climatic controls on the oxygen isotope composition of cave drip water
AU - Baker, Andy
AU - Hartmann, Andreas
AU - Duan, Wuhui
AU - Hankin, Stuart
AU - Comas-Bru, Laia
AU - Cuthbert, Mark O.
AU - Treble, Pauline C.
AU - Banner, Jay
AU - Genty, Dominique
AU - Baldini, Lisa M.
AU - Bartolomé, Miguel
AU - Moreno, Ana
AU - Pérez-Mejías, Carlos
AU - Werner, Martin
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - The oxygen isotope composition of speleothems is a widely used proxy for past climate change. Robust use of this proxy depends on understanding the relationship between precipitation and cave drip water δ18O. Here, we present the first global analysis, based on data from 163 drip sites, from 39 caves on five continents, showing that drip water δ18O is most similar to the amount-weighted precipitation δ18O where mean annual temperature (MAT) is < 10 °C. By contrast, for seasonal climates with MAT > 10 °C and < 16 °C, drip water δ18O records the recharge-weighted δ18O. This implies that the δ18O of speleothems (formed in near isotopic equilibrium) are most likely to directly reflect meteoric precipitation in cool climates only. In warmer and drier environments, speleothems will have a seasonal bias toward the precipitation δ18O of recharge periods and, in some cases, the extent of evaporative fractionation of stored karst water.
AB - The oxygen isotope composition of speleothems is a widely used proxy for past climate change. Robust use of this proxy depends on understanding the relationship between precipitation and cave drip water δ18O. Here, we present the first global analysis, based on data from 163 drip sites, from 39 caves on five continents, showing that drip water δ18O is most similar to the amount-weighted precipitation δ18O where mean annual temperature (MAT) is < 10 °C. By contrast, for seasonal climates with MAT > 10 °C and < 16 °C, drip water δ18O records the recharge-weighted δ18O. This implies that the δ18O of speleothems (formed in near isotopic equilibrium) are most likely to directly reflect meteoric precipitation in cool climates only. In warmer and drier environments, speleothems will have a seasonal bias toward the precipitation δ18O of recharge periods and, in some cases, the extent of evaporative fractionation of stored karst water.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068461115&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-019-11027-w
DO - 10.1038/s41467-019-11027-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 31278295
AN - SCOPUS:85068461115
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 10
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 2984
ER -