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- Title
Patterns of spatial and temporal variability of speleothem δ18O records in Western Europe: an initial assessment of SISAL database.
- Authors
Mozhdehi, Sahar Amirnezhad; Lechleitner, Franziska A.; Columbu, Andrea; Comas-Bru, Laia; Labuhn, Inga; Pérez-Mejías, Carlos; Rehfeld, Kira
- Abstract
Speleothems (secondary cave carbonates) are a widely used archive for the palaeoclimatereconstruction, particularly for high-resolution climate variability, due to their exceptionalchronological control. The first version of the SISAL database contains 376 speleothemrecords from across the globe; about a quarter of these records are from Western Europe,making it the region with the highest density of published speleothem datasets. WesternEurope also possesses the highest density of Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation(GNIP) stations, some of the longest meteorological records, and global modelling andreanalysis datasets, as well as a large number of continuous, high-resolution multiannual cavemonitoring time-series. This is a great advantage for the interpretation of δ18O value inspeleothems, which is driven by a complex interplay of regional and site-specificfactors. This study is the first assessment of the Western European data from the SISAL database,which reviews the SISAL records within the wider (palaeo-)climatic context of WesternEurope, with the objective to investigate the suitability of large compilations of speleothemrecords to reveal the existence of regional trends in time, as well as to identify and promotethe potential of cave sites in the region for future palaeoclimate studies. We find that i)present-day spatial trends in δ18O from Western European speleothems generally mirror thetrends in precipitation δ18O. ii) Over the late Quaternary, site-specific noise in speleothemsδ18O presents the main issue for the extraction of a regional climate signal, especially overthe Holocene. iii) Results are improved through the use of statistical methods, allowing theextraction of regional climate modes. Use of other types of data and more information aboutcave monitoring as well as an updated age modelling technique intercomparison study,can significantly enhance the potential of these records for regional palaeoclimatestudies. SISAL is a new valuable tool for intercomparison of speleothem δ18O in a regional andglobal context. Inclusion of missing records in the future of versions of SISAL canconsiderably improve temporal and spatial coverage of the dataset. Furthermore, updating theage-models to include age-model uncertainties for all records would reduce the overalluncertainty of δ18O time-series, and thus improve the level of accuracy in subsequentanalyses.
- Subjects
WESTERN Europe; SPELEOTHEMS; MODES of variability (Climatology); RECORDS; DATABASES
- Publication
Geophysical Research Abstracts, 2019, Vol 21, p1
- ISSN
1029-7006
- Publication type
Article