This synthesis of thirty-six sites (sixty cores with over 27 000 measurements) located around the world facilitates scientific research on the climate of the last 21 000 years ago obtained from oxygen isotope (
Speleothems are precipitated calcium carbonate deposits in caves. Stalagmites grow from the ground up in caves, stalactites are the formations that hang from the ceilings, and flowstones are sheetlike deposits that form on walls and floors. Oxygen isotope measurements from cave deposits provide some of the highest-resolution and best-dated information about past fluctuations in temperature and precipitation. Over the past decade, a relatively dense network of sites has been measured spanning the time period from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21 000 years ago) to present. These sites yield data that address key scientific questions surrounding climate sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations, nonlinear responses and thresholds in the climate system, and the skill of state-of-the-art climate models in reproducing states different from the present one.
The ratio of two stable isotopes of oxygen, 16O and 18O, is used by paleoclimatologists as tracers of the hydrologic cycle. This is possible because the amount of one relative to the other is altered as water goes through phase changes such as evaporation and condensation. Thus, the measure
Several factors influence the oxygen isotopic variability in precipitation, and subsequently in the speleothem calcite that is formed, specifically a temperature effect, a continental effect, an elevation effect, and an amount effect (see, e.g., [
In addition to these effects on rainwater composition, other factors influencing speleothem
Cave deposits record these
Stalagmites, stalactites, and other cave deposits may be annually banded or contain elements that can be used in radiometric dating (e.g., uranium-series dating). Speleothems are particularly useful for generating climate records spanning up to several hundred thousand years (see, e.g., [
This dataset paper describes a compilation of speleothem
The original laboratory measurements followed procedures standardized by the speleothem community, allowing the data to be combined into a homogenized dataset. The PIs used standard laboratory methods of sampling (e.g., microdrilling, micromiling, or laser ablation) and measurement using a mass spectrometer with automated carbonate preparation system (see, e.g., [
We selected all speleothem
The dataset associated with this Dataset Paper consists of 14 items which are described as follows.
This dataset paper documents a new compilation of speleothem
One important type of research this compilation will facilitate is the description of the spatial and temporal patterns of abrupt climate changes around the globe since the LGM. For example, Figure
Location of speleothem cores included in data product. Numbers refer to the sequence in Table
Sample machine-readable ASCII file for an individual speleothem core. Horizontal gray bars indicate the location of text cut for display purposes.
Time series of
Another important application of this dataset will be to compare speleothem
Sites included in data product.
Site name | Latitude (°N) | Longitude (°E) | Numbers of cores | Time range (kyr BP)* | Citation |
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1 | 11.5–22.0 | [ |
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1 | 11.4–22.0 | [ |
(3) Pink Panther Cave |
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1 | 0–12.1 | [ |
(4) Cold Water Cave |
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3 | 0–8.6 | [ |
(5) Mystery Cave |
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1 | 0–7.5 | [ |
(6) Spring Valley Caverns |
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2 | 0–8.5 | [ |
(7) Buckeye Cave |
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3 | 0–7.8 | [ |
(8) Terciopelo Cave |
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1 | 6.5–7.9 | [ |
(9) Venado Cave |
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1 | 4.9–8.8 | [ |
(10) Cueva del Tigre Perdido |
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2 | 0–13.4 | [ |
(11) Botuverá Cave |
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2 | 0–22.0 | [ |
(12) Buca della Renella |
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1 | 1.3–7.0 | [ |
(13) Katerloch Cave |
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2 | 7.1–10.4 | [ |
(14) Poleva Cave |
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1 | 2.4–11.5 | [ |
(15) Sofular Cave |
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1 | 0–21.6 | [ |
(16) Jerusalem West Cave |
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1 | 0–22.0 | [ |
(17) Ma’ale Efrayim Cave |
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1 | 16.6–19.2 | [ |
(18) Peqiin Cave |
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1 | 14.0–22.0 | [ |
(19) Soreq Cave |
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1 | 0–22.0 | [ |
(20) Cold Air Cave |
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2 | 0–22.0 | [ |
(21) Moomi Cave |
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1 | 11.1–22.0 | [ |
(22) Qunf Cave |
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1 | 0–10.6 | [ |
(23) Hoti Cave |
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1 | 6.0–9.6 | [ |
(24) Jiuxian Cave |
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2 | 0–8.6 | [ |
(25) Heshang Cave |
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1 | 0–9.5 | [ |
(26) Sanbao Cave |
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7 | 0–19.2 | [ |
(27) Hulu Cave |
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4 | 6.0–22.0 | [ |
(28) Lianhua Cave |
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1 | 0–6.6 | [ |
(29) Yaoba Don Cave |
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1 | 19.1–22.0 | [ |
(30) Dongge Cave |
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3 | 0–15.8 | [ |
(31) Yamen Cave |
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1 | 7.3–16.3 | [ |
(32) Xiangshui Cave |
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1 | 19.7–22.0 | [ |
(33) Gunung Buda |
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3 | 0–22.0 | [ |
(34) Liang Luar Cave |
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2 | 0–12.6 | [ |
(35) Lynds Cave |
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1 | 5.1–8.9 | [ |
(36) New Zealand composite |
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1 | 0–22.0 | [ |
*kyr BP: kiloyears before present (present equals 1950 A.D.).
The dataset associated with this Dataset Paper is dedicated to the public domain using the
The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.
The authors thank all of the scientists who have archived their data at the NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, World Data Center for Paleoclimatology. The comments of the editors helped to improve this paper. This paper is dedicated to the memories of Rodney Buckner and Michael Hartman.