Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global study

Pauline C. Treble; Andy Baker; Nerilie J. Abram; John C. Hellstrom; Jagoda Crawford; Michael K. Gagan; Andrea Borsato; Alan D. Griffiths; Petra Bajo; Monika Markowska; Stacey C. Priestley; Stuart Hankin; David Paterson

doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3

Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global study

Pauline C. Treble^*, Andy Baker, Nerilie J. Abram, John C. Hellstrom, Jagoda Crawford, Michael K. Gagan, Andrea Borsato, Alan D. Griffiths, Petra Bajo, Monika Markowska, Stacey C. Priestley, Stuart Hankin, David Paterson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Speleothem oxygen isotopic (δ¹⁸O) records are used to reconstruct past hydroclimate yet records from the same cave do not always replicate. We use a global database of speleothem δ¹⁸O to quantify the replicability of records to show that disagreement is common worldwide, occurs across timescales and is unrelated to climate, depth or lithology. Our global analysis demonstrates that within-cave differences in mean speleothem δ¹⁸O values are consistent with those of dripwater, supporting a ubiquitous influence of flowpaths. We present a case study of four new stalagmite records from Golgotha Cave, southwest Australia, where the isotopic differences between them are informed by cave monitoring. It is demonstrated that karst hydrology is a major driver of within-cave speleothem and dripwater δ¹⁸O variability, primarily due to the influence of fractures on flowpaths. Applying our understanding of water movement through fractures assists in quantitative reconstruction of past climate variability from speleothem δ¹⁸O records.

Original language	English
Article number	29
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Communications Earth and Environment
Volume	3
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3
Publication status	Published - 15 Feb 2022
Externally published	Yes

Access to Document

10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3Licence: CC BY

Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global studyFinal published version, 1.33 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Treble, P. C., Baker, A., Abram, N. J., Hellstrom, J. C., Crawford, J., Gagan, M. K., Borsato, A., Griffiths, A. D., Bajo, P., Markowska, M., Priestley, S. C., Hankin, S., & Paterson, D. (2022). Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global study. Communications Earth and Environment, 3(1), 1-10. Article 29. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3

@article{b8b6d7065fab456c96e440a5860b2781,

title = "Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global study",

abstract = "Speleothem oxygen isotopic (δ18O) records are used to reconstruct past hydroclimate yet records from the same cave do not always replicate. We use a global database of speleothem δ18O to quantify the replicability of records to show that disagreement is common worldwide, occurs across timescales and is unrelated to climate, depth or lithology. Our global analysis demonstrates that within-cave differences in mean speleothem δ18O values are consistent with those of dripwater, supporting a ubiquitous influence of flowpaths. We present a case study of four new stalagmite records from Golgotha Cave, southwest Australia, where the isotopic differences between them are informed by cave monitoring. It is demonstrated that karst hydrology is a major driver of within-cave speleothem and dripwater δ18O variability, primarily due to the influence of fractures on flowpaths. Applying our understanding of water movement through fractures assists in quantitative reconstruction of past climate variability from speleothem δ18O records.",

author = "Treble, {Pauline C.} and Andy Baker and Abram, {Nerilie J.} and Hellstrom, {John C.} and Jagoda Crawford and Gagan, {Michael K.} and Andrea Borsato and Griffiths, {Alan D.} and Petra Bajo and Monika Markowska and Priestley, {Stacey C.} and Stuart Hankin and David Paterson",

year = "2022",

month = feb,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3",

language = "English",

volume = "3",

pages = "1--10",

journal = "Communications Earth and Environment",

issn = "2662-4435",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "1",

}

Treble, PC, Baker, A, Abram, NJ, Hellstrom, JC, Crawford, J, Gagan, MK, Borsato, A, Griffiths, AD, Bajo, P, Markowska, M, Priestley, SC, Hankin, S & Paterson, D 2022, 'Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global study', Communications Earth and Environment, vol. 3, no. 1, 29, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global study

AU - Treble, Pauline C.

AU - Baker, Andy

AU - Abram, Nerilie J.

AU - Hellstrom, John C.

AU - Crawford, Jagoda

AU - Gagan, Michael K.

AU - Borsato, Andrea

AU - Griffiths, Alan D.

AU - Bajo, Petra

AU - Markowska, Monika

AU - Priestley, Stacey C.

AU - Hankin, Stuart

AU - Paterson, David

PY - 2022/2/15

Y1 - 2022/2/15

N2 - Speleothem oxygen isotopic (δ18O) records are used to reconstruct past hydroclimate yet records from the same cave do not always replicate. We use a global database of speleothem δ18O to quantify the replicability of records to show that disagreement is common worldwide, occurs across timescales and is unrelated to climate, depth or lithology. Our global analysis demonstrates that within-cave differences in mean speleothem δ18O values are consistent with those of dripwater, supporting a ubiquitous influence of flowpaths. We present a case study of four new stalagmite records from Golgotha Cave, southwest Australia, where the isotopic differences between them are informed by cave monitoring. It is demonstrated that karst hydrology is a major driver of within-cave speleothem and dripwater δ18O variability, primarily due to the influence of fractures on flowpaths. Applying our understanding of water movement through fractures assists in quantitative reconstruction of past climate variability from speleothem δ18O records.

AB - Speleothem oxygen isotopic (δ18O) records are used to reconstruct past hydroclimate yet records from the same cave do not always replicate. We use a global database of speleothem δ18O to quantify the replicability of records to show that disagreement is common worldwide, occurs across timescales and is unrelated to climate, depth or lithology. Our global analysis demonstrates that within-cave differences in mean speleothem δ18O values are consistent with those of dripwater, supporting a ubiquitous influence of flowpaths. We present a case study of four new stalagmite records from Golgotha Cave, southwest Australia, where the isotopic differences between them are informed by cave monitoring. It is demonstrated that karst hydrology is a major driver of within-cave speleothem and dripwater δ18O variability, primarily due to the influence of fractures on flowpaths. Applying our understanding of water movement through fractures assists in quantitative reconstruction of past climate variability from speleothem δ18O records.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128432008&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3

DO - 10.1038/s43247-022-00347-3

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85128432008

SN - 2662-4435

VL - 3

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Communications Earth and Environment

JF - Communications Earth and Environment

IS - 1

M1 - 29

ER -

Ubiquitous karst hydrological control on speleothem oxygen isotope variability in a global study

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Cite this