Global analysis reveals climatic controls on the oxygen isotope composition of cave drip water - CNRS - Centre national de la recherche scientifique Access content directly
Journal Articles Nature Communications Year : 2019

Global analysis reveals climatic controls on the oxygen isotope composition of cave drip water

Andy Baker
  • Function : Author
  • PersonId : 1086942
Wuhui Duan
  • Function : Author
Stuart Hankin
  • Function : Author
Laia Comas-Bru
  • Function : Author
Mark O Cuthbert
  • Function : Author
Pauline C Treble
  • Function : Author
Jay Banner
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Dominique Genty
Lisa M Baldini
  • Function : Author
Miguel Bartolomé
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Ana Moreno
  • Function : Author
Carlos Pérez-Mejías
  • Function : Author
Martin Werner

Abstract

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 δ 18 O. Here, we present the first global analysis, based on data from 163 drip sites, from 39 caves on five continents, showing that drip water δ 18 O is most similar to the amount-weighted precipitation δ 18 O where mean annual temperature (MAT) is < 10°C. By contrast, for seasonal climates with MAT > 10°C and < 16°C, drip water δ 18 O records the recharge-weighted δ 18 O. This implies that the δ 18 O 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 δ 18 O of recharge periods and, in some cases, the extent of evaporative fractionation of stored karst water.
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Dates and versions

hal-03089444 , version 1 (28-12-2020)

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Andy Baker, Andreas Hartmann, Wuhui Duan, Stuart Hankin, Laia Comas-Bru, et al.. Global analysis reveals climatic controls on the oxygen isotope composition of cave drip water. Nature Communications, 2019, 10, ⟨10.1038/s41467-019-11027-w⟩. ⟨hal-03089444⟩

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