Millennial-scale climate variability during the last 12.5ka recorded in a Caribbean speleothem

• Published in: Earth and planetary science letters 2013-01, Vol.361, p.143-151
• Main Authors: Fensterer, Claudia, Scholz, Denis, Hoffmann, Dirk L., Spötl, Christoph, Schröder-Ritzrau, Andrea, Horn, Christian, Pajón, Jesus M., Mangini, Augusto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bonding strength; Caribbean; Central America/Caribbean; Climate; climate variability; Convergence; Holocene; Marine; Oxygen isotopes; Precipitation; Sea surface temperature; Similarity; speleothem; stable isotopes
• ISSN: 0012-821X; 1385-013X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.11.019

We present a speleothem stable oxygen isotope record for the last 12.5ka based on two stalagmites from western Cuba. The δ18O signal is interpreted to represent past precipitation variability. Both stalagmites show a pronounced transition from higher δ18O values (indicating drier conditions) to more negative δ18O values (suggesting wetter conditions) between 10 and 6ka. This transition is also visible in a planktonic δ18O record off Haiti. On orbital timescales, the δ18O value of Caribbean precipitation, thus, strongly resembles the oxygen isotope composition of Caribbean surface water. On millenial timescales, the speleothem δ18O record shows a high correlation to a North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) record off West Africa as well as a similarity with the Bond events. Periods of lower North Atlantic SST correspond to less precipitation in the Caribbean and vice versa. The potential teleconnection to the Caribbean may reflect the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone because a further southward position of the ITCZ leads to reduced precipitation in the northern Caribbean. ► We reconstruct precipitation variability in the Caribbean during the last 12.5ka. ► Two stalagmite records show the transition from drier to wetter conditions between 10 and 6ka. ► On orbital timescales, recorded δ18O in speleothems resembles sea surface δ18O values. ► On millennial timescales, δ18O resembles a SST record off West Africa and shows Bond events. ► Mechanism: lower SST leads to southward movement of ITCZ and less precipitation in Cuba.