Crystal Cave, California 1150 Year d18O Data and SST Reconstruction McCabe-Glynn, S.; Johnson, K.R.; Strong, C.; Berkelhammer, M.B.; Sinha, A.; Cheng, H.; Edwards, R.L. McCabe-Glynn, S. Johnson, K.R. Strong, C. Berkelhammer, M.B. Sinha, A. Cheng, H. Edwards, R.L. Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction precipitation earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (delta 18O,calcium carbonate,null,per mil VPDB,null,speleothems,interpolated,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,interpolated to an annual timescale using Matlab interp1 function) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|speleothems (age,null,null,calendar year before present,null,climate reconstructions|speleothems,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|speleothems (age,null,null,year Common Era,null,climate reconstructions|speleothems,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|speleothems (sea surface temperature,delta 18O,null,degree Celsius,annual,climate reconstructions|speleothems,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (Crystal Cave Sequoia National Park>LATITUDE 36.57>LONGITUDE -118.78) Precipitation in southwestern North America has exhibited significant natural variability over the past few thousand years. This variability has been attributed to sea surface temperature regimes in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and to the attendant shifts in atmospheric circulation patterns. In particular, decadal variability in the North Pacific has influenced precipitation in this region during the twentieth century, but links to earlier droughts and pluvials are unclear. Here we assess these links using δ18O data from a speleothem from southern California that spans AD 854-2007. We show that variations in the oxygen isotopes of the speleothem correlate to sea surface temperatures in the Kuroshio Extension region of the North Pacific, which affect the atmospheric trajectory and isotopic composition of moisture reaching the study site. Interpreting our speleothem data as a record of sea surface temperatures in the Kuroshio Extension, we find a strong 22-year periodicity, suggesting a persistent solar influence on North Pacific decadal variability. A comparison with tree-ring records of precipitation during the past millennium shows that some droughts occurred during periods of warmth in the Kuroshio Extension, similar to the instrumental record. However, other droughts did not and instead must have been influenced by other factors. Finally, we find a significant increase in sea surface temperature variability over the past 150 years, which may reflect an influence of greenhouse gas concentrations on variability in the North Pacific. STUDY NOTES: Speleothem oxygen isotope (d18O) record and Kuroshio Extension (KE) SST anomalies reconstructed from the isotope data. The record spans 854 - 2007 AD and is based on a speleothem (CRC-3) collected from Crystal Cave, located in Sequoia National Park, California. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : McCabe-Glynn, S. Investigator : Johnson, K.R. Investigator : Strong, C. Investigator : Berkelhammer, M.B. Investigator : Sinha, A. Investigator : Cheng, H. Investigator : Edwards, R.L. 2013-07-11 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/14652 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/northamerica/usa/california/crystal2013.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/northamerica/usa/california/crystal2013.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/14652 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/northamerica/usa/california/crystal2013.txt Staryl McCabe-Glynn, Kathleen R. Johnson, Courtenay Strong, Max Berkelhammer, Ashish Sinha, Hai Cheng and R. Lawrence Edwards2013Variable North Pacific influence on drought in southwestern North America since AD 854Nature Geoscience6617-62110.1038/ngeo1862https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1862 START YEAR: 854 AD * END YEAR: 2007 AD -118.78 36.57 -118.78 36.57