Cave KNI-51, Western Australia 8,800 Year Stalagmite d18O Data Denniston, R.F.; Ummenhofer, C.C.; Wanamaker, A.D.; Lachniet, M.S.; Villarini, G.; Asmerom, Y.; Polyak, V.J.; Passaro, K.J.; Cugley, J.; Woods, D.; Humphreys, W.F. Denniston, R.F. Ummenhofer, C.C. Wanamaker, A.D. Lachniet, M.S. Villarini, G. Asmerom, Y. Polyak, V.J. Passaro, K.J. Cugley, J. Woods, D. Humphreys, W.F. Monsoon earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (sample identification,null,null,null,null,speleothems,null,null,C,Stalagmite ID) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (age,null,null,calendar year before present,null,speleothems,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (notes,null,null,null,null,speleothems,null,null,C,calcite or aragonite) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (depth,null,null,millimeter,null,speleothems,null,null,N,distance from base) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (delta 18O,calcium carbonate,null,per mil VPDB,null,speleothems,raw,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (Cave KNI-51>LATITUDE -15.18>LONGITUDE 128.37) Assessing temporal variability in extreme rainfall events before the historical era is complicated by the sparsity of long-term "direct" storm proxies. Here we present a 2,200-y-long, accurate, and precisely dated record of cave flooding events from the northwest Australian tropics that we interpret, based on an integrated analysis of meteorological data and sediment layers within stalagmites, as representing a proxy for extreme rainfall events derived primarily from tropical cyclones (TCs) and secondarily from the regional summer monsoon. This time series reveals substantial multicentennial variability in extreme rainfall, with elevated occurrence rates characterizing the twentieth century, 850-1450 CE (Common Era), and 50-400 CE; reduced activity marks 1450-1650 CE and 500-850 CE. These trends are similar to reconstructed numbers of TCs in the North Atlantic and Caribbean basins, and they form temporal and spatial patterns best explained by secular changes in the dominant mode of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the primary driver of modern TC variability. We thus attribute long-term shifts in cyclogenesis in both the central Australian and North Atlantic sectors over the past two millennia to entrenched El Niño or La Niña states of the tropical Pacific. The influence of ENSO on monsoon precipitation in this region of northwest Australia is muted, but ENSO-driven changes to the monsoon may have complemented changes to TC activity. STUDY NOTES: Stalagmite oxygen isotope (d18O) data for 18 calcite and aragonite stalagmites collected in Cave KNI-51, tropical Western Australia, providing a paleomonsoon record for the past 8,800 years. Data file updated 7/26/2017. In the data section of the file, ages were corrected for the stable isotope data of stalagmites KNI-51-10, KNI-51-A2-side 1, and KNI-51-A2-side 2. Stalagmite labels were corrected for stalagmites KNI-51-A2-side 1 and KNI-51-A2-side 2 (previously were mistakenly labelled as KNI-51-A1-side 1 and KNI-51-A1-side 2). In the Chronology section, distances for U-Th dates in stalagmite KNI-51-A2-side 1 and KNI-51-A2-side 2 were corrected, and ages for U-Th dates in stalagmite KNI-51-A2-side 1 and KNI-51-A2-side 2 were corrected. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Denniston, R.F. Investigator : Ummenhofer, C.C. Investigator : Wanamaker, A.D. Investigator : Lachniet, M.S. Investigator : Villarini, G. Investigator : Asmerom, Y. Investigator : Polyak, V.J. Investigator : Passaro, K.J. Investigator : Cugley, J. Investigator : Woods, D. Investigator : Humphreys, W.F. 2016-09-29 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/20530 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/australia/kni-51-2016d18o.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/australia/kni-51-2016d18o.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/20530 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/australia/kni-51-2016d18o.txt Denniston, R.F., Wyrwoll, K.-H., Polyak, Brown, J. Asmerom, Y., Wanamaker, A. Jr., LaPointe, Z., Ellerbroek, R., Barthelmes, M., Cleary, D., Cugley, J., Woods, D., Humphreys, W.2013A Stalagmite Record of Holocene Indonesian-Australian Summer Monsoon Variability from the Australian TropicsQuaternary Science Reviews78155-16810.1016/j.quascirev.2013.08.004 Rhawn F. Denniston, Caroline C. Ummenhofer, Alan D. Wanamaker, Matthew S. Lachniet, Gabriele Villarini, Yemane Asmerom, Victor J. Polyak, Kristian J. Passaro, John Cugley, David Woods, and William F. Humphreys2016Expansion and Contraction of the Indo-Pacific Tropical Rain Belt over the Last Three MillenniaScientific Reports34485610.1038/srep34485http://www.nature.com/articles/srep34485 Rhawn F. Denniston, Gabriele Villarini, Angelique N. Gonzales, Karl-Heinz Wyrwoll, Victor J. Polyak, Caroline C. Ummenhofer, Matthew S. Lachniet, Alan D. Wanamaker, Jr, William F. Humphreys, David Woods, and John Cugley2015Extreme rainfall activity in the Australian tropics reflects changes in the El Niño/Southern Oscillation over the last two millenniaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences10.1073/pnas.1422270112http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/03/24/1422270112.abstract START YEAR: 8844 cal yr BP * END YEAR: -58 cal yr BP 128.37 -15.18 128.37 -15.18