Lago El Gancho, Nicaragua 1600 Year Geochemical Data Stansell, N.D. Stansell, N.D. Little Ice Age (LIA) Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (calcium carbonate,sediment,null,weight percent,null,paleolimnology,null,loss on ignition,N,1000 degrees C) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (depth,null,null,centimeter,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 18O,ostracod,null,per mil VPDB,null,paleolimnology,null,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,size fraction > 150 microns; Physocypria sp.) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (density,sediment,null,gram per cubic centimeter,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (mineral matter,sediment,null,weight percent,null,paleolimnology,null,loss on ignition,N,1000 degrees C) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (age,null,null,year Common Era,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (volume magnetic susceptibility,sediment,null,dimensionless (SI system),null,paleolimnology,null,magnetic susceptibility measurement with point or surface sensor,N,x10-6 units) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (organic matter,sediment,null,weight percent,null,paleolimnology,null,loss on ignition,N,550 degrees C) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (Lago El Gancho>LATITUDE 11.9>LONGITUDE -85.9167) Discerning the influences of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on drought variability in the tropics during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and Little Ice Age (LIA) will help to improve our understanding of climate system responses to internal and external forcing. Sediments from Lago El Gancho, Nicaragua, provide an ~1400 yr record of water balance (precipitation and evaporation) changes from a region that is sensitive to teleconnected Pacific and Atlantic ocean-atmosphere dynamics. Oxygen isotope values of ostracod carapaces (d18Oostracod) are consistently low in El Gancho sediments between ca. A.D. 950 and 1250, indicating that wetter conditions prevailed during the MCA, a period of La Nina-like mean state conditions in the tropical Pacific, and a positive mean state of the NAO. The ~150 yr period between the MCA and LIA was marked by an abrupt shift to persistently drier conditions at a time of highly variable Pacific sea-surface temperatures, and a transition toward a more negative NAO phase. In sediment from ca. A.D. 1450 to the present, d18Oostracod values increase, suggesting that drier conditions persisted through most of the LIA, a time of a relatively negative NAO phase and El Nino-like mean state conditions in the tropical Pacific. The long-term precipitation trends inferred from the El Gancho data are not entirely consistent with modern associations between precipitation in the circum-Caribbean region and the NAO, suggesting that present-day hydroclimatic shifts resulting from variability in synoptic climate patterns are dissimilar to changes resulting from teleconnected ocean-atmosphere dynamics that operated during the MCA and LIA. STUDY NOTES: Paleolimnological data from Lago El Gancho, Nicaragua, for the past 1600 years. Data include sediment density, percent organic matter and percent calcium carbonate, magnetic susceptibility, bulk density, and oxygen isotope (d18O) data. Lago El Gancho, Nicaragua: 11°54'N, 85°55'W, 44m elev, 1m depth NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Stansell, N.D. 2012-08-05 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13195 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/nicaragua/gancho2012.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/nicaragua/gancho2012.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/nicaragua/gancho2012.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/nicaragua/gancho2012.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13195 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/nicaragua/gancho2012.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/northamerica/nicaragua/gancho2012.txt Nathan D. Stansell, Byron A. Steinman, Mark B. Abbott, Michael Rubinov, Manuel Roman-Lacayo2013Lacustrine stable isotope record of precipitation changes in Nicaragua during the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate AnomalyGeology412151-15410.1130/G33736.1https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/41/2/151/131130/lacustrine-stable-isotope-record-of-precipitation START YEAR: -663 AD * END YEAR: 1995 AD -85.9167 11.9 -85.9167 11.9