Lake Chichancanab, Mexico 9,700 Year Isotope and Mineralogy Data Hodell, D.A. Hodell, D.A. drought earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (sulfur,sediment,null,percent,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 13C,gastropod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Pyrgophorus sp.) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (depth,null,null,centimeter,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 13C,ostracod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Cyprinotus sp.) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 13C,foraminifer,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Ammonia beccarii) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 18O,ostracod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Physocypria sp.) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 13C,ostracod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Physocypria sp.) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 18O,gastropod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,terrestrial gastropods) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (calcium carbonate,sediment,null,percent,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 18O,gastropod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Pyrgophorus sp.) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 18O,foraminifer,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Ammonia beccarii) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (identified foraminifer,null,null,count,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Ammonia beccarii) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 13C,gastropod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,terrestrial gastropods) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (age,null,null,radiocarbon year before present,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (delta 18O,ostracod,null,per mil PDB,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,Cyprinotus sp.) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (age,null,null,calendar year before present,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (Lake Chichancanab>LATITUDE 19.855>LONGITUDE -88.763) THE Maya civilization developed around 3,000 years ago in Mesoamerica, and after flourishing during the so-called Classic period, it collapsed around 750-900 AD. It has been speculated that climate change may have played a part in this collapse. But efforts to reconstruct the last three millennia of Mesoamerican climate using palynological methods have met with equivocal success, because human-mediated deforestation has altered regional vegetation in ways that mimic climate shifts, making it difficult to discriminate between natural and anthropogenic changes. Here we use temporal variations in oxygen isotope and sediment composition in a 4.9-m sediment core from Lake Chichancanab, Mexico, to reconstruct a continuous record of Holocene climate change for the central Yucatan peninsula. The interval between 1,300 and 1,100 yr BP (AD 800-1,000) was the driest of the middle to late Holocene epoch, and coincided with the collapse of Classic Maya civilization. This continuous climate proxy record thus provides evidence of climate deterioration in the Maya region during the terminal Classic period. STUDY NOTES: Oxygen isotope and sediment composition data from Lake Chichancanab, Mexico. The data are interpreted as a moisture balance proxy, and indicate drought conditions in the years 800-1000 AD, corresponding to the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Hodell, D.A. 2001-02-01 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/5483 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/readme_chichancanab.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/readme_chichancanab.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/5483 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/readme_chichancanab.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab.txt Hodell, D.A.. 1995. Possible role of climate in the collapse of the Classic Maya Civilization. Nature Vol. 375, pp. 391-394 START YEAR: 10920 cal yr BP * END YEAR: -26 cal yr BP -88.763 19.855 -88.763 19.855