Lake Chichancanab, Mexico 4,500 Year Sediment Density Data Hodell, D.A.; Brenner, M.; Curtis, J.H. Hodell, D.A. Brenner, M. Curtis, J.H. earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (depth,null,null,centimeter,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (density,sediment,null,gram per cubic centimeter,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (age,null,null,year Common Era,null,paleolimnology,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (Lake Chichancanab>LATITUDE 19.855>LONGITUDE -88.763) We present new density records from sediment cores taken along a depth transect in Lake Chichancanab, Mexico. The data reveal in great detail the climatic events that comprised the Terminal Classic Drought (TCD) and coincided with the demise of Classic Maya civilization between ca 750 and 1050 AD. In shallow-water cores, the TCD is marked by a condensed gypsum horizon. In deeper-water sections it is expanded and represented by numerous interbedded gypsum and organic-rich strata. The TCD was not a single, two-century-long megadrought, but rather consisted of a series of dry events separated by intervening periods of relatively moister conditions. We estimate the TCD occurred between ca 770 and 1100 AD and included an early phase (ca 770ŋ870 AD) and late phase (ca 920ŋ1100 AD). The intervening 50-year period (ca 870ŋ920 AD) was relatively moister. Each dry phase is represented by multiple gypsum (density) bands interbedded with organic-rich sediment that indicate alternating dry and wet conditions. Spectral analysis revealed significant periods around 213, 50, and 27 years. Despite uncertainty regarding the ages of these events, their pattern is robust and generally consistent with other proxy records under the same climate regime, such as the marine Cariaco Basin off northern Venezuela (Science 299 (2003) 1731). STUDY NOTES: Density data from Lake Chichancanab, Core CH1 7-III-04, 14.4m water depth. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Hodell, D.A. Investigator : Brenner, M. Investigator : Curtis, J.H. 2008-04-01 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/6108 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab2005.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab2005.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab2005.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab2005.xls English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/6108 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab2005.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/yucatan/chichancanab2005.xls Hodell, D.A.,Brenner, M.,Curtis, J.H. 2005. Terminal Classic drought in the northern Maya Lowlands inferred from multiple sediment cores in Lake Chichancanab (Mexico). Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 24, pp. 1413-1427 START YEAR: 4500 cal yr BP * END YEAR: -50 cal yr BP -88.763 19.855 -88.763 19.855