noaa-cave-9791
Tzabnah Cave, Mexico 1500 Year Speleothem Oxygen Isotope Data
Medina-Elizalde, M.; Burns, S.J.; Lea, D.W.; Asmerom, Y.; von Gunten, L.; Polyak, V.J.; Vuille, M.; Karmalkar, A.
Tzabnah Cave, Mexico 1500 Year Speleothem Oxygen Isotope Data
2010-09-15
NCDC-Paleoclimatology
ONLINE Files
Pending
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/9791
Investigator
M.
Medina-Elizalde
Investigator
S.J.
Burns
Investigator
D.W.
Lea
Investigator
Y.
Asmerom
Investigator
L.
von Gunten
Investigator
V.J.
Polyak
Investigator
M.
Vuille
Investigator
A.
Karmalkar
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
depth,null,null,centimeter,null,speleothems,null,null,N,null
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
age,null,null,year Common Era,null,speleothems,null,null,N,null
earth science
paleoclimate
speleothems
oxygen isotopes
geoscientificInformation
Monsoon
drought
487 AD
2004 AD
1463 cal yr BP
-54 cal yr BP
Complete
20.75
20.75
-89.466667
-89.466667
20
20
Continent
North America
Mexico
Yucatan
Tzabnah Cave>LATITUDE 20.75>LONGITUDE -89.466667
None
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English
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI
National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data
DATA Center Contact
Bruce
Bauer
bruce.a.bauer@noaa.gov
paleo@noaa.gov
303-497-6280
303-497-6513
325 Broadway, E/NE31
Boulder
CO
80305-3328
USA
online
ASCII
Medina-Elizalde, M., S.J. Burns, D.W. Lea, Y. Asmerom, L. von Gunten,
V. Polyak, M. Vuille, and A. Karmalkar. 2010.
High resolution stalagmite climate record from the Yucatán Peninsula
spanning the Maya terminal classic period.
Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.08.016
The decline of the Classic Maya civilization was complex and
geographically variable, and occurred over a ~150-year interval,
known as the Terminal Classic Period (TCP, C.E. 800-950).
Paleoclimate studies based on lake sediments from the Yucatán
Peninsula lowlands suggested that drought prevailed during the
TCP and was likely an important factor in the disintegration of
the Classic Maya civilization. The lacustrine evidence for decades
of severe drought in the Yucatán Peninsula, however, does not
readily explain the long 150-year socio-political decline of the
Classic Maya civilization. Here we present a new, absolute-dated,
high resolution stalagmite d18O record from the northwest Yucatán
Peninsula that provides a much more detailed picture of climate
variability during the last 1500 years. Direct calibration between
stalagmite d18O and rainfall amount offers the first quantitative
estimation of rainfall variability during the Terminal Classic
Period. Our results show that eight severe droughts, lasting from
3 to 18 years, occurred during major depopulation events of Classic
Maya city-states. During these droughts, rainfall was reduced by
52% to 36%. The number and short duration of the dry intervals
help explain why the TCP collapse of the Mayan civilization
occurred over 150 years.
STUDY NOTES: Absolutely-dated, high-resolution stalagmite delta18O record
from the northwest Yucatán Peninsula that provides a detailed
picture of climate variability during the last 1500 years.
In 2004 we collected a 45 cm stalagmite specimen, named Chaac
after the Maya god of rain, from cave "Tzabnah" in the village
of Tecoh. The speleothem time scale is based on 12 absolute
U/Th dates. We applied a polynomial and piecewise linear model
and found a maximum age difference between these models of
31 years during the Medieval Climate Anomaly time interval.
To test the age model in the critical interval defining the
TCP we counted laminations and compared the results to the
U/Th age model. The average number of laminations in the
time interval between CE 918 and 820, which corresponds to
98 Th-years, is 85±10. This test provides an independent
confirmation of the U/Th age model. The U/Th date of C.E. 942
corresponding to the onset of the Medieval Climate Anomaly
in Chaac is comparable to the age indicated by the well-dated
(Th-dating errors <=5 years) subtropical China stalagmite d18O
record for this same event (Zhang et al., 2008). This observation
and the laminae counting suggest that the error in the absolute
chronology in Chaac is no larger than ±10 years during the
Terminal Classic Period.
Tzabnah Cave, Tecoh, Yucatán, Mexico:
20°43.83'N, 89°28.47'W, 20 m above sea level.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCE:
Zhang, P., et al., 2008.
A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships
from an 1810-year Chinese cave record.
Science, Vol. 322, pp. 940-942.
GET DATA
https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/northamerica/mexico/tzabnah2010.txt
GET DATA
https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/northamerica/mexico/tzabnah2010.xls
USA/NOAA
DIF
Version 9.8.4
2018-12-11
2018-12-11