{"NOAAStudyId":"9791","contactInfo":{"address":"325 Broadway, E/NE31","city":"Boulder","constraints":"Please cite original publication, online resource, dataset and publication DOIs (where available), and date accessed when using downloaded data. If there is no publication information, please cite investigator, title, online resource, and date accessed. The appearance of external links associated with a dataset does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the Department of Commerce/NOAA does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this Department of Commerce/NOAA Web site.","country":"USA","dataCenterUrl":"https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data","email":"paleo@noaa.gov","fax":"303-497-6513","longName":"National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce ","phone":"303-497-6280","postalCode":"80305-3328","shortName":"DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI","state":"CO","type":"CONTACT INFORMATION"},"contributionDate":"2010-09-15","dataPublisher":"NOAA","dataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","dataTypeInformation":"https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data/datasets/speleothem","difMetadataLink":"http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/metadata/published/paleo/dif/xml/noaa-cave-9791.xml","doi":null,"earliestYearBP":1463,"earliestYearCE":487,"entryId":"noaa-cave-9791","funding":[{"fundingAgency":"US National Science Foundation","fundingGrant":"OCE 0602362 (DWL)"},{"fundingAgency":"US NOAA/UCAR Postdoctoral  Fellowship","fundingGrant":"supported M. Medina-Elizalde "},{"fundingAgency":"Swiss NSF supported L. von Gunten","fundingGrant":"PBBEP2-126056"}],"investigators":"Medina-Elizalde, M.; Burns, S.J.; Lea, D.W.; Asmerom, Y.; von Gunten, L.; Polyak, V.J.; Vuille, M.; Karmalkar, A.","mostRecentYearBP":-54,"mostRecentYearCE":2004,"onlineResourceLink":"https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/9791","originalSource":null,"publication":[{"abstract":"The decline of the Classic Maya civilization was complex and \ngeographically variable, and occurred over a ~150-year interval, \nknown as the Terminal Classic Period (TCP, C.E. 800-950). \nPaleoclimate studies based on lake sediments from the Yucatán \nPeninsula lowlands suggested that drought prevailed during the \nTCP and was likely an important factor in the disintegration of \nthe Classic Maya civilization. The lacustrine evidence for decades \nof severe drought in the Yucatán Peninsula, however, does not \nreadily explain the long 150-year socio-political decline of the \nClassic Maya civilization. Here we present a new, absolute-dated, \nhigh resolution stalagmite d18O record from the northwest Yucatán \nPeninsula that provides a much more detailed picture of climate \nvariability during the last 1500 years. Direct calibration between \nstalagmite d18O and rainfall amount offers the first quantitative \nestimation of rainfall variability during the Terminal Classic \nPeriod. Our results show that eight severe droughts, lasting from \n3 to 18 years, occurred during major depopulation events of Classic \nMaya city-states. During these droughts, rainfall was reduced by \n52% to 36%.  The number and short duration of the dry intervals \nhelp explain why the TCP collapse of the Mayan civilization \noccurred over 150 years.\n\n","author":null,"citation":"Medina-Elizalde, M., S.J. Burns, D.W. Lea, Y. Asmerom, L. von Gunten, \nV. Polyak, M. Vuille, and A. Karmalkar. 2010.\nHigh resolution stalagmite climate record from the Yucatán Peninsula \nspanning the Maya terminal classic period. \nEarth Planet. Sci. Lett.    doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.08.016 \n","edition":null,"identifier":{"id":"10.1016/j.epsl.2010.08.016","type":"doi","url":"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.08.016"},"issue":null,"journal":"Earth and Planetary Science Letters","pages":null,"pubRank":"1","pubYear":2010,"reportNumber":null,"title":"High resolution stalagmite climate record from the Yucatán Peninsula  spanning the Maya terminal classic period. ","type":"publication","volume":null}],"reconstruction":"N","scienceKeywords":["Monsoon","drought"],"site":[{"NOAASiteId":"31472","geo":{"geoType":"Feature","geometry":{"coordinates":["20.75","-89.466667"],"type":"POINT"},"properties":{"easternmostLongitude":"-89.466667","maxElevationMeters":"20","minElevationMeters":"20","northernmostLatitude":"20.75","southernmostLatitude":"20.75","westernmostLongitude":"-89.466667"}},"locationName":"Continent>North America>Mexico>Yucatan","mappable":"Y","paleoData":[{"NOAADataTableId":"18683","coreLengthMeters":0,"dataFile":[{"NOAAKeywords":["earth science>paleoclimate>speleothems>oxygen isotopes"],"fileUrl":"https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/northamerica/mexico/tzabnah2010.txt","linkText":"tzabnah2010.txt","urlDescription":"Speleothem","variables":[{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"year Common Era","cvWhat":"age variable>age"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":null,"cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":null,"cvMethod":null,"cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"centimeter","cvWhat":"depth variable>depth"},{"cvAdditionalInfo":null,"cvDataType":"SPELEOTHEMS","cvDetail":"raw","cvError":null,"cvFormat":"Numeric","cvMaterial":"geological material>identified mineral>carbonate>calcium carbonate","cvMethod":"isotope ratio mass spectrometry","cvSeasonality":null,"cvShortName":null,"cvUnit":"per mil VPDB","cvWhat":"chemical composition>isotope>isotope ratio>delta 18O"}]},{"NOAAKeywords":["earth science>paleoclimate>speleothems>oxygen isotopes"],"fileUrl":"https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/northamerica/mexico/tzabnah2010.xls","linkText":"tzabnah2010.xls","urlDescription":"Speleothem","variables":[]}],"dataTableName":"Chaac","dataTableNotes":null,"earliestYear":487,"earliestYearBP":1463,"earliestYearCE":487,"mostRecentYear":2004,"mostRecentYearBP":-54,"mostRecentYearCE":2004,"species":[],"timeUnit":"AD"}],"siteName":"Tzabnah Cave"}],"studyCode":null,"studyName":"Tzabnah Cave, Mexico 1500 Year Speleothem Oxygen Isotope Data","studyNotes":"Absolutely-dated, high-resolution stalagmite delta18O record \nfrom the northwest Yucatán Peninsula that provides a detailed \npicture of climate variability during the last 1500 years. \nIn 2004 we collected a 45 cm stalagmite specimen, named Chaac \nafter the Maya god of rain, from cave \"Tzabnah\" in the village \nof Tecoh.  The speleothem time scale is based on 12 absolute \nU/Th dates. We applied a polynomial and piecewise linear model \nand found a maximum age difference between these models of \n31 years during the Medieval Climate Anomaly time interval. \nTo test the age model in the critical interval defining the \nTCP we counted laminations and compared the results to the \nU/Th age model. The average number of laminations in the \ntime interval between CE 918 and 820, which corresponds to \n98 Th-years, is 85±10. This test provides an independent \nconfirmation of the U/Th age model. The U/Th date of C.E. 942 \ncorresponding to the onset of the Medieval Climate Anomaly \nin Chaac is comparable to the age indicated by the well-dated \n(Th-dating errors <=5 years) subtropical China stalagmite d18O \nrecord for this same event (Zhang et al., 2008). This observation \nand the laminae counting suggest that the error in the absolute \nchronology in Chaac is no larger than ±10 years during the \nTerminal Classic Period. \n\nTzabnah Cave, Tecoh, Yucatán, Mexico:\n20°43.83'N, 89°28.47'W, 20 m above sea level. \n\nADDITIONAL REFERENCE: \nZhang, P., et al., 2008. \nA test of climate, sun, and culture relationships \nfrom an 1810-year Chinese cave record. \nScience, Vol. 322, pp. 940-942. \n","version":"1.0","xmlId":"8726"}