; paleoData_proxy changed - was originally mineral_flux

Perren, Bianca B. and Anderson, N. John and Douglas, Marianne S. V. and Fritz, Sherilyn C.

The influence of temperature, moisture, and eolian activity on Holocene lake development in West Greenland

Steel Lake, Minnesota, Calcite Oxygen Isotope Data

Possible linkages of late-Holocene drought in the North American midcontinent to Pacific Decadal Oscillation and solar activity.

two lines of evidence indicate that at Steel Lake, evaporative 18O enrichment related to aridity was the dominant control. First, the d18O values of water samples from the epilimnion and hypolimnion of Steel Lake were 8.7 and 10.7%, respectively, in July 2001 (Figure 1d). The elevated d18O value of the epilimnetic water resulted from evaporative 18O enrichment, suggesting that Steel Lake is sensitive to evaporation. Second, calcite d18O and P-AET show good correspondence during the 20th century (Figure 2). In particular, the most severe historic drought events in north-central Minnesota, the 1988 drought [Trenberth et al., 1988] and 1930s Dust Bowl [Worster, 1979], are recorded by the heaviest d18O values at Steel Lake

An oxygen-isotope record of Holocene climate change in the south-central Brooks Range, Alaska

Note added by NAm2k hydroclimate authors: effective moisture was likely the dominant factor affecting the d18O record of the past 8000 years at Takahula Lake.

Medina-Elizalde, M.; Burns, S.J.; Lea, D.W.; Asmerom, Y.; von Gunten, L.; Polyak, V.; Vuille, M.; Karmalker, A.

Tzabnah Cave, Mexico 1500 Year Speleothem Oxygen Isotope Data

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.