Files

Download

Download Full Text (1.2 MB)

Publication Date

April 2007

Abstract

This paper is a review of cave sediments: their characteristics and their application as paleoclimate archives. Cave sediments can be separated into two broad categories, clastic sediments and chemical sediments. Of these, stream-transported clastic sediments and calcite speleothems are both the most common and also the most useful as climatic records. Techniques for dating cave sediments include radiocarbon and U/Th dating of speleothems and paleomagnetic reversals and cosmogenic isotope dating of clastic sediments. Cosmogenic isotope dating of clastic sediments in caves with multiple levels or which occur at different elevations provide a geomorphic record of cave ages and river system evolution over the past 5 Ma. Isotope profiles, trace element profiles, color banding and luminescence profiles of speleothems, mainly stalagmites, produce a detailed paleoclimate record with very high time resolution over the past several hundred thousand years. There is potential application of these methods to late Holocene climates with implications for evaluation of current concern over global warming.

Keywords

Cave Sediments, Caves, Paleoclimate, Clastic Sediments, Chemical Sediments

Document Type

Article

Notes

Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, Vol. 69, no. 1 (2007-04-01).

Identifier

K26-00071

Share

 
COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.