Re-analysis of key evidence in the case for a hemispherically synchronous response to the Younger Dryas climatic event

Abstract

A south-east Australian speleothem stable isotope record displaying an apparent cooling synchronous with the northern hemisphere Younger Dryas climate event (12.9-11.7 ka) has significantly influenced scientific thinking on the climatic response of the southern hemisphere following the Last Glacial Maximum. This is one of very few records displaying such a response, and yet the cooling was inferred from substantial extrapolation between just three uranium-series ages. Technological advances since then have produced major improvements in both the spatial resolution and the accuracy of uranium-series geochronologies. Re-analysis of this sample has yielded ages of 7.96±0.36 to 7.69±0.33 ka for ..