Journal article
Quaternary climatic instability in south-east Australia from a multi-proxy speleothem record
M Webb, J Dredge, PA Barker, W Müller, C Jex, J Desmarchelier, J Hellstrom, PM Wynn
Journal of Quaternary Science | Published : 2014
DOI: 10.1002/jqs.2734
Abstract
Milankovitch-scale Quaternary climatic oscillations within south-east Australia are known to be characterized by relatively arid glacial and wet interglacial stages. However, terrestrial proxy records of environmental change are scarce, based largely on river terraces, dune sediments and pollen sequences. Here we present a speleothem-based palaeoclimate record from Yarrangobilly caves, south-east Australia. The oxygen isotopic composition of calcite (δ18Ocalcite) is taken to represent rainfall amount and used as an aridity index. High-resolution trace element profiles and UV fluorescence support interpretations based on δ18Ocalcite, allowing further designation of key phases of speleothem gr..
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Awarded by Natural Environment Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Lancaster University, UK, for funding this work through departmental research funds awarded to M. W., and the British Council for provision of RXP exchange award to P. W. We are grateful to D. Scholtz (Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz) for assistance with Stalage modelling, and A. Smith (University of Lancaster) for undertaking correlation function analysis. We are also grateful for the suggestions of two reviewers who helped to improve the manuscript.