Paleoclimate reconstruction from northern
Iberian Peninsula: the speleothem record
A. Moreno (1,2), H. Stoll (3), I. Cacho (4), Montserrat JiménezSánchez (3), Carlos Sancho (5), Ánchel Belmonte (5), R. L.
Edwards (1), E. Ito (1), B. L. Valero-Garcés (2)
(1) Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (USA)
(2) Pyrenean Institute of Ecology - CSIC, Apdo. 202, 50080 Zaragoza, (Spain),
(3) Departamento de Geologia, Universidad de Oviedo, C/ Arias de Velasco, s/n 33005 Oviedo (Spain),
(4) University of Barcelona, C/ Marti i Franquès s/nº, 28080 Barcelona (Spain),
(5) Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain),
Outline
Speleothems as exceptional paleoclimate archives
Study sites in the north of the Iberian Peninsula
Main questions
Some preliminary results…
Orbital scale
Last deglaciation main trends
Early Holocene abrupt changes
Conclusions
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
Speleothems as exceptional paleoclimate archives
Advantages
- Absolute dating by using the U-Th desintegration series (0-500 kyrs)
- High precipitation rate (banding) –abrupt/rapid climate changes
- Good records of temperature and precipitation (stable isotopes, trace metals,
growth rates…)
Disadvantages
- Only in karstic systems
- System monitoring is required (lot of time and money….)
- Presence of hiatus in dry or cold climates
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
Speleothems as exceptional paleoclimate archives
Fairchild et al., 2006
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
Speleothems as exceptional paleoclimate archives
2 initial assumptions:
- Closed system to U and Th
- Initial 230Th = 0 (“pure”
Some sources of errors:
samples, with low detrital)
- Low U content (depends on
the type of limestone)
- High 232Th (high 230Th initial)
- Post-precipitation effects
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
Speleothems as exceptional paleoclimate archives
Diagenetic processes (evaluated by petrography to discard re-crystallization)
Non-equilibrium fractionation (evaluated by d13C vs d18O correlation, replication or Hendy test)
d18O
Other fractionation (eg. evaporation of water in the soil or vadose zone)
Cave Tª (seasonally stable, long-term variations can modulate the signal)
d18O of rainfall
Air temperature variations 0.34‰/ºC
Variability in the precipitation sources
NAO; glacial vs interglacial
Amount of precipitation
d13C values of the carbonate bedrock (fixed values)
d13C
d13C values of the
soil CO2
Soil processes and residence time
Type of vegetation overlying the cave (C3 vs C4)
Vegetation cover overlying the cave
Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca
Marine aerosols – distance to the coast
Prior calcite precipitation (link to dry/wet climates)
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
Study sites in the north of the Iberian Peninsula
Cueva de
las Güixas
Cueva 5 de
Agosto
Sima de
Estebán Felipe
Cueva de
Molinos
Zonas calcáreas
El Pindal and
Calabrez caves
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
CAVECAL-CICYT:
Cambios
climáticos
rápidos en la Península Ibérica basados en
calibración
de
indicadores,
series
instrumentales largas y análisis de alta
resolución de registros en espeleotemas.
DGA-LaCaixa:
Formaciones
de
espeleotemas en Aragón: una innovadora
aproximación a la reconstrucción del clima
de los últimos milenios.
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
non-dolomitic limestones of the
Carboniferous Barcaliente
Formation
EL PINDAL
Old fluvial channel
Pathway
R2 = 0.85
Fluviokarstic and gravity features
Speleothems
Block accumulations
Mud deposits
Old alluvial deposits
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
+
Jiménez-Sánchez et al., 2002
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
Dripstone
Flowstone
Complex
Gours
5 de Agosto
First stalagmites dated from
the Spanish Pyrenees.
High altitude cave (1664 m)
Monitoring in progress
(temperature, rainfall,
dripwaters)
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
Main questions
1) Temporal and spatial reconstruction of main
abrupt changes in the Northern Iberian Peninsula
during the Pleistocene and Holocene
2) Interpretation of main mechanisms of abrupt
climate change in the past, including phenomena
affecting the most recent millennia (NAO, solar
variability…)
3) Response of terrestrial ecosystems (hydrology,
vegetation) to abrupt climate changes at different
timescales (orbital, millennial, decadal)
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
At an orbital-scale
Espeleothems from 5 de Agosto Cave (Central Pyrenees) only growth
during short periods associated to interglacials: OIS 1, OIS 7, OIS 9,
OIS 11. Surprisingly, there is no sample (after dating 16 stalagmites)
growing during OIS 5
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
At an orbital-scale
Isotopes:d18O values very similar in the three interglacials; d13C has
higher variability (particularly, OIS 7)
d18O
MAX MIN
5Agosto -1 Estadio 11 -5,62 -6,79
5 Agosto-10 Holoceno -5,74 -6,92
5 Agosto-14 Estadio 7 -5,9
-6,93

d13C
MAX MIN
1,70 -1,3
-1,41 -4,5
4,13 1,55
Identify the growth periods as the warmer and wetter intervals
Compare duration and characteristics of the last interglacials
Look for an “analogous” for the Holocene (OIS 5??, OIS 11?)
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
During last deglaciation
CAN sample covers from 25 to 8 kyrs ago with an
interruption during the Mystery Interval (Denton, 2005), a
particular time period characterized by an increase in sea
CANDELA
level but
colder temperatures in Greenland and North
Atlantic than during the LGM.
We would
expect a
very cold,
and
probably
dry,
scenario
for
southern
Europe.
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
GI-1
11000
HOLOCENE GS-1
PB
Wetter
NAO -
7.4
-1 2
13000
8.2
9.2
YD
15000
Gi-2
17000
GS-2a
H1
OD
19000
21000
GS-2b
LGM
23000
25000
GS-2C
HE2
-3 6
10.3
-4 0
d13C (‰)
-1 0
-4 4
-8
-4 8
-6
-6
-4
HIATUS
Mystery
interval
0
-4
Drier
NAO +
-3
CANDELA
MARIA
7000
-2
9000
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
11000
13000
15000
17000
19000
21000
23000
25000
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
d18O (‰)
-5
-2
(Rassmussen et al. QSR 2008)
Age (years BP)
9000
IACP
7000
d18O (‰) NGRIP (GCC05)
During last deglaciation
GI-1
11000
HOLOCENE GS-1
PB
Wetter
7.4
13000
8.2
9.2
YD
15000
Gi-2
OD
17000
GS-2a
H1
19000
21000
GS-2b
LGM
23000
25000
GS-2C
HE2
-3 6
10.3
-4 0
Ba/Ca
0 .0 0 1
0 .0 0 2
-4 4
0 .0 0 3
-4 8
0 .0 0 4
-1 2
0 .0 0 5
-1 0
0 .0 0 6
-6
-4
Drier
-2
CANDELA
MARIA
7000
0
9000
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
11000
13000
15000
17000
19000
21000
23000
25000
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
d13C (‰)
-8
(Rassmussen et al. QSR 2008)
9000
IACP
7000
d18O (‰) NGRIP (GCC05)
During last deglaciation
During the Early Holocene
8000
7.4
8500
9000
8.3
9500
9.4
10000 10500 11000 11500 12000
10.2
11.2
8
4
0
WARM
d13C (‰)
WET
-12
-4
-8
-10
-8
-5.5
-5
-6
-4.5
DRY
-4
-4
-3.5
-3
7000
HSG (detrended)
COLD
7500
7500
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
8000
8500
9000
9500 10000 10500 11000 11500 12000
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
d18O (‰)
7000
Bond et al., 2001
During the Early Holocene
9.1 9.3
10
10.4
10.9
PB
-3 4
-3 6
Dongge Cave
(Dykoski et al., 2005)
-3 8
-9
-8 .5
-8
-4 0
-5 .5
9.2
-7 .5
MARÍA
9.9 10
-5
-7
(this study)
-4 .5
Dongshiya Cave
9.4 9.6
(Cai et al., 2008)
-4
-1 2
10.3
(‰)
d18O
-3 .5
-1 1
-1 0
-3
-9
8800
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
9200
9600
10000
10400
10800
11200
11600
12000
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula
d18O (‰)
d18O (‰)
-9 .5
d18O (‰)
NGRIP
Conclusions
Speleothem records from Northern Spain are excellent
paleoclimate records of past hydrological variability that need to
be studied with further detail
Growing periods in the Central Pyrenees are related to some
interglacials pointing to the most humid and the warmest intervals for
the last 400 kyrs.
The driest period for the last 25 kyrs is the “mystery interval” as
indicated by the hiatus
Paleohydrological and vegetational response to the abrupt changes
during deglaciation (HE1, B/A, oldest and older Dryas, IACP) and
Early Holocene abrupt changes
NAO-type mechanism behind abrupt climate changes recorded in
the Iberian Peninsula?
A. Moreno (IPE-CSIC)
Speleothem records from the northern Iberian Peninsula