Since September 2009 the newly founded WG for speleothem research is active at the Geocycles Research Center. 19/10/2009
The main objective of the Working Group is the reconstruction of climate variability in the past. Climate archives known as Speleothems serve as a secondary mineral deposit in caves. The most common Speleothems are cave- sinters which usually occur in the form of stalagmites, stalactites or Flow Stones, made of calcium carbonate CaCO3.
Speleothems offer numerous advantages as a climate archive: They occur in almost all areas of the world. Using the Th / U dating method, the age of a speleothem-sample can be dated with absolute precision within the last 600.000 years. Various indicators of the climate of the past, so-called climate proxies, - such as oxygen and carbon stable isotopes or trace element concentrations - can be measured with very high resolution (years to centuries). Speleothems also provide long and continuous time series. For dating of Speleothems, advanced mass spectrometric techniques (MC-ICP-MS) are used that allow the highest resolution and precision. Climate proxies will also be measured by mass spectrometry.
The information recorded in speleothems climate signals are influenced by various factors. To interpret the signals about climate changes in the past, we need a basic understanding of the processes that affect these signals. Therefore, the working group deals with the exploration and modeling of isotop-fractioning-processe . These experiments are conducted in caves and under controlled conditions in the laboratory.
Geocycles wishes success for the oncoming research
