Start of the last interglacial period at 135 ka: Evidence from a high Alpine speleothem
Top Cited Papers
- 1 January 2002
- journal article
- Published by Geological Society of America in Geology
Abstract
A detailed study of growth periods of a flowstone from Span- nagel Cave in the Zillertal Alps (Austria) at ;2500 m above sea level, a site highly sensitive to climate changes, offers unprece- dented new insights into Pleistocene climate change in Central Eu- rope. Flowstone sample SPA 52 has a high U content (to 116 ppm); analyses of this sample reveal that episodes of calcite deposition started at 204 6 3 ka, 135 6 1.2 ka, and 122 ka, suggesting that at these times, the mean air temperature at this high Alpine site was within 1.5 8C of the present-day condition. The beginning of growth at 135 ka corresponds to the ending of the last glaciation and is concordant with a midpoint age for the penultimate degla- ciation at 135 6 2.5 ka, as deduced from the absolutely dated ox-This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Stable isotopes in precipitationTellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, 2012
- Sea-level during the penultimate interglacial period based on a submerged stalagmite from Argentarola Cave (Italy)Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2002
- Direct Determination of the Timing of Sea Level Change During Termination IIScience, 2002
- Speleothem evidence from Oman for continental pluvial events during interglacial periodsGeology, 2001
- The half-lives of uranium-234 and thorium-230Chemical Geology, 2000
- Warm Period Growth of Travertine during the Last Interglaciation in Southern GermanyQuaternary Research, 2000
- Evidence from U–Th dating against Northern Hemisphere forcing of the penultimate deglaciationNature, 2000
- Rapid Fluctuations in Sea Level Recorded at Huon Peninsula During the Penultimate DeglaciationScience, 1999
- The Physiography and Speleogenesis of Castleguard Cave, Columbia Icefields, Alberta, CanadaArctic and Alpine Research, 1983
- Growth Mechanisms of Speleothems in Castleguard Cave, Columbia Icefields, Alberta, CanadaArctic and Alpine Research, 1983