Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:12:38.213Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stable Isotope Stratigraphy of a Late Last Interglacial Speleothem from Rana, Northern Norway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Henriette Linge ,
Stein-Erik Lauritzen  and
Joyce Lundberg
Henriette Linge
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Bergen, Allégt. 41, Bergen, N-5007, Norway, E-mail: stein.lauritzen@geol.uib.no
Stein-Erik Lauritzen
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Bergen, Allégt. 41, Bergen, N-5007, Norway, E-mail: stein.lauritzen@geol.uib.no
Joyce Lundberg
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A stalagmite from Rana, northern Norway, dated by the TIMS uranium-series technique, yields records of stable oxygen and carbon isotopes covering the period from late marine oxygen isotope substages (MIS) 5e to 5a, that is, 123,350 to 73,300 yr ago. Rapid growth (∼46 μm/yr) between 123,350 and 119,500 yr ago reflects climatic conditions favorable for speleothem growth. This period is characterized by century- to millennial-scale oscillations in both stable isotope records, where both the absolute values and the isotope ranges are similar to Holocene and older samples from the region. From 119,500 to 107,700 yr ago, speleothem growth was slow (∼0.7 μm/yr), and between 107,700 and 73,300 yr ago growth is barely noticeable (0.07 μm/yr). During the period of slow growth the stable isotope records show an overall enrichment trend. The transition between rapid and slow growth rate occurring sometime between 119,500 and 107,700 yr ago is believed to reflect the termination of interglacial climate in this region. The absence of detritus and corrosion features in the slowly deposited calcite suggests that the valley outside the cave remained sufficiently ice free for speleothem growth to occur until at least 73,300 yr ago.

Keywords

last interglaciationspeleothemsTIMSstable isotopesNorway
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , September 2001 , pp. 155 - 164
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adkins, J.F, Boyle, E.A, Keigwin, L, and Cortijo, E Variability of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation during the last interglacial period. Nature 390, (1997). 154 156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, A, Ito, E, Smart, P.L, and McEwan, R.F Elevated and variable values of 13C in speleothems in a British cave system. Chemical Geology 136, (1997). 263 270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, A, Genty, D, Dreybrodt, W, Barnes, W.L, Mockler, N.J, and Grapes, J Testing theoretically predicted stalagmite growth rate with Recent annually laminated samples: Implications for past stalagmite deposition. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62, (1998). 393 404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berstad, I Uranseriedatering og stabilisotopanalyse av speleothemer fra Søylegrotta, Mo i Rana. (1998). University of Bergen, Google Scholar
Björck, S, Noe-Nygaard, N, Wolin, J, Houmark-Nielsen, M, Hansen, H.J, and Snowball, I Eemian lake development, hydrology and climate: A multi-stratigraphic study of the Hollerup site in Denmark. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, (2000). 509 536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cortijo, E, Duplessy, J.C, Labeyrie, L, Leclaire, H, Duprat, J, and van Weering, T.C.E Eemian cooling in the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic ocean preceding continental ice-sheet growth. Nature 372, (1994). 446 449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Det Norske Meteorologiske Institut, (1998). Temperature and precipitation data from selected meteorological stations in northern Norway. Det norske meteorologiske institutt (Norwegian Meteorological Institute), Blindern, Oslo.Google Scholar
Dulinski, M, and Rozanski, K Formation of 13C/12C isotope ratios in speleothems: A semi-dynamic model. Radiocarbon 32, (1990). 7 16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fronval, T, and Jansen, E Rapid changes in ocean circulation and heat flux in the Nordic seas during the last interglacial period. Nature 383, (1996). 806 810.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fronval, T, and Jansen, E Eemian and early Weichselian (140–60 ka) paleoceanography and paleoclimate in the Nordic seas with comparisons to Holocene conditions. Paleoceanography 12, (1997). 443 462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gascoyne, M Palaeoclimate determination from cave calcite deposits. Quaternary Science Reviews 11, (1992). 609 632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, D, Smart, P.L, Ford, D.C, Andrews, J.N, Atkinson, T.C, Rowe, P.J, and Christopher, N.S.J Dating of Late Pleistocene interglacial and interstadial periods in the United Kingdom from speleothem growth frequency. Quaternary Research 31, (1989). 14 26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendy, C.H The isotopic geochemistry of speleothems—1. The calculation of the effects of different modes of formation on the isotopic composition of speleothems and their applicability as palaeoclimatic indicators. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 35, (1971). 801 824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hesterberg, R, and Siegenthaler, U Production and stable isotopic composition of CO2 in a soil near Bern, Switzerland. Tellus 43B, (1991). 197 205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauritzen, S.-E Uranium series dating of speleothems: A glacial chronology for Nordland; Norway, for the last 600 ka. Striae 34, (1991). 127 133.Google Scholar
Lauritzen, S.-E High-resolution paleotemperature proxy record for the last interglaciation based on Norwegian speleothems. Quaternary Research 43, (1995). 133 146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauritzen, S.-E. and Lundberg, J. (1997). TIMS Age4U2U: A program for raw data processing, error propagation and 230Th/234U age calculation for mass spectrometry. Turbo Pascal Code, Department of Geology, University of Bergen, .Google Scholar
Lauritzen, S.-E, and Lundberg, J Speleothems and climate: A special issue of The Holocene. The Holocene 9, (1999). 643 647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauritzen, S.-E, and Lundberg, J Calibration of the speleothem delta function: An absolute temperature record for the Holocene in northern Norway. The Holocene 9, (1999). 659 669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauritzen, S.-E, Haugen, J.E, Løvlie, R, and Gilje-Nielsen, H Geochro- nological potential of isoleucine epimerization in calcite speleothems. Quaternary Research 41, (1994). 52 58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linge, H Unpublished doctoral thesis. Isotopic Studies of Some Northern Norwegian Speleothems and Calcareous Algae from Svalbard. (1999). University of BergenDepartment of Geology, Google Scholar
Linge, H, Lauritzen, S.-E, Lundberg, J, and Berstad, I.M Stable isotope stratigraphy of Holocene speleothems: Examples from a cave system in Rana, northern Norway. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 167, (2001). 209 224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinson, D.G, Pisias, N.G, Hays, J.D, Imbrie, J, Moore, T.C Jr., and Shackleton, N.J Age dating and the orbital theory of the ice ages: Development of a high-resolution 0 to 300,000-year chronostratigraphy. Quaternary Research 27, (1987). 1 29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maslin, M Intra-Eemian cold event. Terra Nova 8, (1996). 399 Google Scholar
McDermott, F, Frisia, S, Huang, Y, Longinelli, A, Spiro, B, Heaton, T.H.E, Hawkesworth, C.J, Borsato, A, Keppens, E, Fairchild, I.J, van der Borg, K, Verheyden, S, and Selmo, E Holocene climate variability in Europe: Evidence from δ18O, textural and extension-rate variations in three speleothems. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, (1999). 1021 1038.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rightmire, C.T Seasonal variation in P CO2 and 13C content of soil atmosphere. Water Resources Research 14, (1978). 691 692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwarcz, H.P Geochronology and isotopic geochemistry of speleothems. Fritz, P, and Fontes, J.C Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry. (1986). Elsevier, Amsterdam. 271 303.Google Scholar
Sejrup, H.P, Larsen, E, Landvik, J.Y, King, E.L, Haflidason, H, and Nesje, A Quaternary glaciations in southern Fennoscandia: Evidence from southwestern Norway and the northern North Sea region. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, (2000). 667 685.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirling, C.H, Esat, T.M, McCulloch, M.T, and Lambeck, K High-precision U-series dating of corals from the Western Australia and its implications for the timing and duration of the Last Interglacial. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 135, (1995). 115 130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talma, A.S, and Vogel, J.C Late Quaternary paleotemperatures derived from a speleothem from Cango Caves, Cape Province, South Africa. Quaternary Research 37, (1992). 203 213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigley, T.M.L, and Brown, M.C The physics of caves. Ford, T.D, and Cullingford, C.H.D The Science of Speleology. (1976). Academic Press, London. 329 358.Google Scholar