Beyond 500ka: Progress and prospects in the UPb chronology of speleothems, and their application to studies in palaeoclimate, human evolution, biodiversity and tectonics

Chemical Geology

Volumn 322-323, Issue , 2012, Pages 290-299

  Woodhead, Jon ^a   Pickering, Robyn ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

Author keywords

Archaeology; Landscape evolution; Palaeoclimate; Speleothem; UPb geochronology

Indexed keywords

ARCHAEOLOGY; LANDSCAPE EVOLUTIONS; PALAEOCLIMATE; SPELEOTHEM; U-PB GEOCHRONOLOGY;

CLIMATE CHANGE; GEOCHRONOLOGY; INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY; LEAD; TECTONICS;

BIODIVERSITY;

BIODIVERSITY; HUMAN EVOLUTION; LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION; PALEOCLIMATE; SPELEOTHEM; URANIUM-LEAD DATING;

EID: 84865199109     PISSN: 00092541     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2012.06.017     Document Type: Review

References (91)

1. Affek H.P., Bar-Matthews M., Ayalon A., Matthews A., Eiler J.M. Glacial/interglacial temperature variations in Soreq cave speleothems as recorded by 'clumped isotope' thermometry. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2008, 72:5351-5360.
2. Andersen M.B., Stirling C.H., Potter E.-K., Halliday A.N., Blake S.G., McCulloch M.T., Ayling B.F., O'Leary M. High-precision U-series measurements of more than 500,000year old fossil corals. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2008, 265:229-245.
3. Antonioli F., Bard E., Potter E.-K., Silenzi S., Improta S. 215ka history of sea level oscillations from marine and continental layers in Argentarola cave speleothems (Italy). Global and Planetary Change 2004, 43:57-78.
4. Archer M., Godthelp H., Hand S.J., Megirian D. Fossil mammals of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland: preliminary overview of biostratigraphy, correlation and environmental change. Australian Zoologist 1989, 25:29-65.
5. Ayliffe L.K., Marianelli P.C., Moriaty K.C., Wells R.T., McCulloch M.T., Mortimer G.E., Hellstrom J.C. 500ka precipitation record from south-eastern Australia: evidence for interglacial relative aridity. Geology 1998, 26:147-150.
6. Bacon A.-M., Demeter F., Roussé S., Long V.T., Duringer P., Antoine P.-O., Thuy N.K., Mai B.T., Huong N.T.M., Dodo Y., Matsumara H., Schuster M., Anezaki T. New palaeoltological assemblage, edimentological and chronological data from the Pleistocene Ma U'Oi cave (northern Vietnam). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 2006, 230:280-298.
7. Badertscher S., Fleitmann D., Cheng H., Edwards L., Göktürk O.M., Zumbühl A., Leuenberger M., Tüysüz O. Pleistocene water intrusions from the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas into the Black Sea. Nature Geoscience 2011, 4:236-239.
8. Bajo, P., Drysdale, R., Woodhead, J., Hellstrom, J., Zanchetta, G., in review. High-resolution UPb dating of an early Pleistocene stalagmite from Corchia Cave (central Italy). Quaternary Geochronology.
9. Baker A., Smart P.L., Edwards R.L., Richards D.A. Annual growth banding in a cave stalagmite. Nature 1993, 364:518-520.
10. Balter V., Blichert-Toft J., Braga J., Telouk P., Thackeray F., Albarede F. UPb dating of fossil enamel from the Swartkrans Pleistocene hominid site, South Africa. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2008, 267:236-246.
11. Bar-Matthews M., Marean C.W., Jacobs Z., Karkanas P., Fisher E.C., Herries A.I.R., Brown K., Williams H.M., Bernatchez J., Ayalon A., Nilssen P.J. A high resolution and continuous isotopic speleothem record of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment from 90 to 53ka from Pinnacle Point on the south coast of South Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews 2010, 29:2131-2145.
12. Becker A., Davenport C.A., Eichenberger U., Gilli E., Jeannin P.-Y., Lacave C. Speleoseismology: a critical perspective. Journal of Seismology 2006, 10:371-388.
13. Berger L.R., de Ruiter D.J., Churchill S.E., Schmid P., Carlson K.J., Dirks P., Kibii J.M. Australopithecus sediba: a new species of homo-like Australopith from South Africa. Science 2010, 328:195-204.
14. Brasier A.T. Searching for travertines, calcrtes and speleothems in deep time: processes, appearances, predictions and the impact of plants. Earth-Science Reviews 2011, 104:213-239.
15. Brook G.A., Scott L., Railsback L.B., Goddard A 35ka pollen and isotope record of environmental change along the southern margin of the Kalahari from a stalagmite and animal dung deposit in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments 2010, 74:870-884.
16. Caseldine C.J., McGArry S., Baker A., Hawkesworth C., Smart P.L. Late Quaternary speleothem pollen in the British Isles. Journal of Quaternary Science 2008, 23:193-200.
17. Cheng H., Edwards R.L., Broecker W.S., Denton G.H., Kong X., Wang Y., Zhang R., Wang X. Ice age terminations. Science 2009, 326:248-252.
18. Cheng H., Fleitmann D., Edwards R.L., Wang X.F., Cruz F.W., Auler A.S., Mangini A., Wang Y.J., Kong X.G., Burns S.J., Matter A. Timing and structure of the 8.2kyr BP event inferred from delta(18)O records of stalagmites from China, Oman, and Brazil. Geology 2009, 37:1007-1010.
19. Cliff R.A., Spötl C., Magini A. UPb dating of speleothems from Spannagel Cave, Austrian Alps: a high resolution comparison with U-series ages. Quaternary Geochronology 2010, 5:452-458.
20. Cole J.M., Nienstedt J., Spataro G., Rasbury E.T., Lanzirotti A., Celestian A.J., Nilsson M., Hanson G.N. Phosphor imaging as a tool for in situ mapping of ppm levels of uranium and thorium in rocks and minerals. Chemical Geology 2003, 193:127-136.
21. Davis O.K. Pollen and other microfossils in Pleistocene speleothems, Kartchner caverns, Arizona. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 1999, 61:89-92.
22. de Ruiter D.J., Pickering R., Steininger C.M., Kramers J.D., Hancox P.J., Churchill S.E., Berger L.R. New Australopithecus robustus fossils and associated UPb dates from Cooper's Cave (Gauteng, South Africa). Journal of Human Evolution 2009, 56(5):497-513.
23. Deves G., Perroux A.-S., Bacquart T., Plaisir C., Rose J.r.m., Jaillet S.p., Ghaleb B., Ortega R., Maire R. Chemical element imaging for speleothem geochemistry: application to a uranium-bearing corallite with aragonite diagenesis to opal (Eastern Siberia, Russia). Chemical Geology 2012, 294-295:190-202.
24. Dirks P.H.G.M., Kibii J.M., Kuhn B.F., Steininger C., Churchill S.E., Kramers J.D., Pickering R., Farber D.L., Meriaux A.-S., Herries A.I.R., King G.C.P., Berger L.R. Geological setting and age of Australopithecus sediba from Southern Africa. Science 2010, 328:205-208.
25. Dorale J.A., Onac B.P., Fornos J.J., Gines J., Gines A., Tuccimei P., Peate D.W. Sea-level highstand 81,000years ago in Mallorca. Science 2010, 327:860-863.
26. Drysdale R.N., Zhanchetta G.V., Hellstrom J.C., Fallick A.E., McDonald J., Cartwright I. Stalagmite evidence for the precise timing of North Atlantic cold events during the early last glacial. Geology 2007, 35:77-80.
27. Drysdale R.N., Hellstrom J.C., Zanchetta G., Fallick A.E., Sanchez Noni M.F., Couchoud I., McDonald J., Maas R., Lohman G., Isola I. Evidence for obliquity forcing of glacial Termination II. Science 2009, 325:1527.
28. Eiler J. "Clumped-isotope" geochemistry-the study of naturally-occurring, multiply-substituted isotopologues. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2007, 262:309-327.
29. Fairchild I.J., Treble P.C. Trace elements in speleothems as recorders of environmental change. Quaternary Science Reviews 2009, 28:449-468.
30. Fairchild I.J., Smith C.L., Baker A., Fuller L., Spötl C., Mattey D., McDermott F., E.I.M.F. Modification and preservation of environmental signals in speleothems. Earth-Science Reviews 2006, 75:105-153.
31. Fei W., Hongchun L., Rixiang Z., Feizhou Q. Late Quaternary downcutting rates of the Qianyou River from speleothem dates, Qinling mountains, China. Quaternary Research 2004, 62:194-200.
32. Fleitmann D., Burns S.J., Neff U., Mudelsee M., Mangini A., Matter A. Palaeoclimatic interpretation of high-resolution oxygen isotope profiles derived from annually laminated speleothems from Southern Oman. Quaternary Science Reviews 2004, 23:935-945.
33. Fleitmann D., Cheng H., Badertscher S., Edwards R.L., Mudelsee M., Gokturk O.M., Fankhauser A., Pickering R., Raible C.C., Matter A., Kramers J., Tuysuz O. Timing and climatic impact of Greenland interstadials recorded in stalagmites from northern Turkey. Geophysical Research Letters 2009, 36:L19707. 10.1029/2009GL040050.
34. Fornós J.l., Gelabert B., Ginés A., Ginés J., Tuccimei P., Vesica P. Phreatic overgrowthson speleothems: a useful tool in structural geology in littoral karstitic landscapes. The example of eastern Mallorca (Ballearic Islands). Geodinamica Acta 2002, 15:113-125.
35. Getty S.R., DePaolo D.J. Quaternary geochronology using the UThPb method. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 1995, 59:3267-3272.
36. Hopley P.J., Marshall J.D., Weedon G.P., Latham A.G., Herries A.I.R., Kuykendall K.L. Orbital forcing and the spread of C-4 grasses in the late Neogene: stable isotope evidence from South African speleothems. Journal of Human Evolution 2007, 53:620-633.
37. Hopley P.J., Weedon G.P., Marshall J.D., Herries A.I.R., Latham A.G., Kuykendall K.L. High- and low-latitude orbital forcing of early hominin habitats in South Africa. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2007, 256:419-432.
38. Kagan E.J., Agnon A., Bar-Matthews M., Ayalon A. Dating large infrequent earthquakes by damaged cave deposits. Geology 2005, 33:261-264.
39. Karlstrom K.E., Crow R., Crossley L.J., Coblentz D., Van Wijk J.W. Model for tectonically driven incision of the younger than 6Ma Grand Canyon. Geology 2008, 36:835-838.
40. Kluge T., et al. A new tool for palaeoclimate reconstruction: noble gas temperatures from fluid inclusions in speleothems. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2008, 269:408-415.
41. Krüger Y., Marti D., Staub R.H., Fleitmann D., Frenz M. Liquid-vapour homogenisation of fluid inclusions in stalagmites: evaluation of a thermometer for palaeoclimate research. Chemical Geology 2011, 289:39-47.
42. Lachniet M.S. Climatic and environmental controls on speleothem oxygen-isotope values. Quaternary Science Reviews 2008, 28:412-432.
43. Lundberg J., Ford D.C., Hill C.A. A preliminary UPb date on cave spar, Big Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, U.S.A. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 2000, 62:144-148.
44. Lundelius E.L. Cave site contributions to vertebrate history. Alcheringa Special Issue 2006, 1:195-210.
45. Marean C.W., Bar-Matthews M., Bernatchez J., Fisher E., Goldberg P., Herries A.I.R., Jacobs Z., Jerardino A., Karkanas P., Minichillo T., Nilssen P.J., Thompson E., Watts I., Williams H.M. Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene. Nature 2007, 449:905-908.
46. McDermott F. Palaeo-climate reconstriuction from stable isotope variations in speleothems: a review. Quaternary Science Reviews 2004, 23:901-918.
47. McGarry S.F., Caseldine C. Speleothem palynology: an undervalued tool in Quaternary studies. Quaternary Science Reviews 2004, 23:2389-2404.
48. Meyer M.C., Cliff R.A., Spotle C., Knipping M., Mangini A. Speleothems from the earliest Quaternary: snapshots of paleoclimate and landscape evolution at the northern rim of the Alps. Quaternary Science Reviews 2009, 28:1374-1391.
49. Meyer M.C., Cliff R.A., Spötl C. Speleothems and mountain uplift. Geology 2011, 39:447-450.
50. Moorbath S., Taylor P.N., Orpen J.L., Treloar P., Wilson J.F. First direct radiometric dating of Archaen stromatolitic limestone. Nature 1987, 326:865-867.
51. Moriarty K.C., McCulloch M.T., Wells R.T., McDowell M.C. Mid-Pleistocene cave fills, megafaunal remains and climate change at Naracoorte, South Australia: towards a predictive model using UTh dating of speleothems. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 2000, 159:113-143.
52. 235U geochronology of Quaternary opal, Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2000, 64:2913-2938.
53. Osmond J.K., Cowart J.B. The theory and uses of natural uranium isotopic variations in hydrology. Atomic Energy Review 1976, 14:621-679.
54. Pearthree P.A., Spencer J.E., Faulds J.E., House P.K. Comment on "Age and evolution of the Grand Canyon revealed by UPb dating of water table-type speleothems". Science 2008, 321:1634c.
55. Pederson J., Young R., Lucchitta I., Beard L.S., Billingsley G. Comment on "Age and evolution of the Grand Canyon revealed by UPb dating of water table-type speleothems". Science 2008, 321:1634b.
56. Pickering R., Herries A.I.R. New chronological context of 2.6-2.0Ma for the Sterkfontein Member 4 hominins. Hominin Postcranial Remains from Sterkfontein, South Africa 2012, Oxford University Press. C. Ward (Ed.).
57. Pickering R., Kramers J.D. A re-appraisal of the stratigraphy and new UPb dates at the Sterkfontein hominin site, South Africa. Journal of Human Evolution 2010, 56:70-86.
58. Pickering R., Hancox P.J., Lee-Thorp J.A., Grün R., Mortimer G.E., McCulloch M., Berger L.R. Stratigraphy, U-series chronology and palaeoenvironments at Gladysvale Cave: insights into the climatic control of South African hominin bearing caves, South Africa. Journal of Human Evolution 2007, 53:602-619.
59. Pickering R., Kramers J.D., Partridge T., Kodolanyi J., Pettke T. U-Pb dating of calcite-aragonite layers in speleothems from hominin sites in South Africa by MC-ICP-MS. Quaternary Geochronology 2010, 5(5):544-558.
60. Pickering R., Kramers J.D., Hancox P.J., deRuiter D.J., Woodhead J.D. Contemporary flowstone development links early hominin bearing cave deposits in South Africa. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2011, 306:23-32.
61. Pickering R., Dirks P.H.G.M., Jinnah Z., de Ruiter D.J., Churchill S.E., Herrires A.I.R., Woodhead J.D., Hellstrom J.C., Berger L.R. Australopithecus sediba at 1.977Ma and implications for the origins of Genus Homo. Science 2011, 333:1421-1423.
62. Pickering, R., Jacobs, Z., Herries, A.I.R., Karkanas, P., Bar-Matthews, M., Woodhead, J.D., Kappen, P., Fisher, E., Marean, C.W., in preparation. Paleoanthropologically significant South African sea caves dated to 1.0 Million Years using a combination of U-Pb, TT-OSL and palaeomagnetism.
63. Plan L., Grasemann B., Spötl C., Decker K., Boch R., Kramers J. Neotectonic extrusion of the Eastern Alps: constraints from U/Th dating of tectonically damaged speleothems. Geology 2010, 38:483-486.
64. Polyak V., Hill C., Asmeron Y. Age and evolution of the Grand Canyon revealed by UPb dating of water-table-type speleothems. Science 2008, 319:1377-1380.
65. Polyak V.J., Cokendolpher J.C., Norton R.A., Asmerom Y. Wetter and cooler late Holocene climate in the southwestern United States from mites preserved in stalagmites. Geology 2001, 29:643-646.
66. Porcelli D., Swartzenski P.W. The behaviour of U- and Th-series nuclides in groundwater. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 2003, vol. 52. Geochemical Society and Mineralogical Society of America. B. Bourdon, G.M. Henderson, C.C. Lundstrom, S.P. Turner (Eds.).
67. Potter E.K., Stirling C.H., Andersen M.B., Halliday A.N. High precision Faraday collector MC-ICPMS thorium isotope ratio determination. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry 2005, 247:10-17.
68. Price G.J., Zhao J.-X., Feng Y.-X., Hocknull S.A. New U/Th ages for Pleistocene megafauna deposits of southeastern Queensland, Australia 2009.
69. Prideaux G.J., Roberts R.G., Megirian D., Westaway K.E., Hellstrom J.C., Olley J.M. Mammalian responses to Pleistcene climate change in southeastern Asutralia. Geology 2006, 35:33-36.
70. Rasbury E.T., Cole J.M. Directly dating geologic events: UPb dating of carbonates. Reviews of Geophysics 2009, 47:RG3001. 10.1029/2007RG000246.
71. Richards D.A., Dorale J.A. Uranium-series chronology and environmental applications of speleothems. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 2003, vol. 52. Geochemical Society and Mineralogical Society of America. B. Bourdon, G.M. Henderson, C.C. Lundstrom, S.P. Turner (Eds.).
72. Richards D.A., Bottrell S.H., Cliff R.A., Strohle K., Rowe P.J. UPb dating of a speleothem of Quaternary age. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 1998, 62:3683-3688.
73. Scheidegger Y., Brennwald M.S., Fleitmann D., Jeannin P.-Y., Wieler R., Kipfer R. Determination of Holocene cave temperatures records from Kr and Xe concentrations in stalagmite fluid inclusions. Chemical Geology 2011, 288:61-66.
74. Skotnicki S.J., Knauth L.P. The middle Proterozoic Mescal paleokarst, Central Arizona, U.S.A.: karst development, silicification, and cave deposits. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2007, 77:1046-1062.
75. Smith M.P., Soper N.J., Higgins A.K., Rasmussen J.A., Craig L.E. Palaeokarst systems in the Neoproterozoic of eastern North Greenland in relation to extensional tectonics on the Laurentian margin. Journal of the Geological Society of London 1999, 156:113-124.
76. Smith C.L., Fairchild I.J., Spötl C., Frisia S., Borsato A., Moreton S.G., Wynn P.M. Chronology building using objective identification of annual signals in element profiles of stalagmites. Quaternary Geochronology 2009, 4:11-21.
77. Spötl C., Mangini A. Speleothems and paleoglaciers. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2007, 254:323-331.
78. St Pierre E., Zhao J.-x., Feng Y.-x., Reed E. U-series dating of soda straw stalactites from excavated deposits: method development and application to Blanche cave, Naracoorte, South Australia. Journal of Archaeological Science 2012, 39:922-930.
79. Sullivan C., Reisz R.R., May W.J. Large dissorophoid skeletal elements from the lower Permian Richards Spur fissures, Oklahoma, and their paleontological implications. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 2000, 20:456-461.
80. Vaks A., Bar-Matthews M., Ayalon A., Matthews A., Halicz L., Frumkin A. Desert spelethems reveal climatic window for African exodus of early modern humans. Geology 2007, 35:831-834.
81. Vaks, A., Woodhead, J., Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Cliff, R., Matthews, A., Frumkin, A., in review. Pliocene-Pleistocene climate of the northern margin of Saharan-Arabian Desert recorded in speleothems from the Negev Desert, Israel. Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
82. van Breukelen M.R., et al. Fossil dripwater in stalagmites reveals Holocene temperature and rainfall variation in Amazonia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2008, 275:54-60.
83. Veizer J., Mackenzie F.T. Evolution of sedimentary rocks. Treatise on Geochemistry 2004, Elsevier, Amsterdam. K.K. Turekian, H.D. Holland (Eds.).
84. Walker J., Cliff R.A., Latham A.G. UPb isotopic age of the StW 573 hominid from Sterkfontein, South Africa. Science 2006, 314:1592-1594.
85. Wang Y., Cheng H., Edwards R.L., Kong X., Shao X., Chen S., Wu J., Jiang X., Wang X., An Z. Millenial- and obtital-scale changes in the East Asian monsoon over the past 220,000years. Nature 2008, 451:1090-1093.
86. Winograd I.J., Coplen T.B., Landwehr J.M., Riggs A.C., Ludwig K.R., Szabo B.J., Kolesar P.T., Revesz K.M. Continuous 500,000-year climate record from vein calcite in Devil's Hole, Navada. Science 1992, 258:255-260.
87. 18O record extended to the mid-Holocene. Quaternary Research 2006, 66:202-212.
88. Woodhead J., Hellstrom J., Maas R., Drysdale R., Zanchetta G., Devine P., Taylor E. UPb geochronology of speleothems by MC-ICPMS. Quaternary Geochronology 2006, 1:208-221.
89. Woodhead J., Hellstrom J., Hergt J., Greig A., Maas R. Isotopic and elemental imaging of geological materials by laser ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma mass spectrometry. Journal of Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 2007, 31:331-343.
90. Woodhead J., Reisz R., Fox D., Drysdale R., Hellstrom J., Maas R., Cheng H., Edwards R.L. Speleothem climate records from deep time? Exploring the potential with an example from the Permian. Geology 2010, 38:455-458.
91. Woodhead J., Hellstrom J., Pickering R., Drysdale R., Paul B., Bajo P. U and Pb variability in older speleothems and strategies for their chronology. Quaternary Geochronology 2012, 10.1016/j.quageo.2012.02.028.