MULTIPROXY SPELEOTHEM RECORDS OF PAST CHANGES: A MODERN CALIBRATION

Speleothems are rapidly becoming a valued multiproxy paleoenvironmental archive, in part because of their sensitivity to hydrologic and ecologic conditions above the cave site. We have previously developed a 23-year high-resolution stable isotope timeseries from a modern Belizean stalagmite from a cave overlain by mature semi-deciduous broadleaf tropical forest. This stalagmite record contains stable isotope signals corresponding to recent El Nino events and tropical cyclones. I now present the results of exploratory, high-resolution trace element and strontium isotope analysis. LA-ICP-MS trace element analysis was carried out at Boston University, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio determination was performed at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. At the millimeter scale, trace element concentrations vary with the visible stratigraphy. In addition, the high-resolution series reveals multiple event types with distinct chemical fingerprints. Together, stratigraphy, stable isotope values, trace element concentrations, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values constitute a rich multiproxy archive of past environmental changes that affected the cave-forest-soil system at decadal to sub-seasonal time scales.