Speleothems from Arctic Siberia: A unique terrestrial archive for past temperature and hydrological conditions in the late Miocene.
Atmospheric Science
Final Report Abstract
The funds provided were used to do reconnaissance work on a number of samples from remote sites in Southern and Northern Siberia. The speleothem samples represent different time intervals from 10.4 Ma to present day. This project helped establish U/Pb chronologies for some previously undated material, tested the suitability of speleothems from two cave sites for fluid inclusion analysis, and established that even multi-million-year-old samples still remain unaltered and hold clues of past environmental conditions. Laser ablation and stable isotope results indicate that these samples hold important information on past hydrological and thermal conditions on the Eurasian continent. The work conducted within this project shows the potential of Siberian speleothems as important environmental archives, as well as the need for significant funds to conduct more detailed research. Some samples, holding insufficient water volumes to be suitable for fluid inclusion studies with current technologies, will be of great value when next-generation analytical tools become available. Other samples clearly show great potential to reconstruct interglacial hydrological dynamics, although detailed mineralogical (Raman) mapping is required for robust interpretations. Furthermore, the novel clumped isotope thermometer can be used on subaqueous speleothems to reconstruct ambient temperature conditions during carbonate formation.
