High Resolution Paleoclimatic Analysis Using Cave Stalagmites

Dr. Luis A. Gonzalez, Professor, Principal Investigator
Jeffrey A. Dorale, MS, Graduate Student
Dr. Mark K. Reagan, Assistant Professor
Dr. Richard G. Baker, Professor
Department of Geology, The University of Iowa

Dr. Michael T. Murrel and Dr. David A. Pickett
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Funded by the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

This research investigates the past climatic changes in the Midwest during the last 10,000 years. The isotopes of carbon and oxygen in the calcite of stalgmites are being used to detect:

1. Changes in vegetation over the caves from which stalagmites were collected.
2. Changes in temperature over the region.
3. Periods of extreme precipitation (rain) or dryness (droughts)

This information can be combined with that obtained by paleontologists studying fossil pollen and plant remains to perform detailed reconstructions of past climates.

We are now attempting to analyze yearly growth layers of calcite. This will allow a very detailed climatic reconstruction.