Climate-induced speleothem radiocarbon variability on Socotra Island from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Younger Dryas

Therre, Steffen; Fohlmeister, Jens; Fleitmann, Dominik; Matter, Albert; Burns, Stephen J.; Arps, Jennifer; Schröder-Ritzrau, Andrea; Friedrich, Ronny; Frank, Norbert

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-409-2020

Articles | Volume 16, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-409-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-409-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 1

Research article

|

28 Feb 2020

Research article |

| 28 Feb 2020

Climate-induced speleothem radiocarbon variability on Socotra Island from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Younger Dryas

Steffen Therre, Jens Fohlmeister, Dominik Fleitmann, Albert Matter, Stephen J. Burns, Jennifer Arps, Andrea Schröder-Ritzrau, Ronny Friedrich, and Norbert Frank

Data sets

U-series and radiocarbon dating results of stalagmite M1-5 from Moomi Cave, Socotra Island S. Therre, J. Fohlmeister, D. Fleitmann, A. Matter, S. J. Burns, J. Arps, A. Schröder-Ritzrau, R. Friedrich, and N. Frank https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.906003

Short summary

The radiocarbon (¹⁴C) levels of a stalagmite (grown 27–11 kyr before today) from Socotra Island (Arabian Sea) show drastic changes across the last termination. Our study highlights the influence of a warming climate with increasing precipitation towards the ending glacial on stalagmite ¹⁴C. High-resolution measurements suggest ¹⁴C is linked to a denser vegetation coverage on the island. Therefore, stalagmite ¹⁴C can be used as a climate tracer on millennial to sub-centennial timescales.