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Collection of geological samples (speleothems) from de Hoop Caves for Palaeoclimatic analysis

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Case Type: 

ProposalDescription: 

In order to avoid surplus sampling and unnecessary impact on the cave environment, we intend to collect only a few, already fallen stalagmite pieces from Blauwkrantz Cave that can be associated with the material already analysed by J. Audigun. Then, before we decide what more material to collect, we want to drill thin cores into other stalagmites in order to assess their age and suitability before we decide which one to sample at a later field season. Number of samples: We want to sample no more than ten new stalagmite or flowstone samples in total. In order to make decisions as careful as possible, we want to extract up to 20 additional, thin cores drilled from the foot of standing specimens. The purpose of this is to be able to select further samples as precisely useful as possible with minimal damage to the cave.

Expanded_Motivation: 

Motivation: To work out a detailed time-series of local climate change for de Hoop cave sites, based on analysis of speleothems (stalagmites). This is done by performing detailed dating, using Uranium-Series methods, and extracting environmental proxies that reflet temperature and precipitation. Speleothems (cave formations such as stalagmites, stalactites and flowstones) are widely recognised as being one of the most highly resolved terrestrial palaeoenvironmental archives available. They contain a range of geochemical and physical proxies for rainfall, temperature and vegetation, and have the potential to preserve decadal sub-annual records spanning 103 -105 year timescales. They are easily dated, and high precision absolute chronologies can be obtained that extend back to ~600 ka. Palaeoenvironmental Proxies: Speleothems growth bands are produced annually, and their width varies as a function of precipitation. Stable oxygen isotopes will be used to detect changes in temperature and rainfall. Stable carbon isotopes reflect the proportion of C3 plants (including tree, small shrubs and winter-rainfall grasses) versus C4 plants (grasses adapted to higher temperatures and potential evaporation) in the landscape. New, innovative methods are now available (clumped isotopes, fluid inclusion isotopes and density techniques) from where temperature can be extracted more directly. Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios become enriched under drier conditions, correlating with lighter growth bands, and show distinct variations reflecting seasonal cycles of precipitation. Research Strategy: A preliminary survey in the De Hoop Nature Reserve (PhD project of Dr. Jane Audigun) indicates that a number of caves contain speleothems suitable for analysis at very high resolution. The analysis of speleothems from the nearby Cango Caves indicates that conditions conducive to speleothem growth persisted in the region throughout much of the last 150 ka, and we have proven that speleothems from De Hoop have formed at the same time as the MSA occupations in that region. There are however several holes in the record due to sampling bias, and we will need to increase the time-resolution and precision of analysis. We will therefore collect a total of ten stalagmites from these caves together with flowstone samples. The samples collected will be brought to the laboratory at the University of Bergen for ICP_MS (PIMS) dating and further analysis of stable isotopes, growth bands, trace elements and fluid inclusions.

ApplicationDate: 

Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - 13:36

CaseID: 

12036

OtherReferences: 

Heritage Reports: 

Speleothem analysis

ReferenceList: 

CitationReferenceType
Lauritzen, S.E. & Lundberg, J. (1999). Calibration of the speleothem delta function: an absolute temperature record for the Holocene in northern Norway. Holocene 9: 659-669. Linge, H., Lauritzen, S. E., Lundberg, J., & Berstad, I. M. (2001). Stable isotope stratigraphy of Holocene speleothems: examples from a cave system in Rana, northern Norway. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 167: 209-224. Linge, H., Baker, A., Andersson, C. & Lauritzen, S.E. (2009). Variability in luminescent lamination and initial 230Th/232Th activity ratios in a late Holocene stalagmite
Hellstrom, J. (2006). U–Th dating of speleothems with high initial 230Th using stratigraphical constraint. Quaternary Geochronology 1: 289-295. Hellstrom, J. (2003). Rapid and accurate U/Th dating using parallel ion-counting multi-collector ICP-MS. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 18: 1346-1351. Hendy, C. H. (1971). The isotopic geochemistry of speleothems—I.The calculation of the effects of different modes of formation on the isotopic composition of speleothems and their applicability as palaeoclimatic indicators. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 35: 801-824. Henshilwood, C. S., van Niekerk, K. L., Wurz, S., Delagnes, A., Armitage, S. J., Rifkin, R. F., Douze, K., Keene, P., Haaland, M.M., Reynard, J., Discamps, E. &Mienies, S. S. (2014). Klipdrift shelter, southern Cape, South Africa: preliminary report on the HowiesonsPoort layers. Journal of Archaeological Science 45: 284-303.
Thesis: Adigun, J, 2016: Title: INVESTIGATING THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE DURING THE MIDDLE STONE AGE: A CONTRIBUTION FROM THE GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF SPELEOTHEMS IN THE SOUTHERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA.
 
 

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